Page 29 of Unrecognizable Player

“It’s just chaperoning their date right?” he asks, looking up like he’s missed something.

Chaperoning? Okay, I’ll go with that.“Yeah.”

“So, you take one for the team.”

Wow, charming.

“Great, I’ll let Alice know.”

“Cool, and ask her where she wants to go, Mischa’s hopeless at that shit.”

“You know she’ll probably force us to go and listen to heavy metal music.”

He shrugs, still distracted by all the work he has laid out in front of him and jittery from what looks like his third cup of coffee.

I spend the rest of the night in a very one-sided conversation with Alice about date venues and potential outfits and if I think this guy I’ve never seen is cute. I end up saying yes, because if the whole hockey team looks anything like Alexei, then the guy could probably be immortalized in marble.

8

ALEXEI

Ithought I could hear banging. I told myself it was a dream, but now I can definitely hear voices. Someone shouting.

I try to ignore it, thinking it’s the neighbors out in the hallway, but it’s definitely closer than that, and then I recognize Stef’s voice.

I get up and throw a shirt on before going out to see what all the noise is about.

There’s some guy standing in the doorway and Stef looks like he’s trying to close the door in his face, but he’s jammed his foot in the door so he can’t. When I get closer, I recognize him as that asshole Stef was arguing with in the street.This fuckin guy!

“What’s the problem?”

Stef’s head snaps in my direction. He looks fucking scared. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you-”

Is he scared of me or this asshole?

“Is this guy bothering you?” I ask before he can apologize anymore. He obviously didn’t invite this asshole here, so what’s he got to apologize about?

“Who are you?” The guy asks.

“Who the fuck areyou?”

The guy looks taken aback, like no one ever spoke to him like that before.

“I’m Stef’s boyfriend,” he says.

Before I can say anything, Stef cuts in. “We broke up and I told you to leave me alone.”

I immediately go on high alert.

“We had a little disagreement.” The guy says. “But I’m here to talk to him.”

I look at Stef. He looks like he’s gonna start crying.

Heart pounding in my ears like I’m about to skate out onto the ice, I step around him so I’m between him and this jackass.

“Doesn’t look like he wants to talk to you, so why don’t you get your foot the fuck out of my door before I put mine up your ass.”

He’s surprised enough for me to slam the door in his face. I wait a second to see if he’s gonna start pounding on the door. If he wakes my neighbors up, I’ll have to go out there and throw him out myself. I listen until I hear his footsteps heading towards the stairway. When I turn around, Stef looks like he’s gonna cry. “Alexei, I am so sorry-”

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