Page 104 of Unrecognizable Player

“I can’t…” He looks around, like he’s searching for an escape. “I need to get out of here.”

“Alexei wait, I’ll leave.”

He rushes to the door and puts his shoes on, not even stopping for a jacket, just picking his keys up from the counter.

“You’re gonna be freezing, put a coat on at least.”

He ignores me, slamming the door behind him.

24

ALEXEI

FUCK!

How can this be happening, how can this be real?

Stef,my Stef, and horror boy.

If you told me they were the same person a couple of weeks ago, I’d think I won the lottery. But for him to tell me he knew and he lied to me? That’s a fucking nightmare.

I came out to my teammate for him. I told someone I’d been sexting with online my name and what I do. I exposed myself for him. Put myself out there. And he lied to me.

When I getto Pawlowski’s place, he’s playingCall of Dutywith a few of the guys he lives with and I regret going over there. But the second he sees the look on my face, and the fact I’m standing in the doorway in a t-shirt in the cold, he tells me to come in and leads me upstairs to his room.

“What’s happened?” He asks.

I sink onto his single bed. Posters of hockey players over my head and a couple of trophies from his junior career all lined up neatly on the shelf.

“It’s Stef.”

“Is he alright?”

I run a hand over my face. “No, he’s a liar.”

He shakes his head. “What do you mean? What did he lie about?”

“Everything.”

“Hold up a second.” He holds his hands out. “Is thisStefwe’re talking about? Alice said he’s like the nicest person she’s ever met.”

“Yeah, I thought so too.” I run a hand over my stubble, feeling like I’m having some sort of out-of-body experience.

“Did he make out with some other guy or something?”

“No.”

“So what did he do?”

Pawlowski’s looking at me like I’m having some sort of psychotic break, and I know what I’m about to tell him isn’t gonna do much to change that. But somehow, it’s the truth.

“About a year ago, I started talking to this guy I met on a male/male romance forum.” I can’t look at him while I talk, my face is burning. “His handle was RedRum237, like the Stephen King book, so I called him horror boy, and we started… like sexting. We had an online-only relationship. But when we agreed to meet, I chickened out and stood him up at this diner we were supposed to meet at and he got a boyfriend, so our conversations just started to be platonic.”

“Okay?” He takes a seat on the bed next to me. His bulky body making the mattress sag.

“Stef told me that he’s horror boy. He’s the guy I’ve been speaking to online for the past year.”

“How is that possible? Did he know the whole time?”

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