Page 42 of Friendzone Hockey
“It is.”
He latches onto a couch pillow, squeezing it into himself. “Fuck, oh god. I was such a dick to him, but you’re right. He cares about me. It’s just so weird because I’m not used to someone so suffocating.”
Travis isn’t suffocating. He’s a tad overprotective because of what happened to Dash, but that’s it. But if Dash feels that way, his mom had to be more permissive. “Your mom was different?”
“A lot different. I didn’t even have a bedtime when I was little.” He stares into space, off in a memory.
“He’ll forgive you, Dash. He adores the fuck out of you. And—at the risk of more unsolicited advice—I’d start there. Reconnect with your dad, it’ll heal a piece of you.”
“I think you’re right. I’d better call him. He was pretty heartbroken when I told him to go fuck himself.”
“Dash Nolan,” I scold.
He flushes a pretty shade of pink. “Yeah. I was outta line. I’d better get to it.” He stands.
“For the record, I’m a man who makes his own decisions. I don’t let anyone make them for me.” With maybe one exception. A new one. From today forward all my decisions will be made through the lens of WBFD—What’s best for Dash?
“And that’s hella sexy if I’m being honest.” A soft smile cracks his face. “I’m glad we had this talk and figured this out. Now I don’t have to second guess everything I say to you or every move I make around you.”
“Is that what you were doing, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, sorta. And you might be right about the whole thing. Selfishly, I didn’t want to lose my new safety blanket. Fuck, maybe thinking we needed to be in a relationship was me locking you down, or something. Am I the worst for that?”
Does my heart crack just a little bit? Yeah, a bit. But it’s better we draw the line now when I’ve only got a … a crush. Yeah, a crush. Crushes happen and you get over them. Some last longer than others. This one’s been a long one. A growing one. I’m sure it’s reached its peak. It can drop off now. Itwilldrop the fuck off now, thank you very much.
“You’re not the worst. I promised your dad I’d look after you and that’s what I’ll do.”I’ll be whatever you fucking need.
Yes, it’s still just a crush. An insignificant crush.
“Kay. I’m gonna take your word for it. And what are the chances we can keep this between us?” He runs worried fingers through his hair. “Aside from the embarrassment I hope not to die from later, Dirk would have a conniption. I kinda sorta told him I was gonna say something to you.”
He told fucking Dirk? No wonder the guy hates me. “What did Dirk say?”
“That he’d beat my ass.” He laughs. Laughing is good. It means this is gonna wash away like the tide in a few days.
“I won’t say a word. Cross my heart. For the record, you might be a bit of a brat,” I say.
He shrugs. “Dirk is basically my brother. We fight about all kinds of shit. There’ve been plenty of times he’s told me not to do something that I do anyway. He usually caves once he sees how happy I am.”
I raise a brow. “And when you’re wrong?”
“Then he beats the shit out of whatever or whoever made me sad.” He sighs. “He’s a good friend; I should probably listen to him more.”
“In this case, I’m glad we talked. Like you said, it’ll make everything comfortable going forward.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Now, I’m gonna call Dad and then try to fall asleep with the lights on.” He mutters something under his breath to himself, but then he’s gone.
And that, folks, is how you get effectively friendzoned for life.
Chapter
Eight
NOW
Same Day
Dash
