Page 52 of Cross-Check

“You came. I was wondering if you would since you were still sleeping when I left,” she tells Cora.

“I had a late night.” Cora gives me a look, making me smile.

“I heard you two talking.” She gives me a sly look. “Anyway. Grace is in the kitchen with Clay. Come, she wants to see you.”

Peyton pulls Cora, who gives me an apologetic look, toward the kitchen.

I take the seat next to Brett.

“How do you look so chipper?” he mumbles. “You drank as much as me.”

Wyatt walks into the room, chuckling. “He threw up once on the walk home and then twice more at the rink this morning. Don’t think he has anything in his body anymore.”

I glare at him. “I was being a good teammate. Bonding with my friend here.” I pat Brett’s shoulder.

“Thanks for the solidarity, but next time let’s not. Fuck, I’m gonna be sick.”

He tries to stand but struggles. Wyatt and I jump into action, getting him into the bathroom quickly before he spews everywhere. When we step out, closing the door behind him, Wyatt claps my shoulder.

“Glad you came, man. You belong here too.”

I wince at the sound of Brett retching. “Thanks.”

“Breakfast is ready,” Clay calls out.

“Let’s go before you start dry heaving from listening to him,” Wyatt says as he points toward the bathroom door.

I follow Wyatt to the kitchen where they have set out plates for everyone. The table is small, so we all opt to eat in the living room. I fill up my plate last, not wanting to take too much. As I watch them move around one another, they seem like a family. They joke and rib one another as they make their plates, each migrating to the other room.

When I finally make it in there, I see Clay sitting with Grace in his lap. For the first time, it doesn’t even faze me. Moving to where Cora is sitting on the couch, I settle on the floor, resting my head on her knee.

“You can sit here,” she tells me.

“I’m happy where I am, but thank you.” I smile up at her.

The sound of Brett’s retching comes down the hall, making me frown. “Should someone check on him?”

Beckett shakes his head. “Nah, he will be fine.”

I let it go because they know him better than I do. The conversation flows as we eat. After breakfast, the girls wave us off as they head to the kitchen to chat and clean up. I guess the guys cooked, so the girls cleaned. It’s a rule they have.

I offer to help as well, but Cora tells me to stay with the guys. Even Grace gives me a friendly smile, shaking her head no.

“Want to play some video games?” Clay asks.

“Oooh, old-school video game party?” Beckett asks, looking like a little kid despite his hangover.

“Yep. Go get your screens.”

The guys all move, so I stay in the living room with Wyatt as he sets up the gaming system there. “What’s happening?”

He looks over at me. “This is my system, so I don’t have to grab anything. The guys will all go get their TVs and systems and meet down here. You can play as the second on my system. We all play the same game online. Sometimes we play on the same team, while others we play on opposite teams.”

“That sounds interesting.”

He nods, tossing me a controller. “It is. Do you have a login for this system?”

I nod, typing it in. He adds me as a second player and loads up the game. I’m grateful it’s one I’ve played before. I don’t have a lot of time to play video games, so I will likely suck. Between hockey and Grace, I never played much in high school. I never had the time. It has me worried what the guys will think, but I swallow back the worry.

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