Page 38 of The Poster Boy
“Seriously, Brooksie, what’s up with you?” Boone asked as he paused the movie we’d been watching. Well, the movie he’d been watching. I’d been staring at the TV but stuck firmly in my head.
“Nothing, just thinking about stuff, that’s all.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Stuff.”
“Yeah. Stuff.”
Boone raised one eyebrow, unimpressed with my answer. “You’re thinking so hard you practically have smoke coming out of your ears. I know you’re keeping something from me.”
Unsure what to say to that, I simply shrugged.
He ran a hand through his hair. “You can talk to me, you know.”
“I know I can, Boone.” I had to give him something. Not only was he my best friend, but he was a dog with a bone. He wasn’t about to let it go unless I did. “I’ve just been thinking about my life after the game.”
“You’re still young, Jay. You have plenty of good years in you.”
“I know that, but it still doesn’t stop me from wondering what’s next, you know? Who will I be without a team around me? What will I do, if not play hockey? And I don’t exactly have a banging social life.”
Boone’s look of concern made me shift in my seat and wish I’d just told him that I’d been getting railed by Marek Myers, the goalie everyone thought I hated. Even the media had picked up on my animosity, blaming it, thankfully, on some easy saves he missed and not anything more sinister.
The truth of it was that I hadn’t realized how lonely I’d been. I wore my bad attitude like a suit of armor to protect myself, but it also kept people out. Not Marek, though.Marek had peeled my armor off and gotten under my skin. The impression he’d left after our first encounter was enough to draw me to him a second time. Enough to make me ache for a third. And for the first time since Boone and I started living together, I regretted having a roommate.
If Boone wasn’t here, I could invite Marek over. And maybe he’d stay the night. Maybe I’d get to experience waking up next to someone. I wasn’t inexperienced in a lot of ways, but there were some things that I’d never done. Like spend the night with someone. I’d always ducked out, or they did, or the hookup was a quickie in a bathroom stall or a closet.
Until Marek, I hadn’t realized how bone-crushingly lonely I’d made myself. I let Boone in, but only to a certain point. Unless I was willing to change, things would stay the same. I’d stay the same.
If I wanted things to be different, I had to be different.
“I’m seeing someone. Kind of. I think.”
Boone’s eyebrows rose up into his hairline. A slow smile spread on his face. “Well, it’s about damned time. I have to admit, dude, for a minute there I was worried you were going to tell me you had some sort of incurable disease.”
“How on earth did you jump to that conclusion?”
“You were broodier than usual. I figured it had to be something serious. Leave it to you to have an existential crisis over getting laid, though.” Boone slapped my chest, and I gave him a shove in return. “So little Brooksie Wooksie is growing up and has himself a real life booty call.”
“This is why I don’t tell you anything.” I got to my feet and headed to the kitchen. Boone followed me like a faithful puppy, hot on my heels.
“Au contraire, this is why you tell me everything.” Hestopped and thought for a moment, screwing his eyebrows together. “Well, not everything. I don’t need to know the specifics of your hookups.” He leaned on the counter and watched me pull a bag of popcorn out of the cupboard and pitch it into the microwave. “So… who’s the lucky guy?”
I turned my attention to the microwave and waited for the popcorn to start popping. “I met him on an app.”
“Wait. Did youactuallyhook up after I told you that you needed to get laid? Oh, my God, you did, didn’t you?” Boone seemed far too pleased with himself, and I regretted bringing any of it up.
“Well, if you’re still taking orders from me, you could tell me who this heartthrob is who has you tangled up in knots.”
I shook my head and tossed him a look that I hoped conveyed my innermost thoughts ofare you for real right now?
“Come on. Do you have a picture of him?”
“His picture on the app is just his torso, so no, sorry. Besides, I don’t ask to see pictures of your hookups. Don’t be weird.”
“Hey! It’s perfectly normal for me to hook up. You, however, probably had a layer of dust on your dick.”
“I assure you, Dad, he’s real, we’re safe, that’s all you need to know.” The popcorn finished popping, and I grabbed it from the microwave and tore it open. I shoved a handful in my mouth before passing the bag to Boone.
“Are you sure you’re safe?”
