Page 6 of Fresh Ice
Alonso forced a smile, still discombobulated from suddenly having so many people in the apartment. Knowing Levy, though, he shouldn’t have expected anything else. “Nice. Thanks, Killer.”
Killer pointed at Alonso. “At least one of you said thank you.”
Levy gasped. “I said thank you,” he protested loudly.
The conversation devolved into an argument. Gray rolled his eyes and nodded towards Alonso’s room.
“Noticed you already built everything. You been here awhile?” he asked.
“Yeah, since the morning. It wasn’t too hard.”
Levy perked up, shoving Killer away. “Oh, dude, I’m shit at building things. Can you help me?”
Alonso gaped at the audacity, but Killer saved him from responding. “You can’t make him build your shit after he did his own alone.”
“I’m not making him. I’m just asking,” Levy defended himself.
Killer rolled his eyes.
“Shut up,” Levy said. “You’ll help me though, right?”
Killer pinched the bridge of his nose but didn’t say no.
In the end, both Gray and Killer helped Levy set everything up. It hadn’t even crossed Alonso’s mind to ask his teammates to help him move.
It was almost eight o’clock by the time they finished, Levy ordering a pile of pizzas as payment. Levy insisted Alonso join them on the couch, an L-shaped monstrosity covered in brown corduroy.
“We gotta make a list of all the shit we need,” Levy pointed out.
“Yeah. A TV, for starters,” Alonso agreed, taking a bite of his slice.
Grey jumped in. “I just got a new one—I can tell you where I got it.”
Levy nodded. “Yeah, thanks, man.”
By the time the guys left, Alonso had to admit that hanging out with them had been…fun.
In the quiet recesses of his mind, Alonso could admit why he didn’t ask his teammates to spend time with him—he was worried that he wouldn’t live up to Levy’s open and friendly demeanour.
Still, he had to try harder.
Levy shoved the pizza boxes into the recycling bin while Alonso put the leftovers away. He grinned at Alonso when they were gone, gesturing to the rest of the apartment.
“We’ve got our own place. Isn’t that wild?” Levy asked.
“Yeah. We found a good one.”
Levy tilted his head, a rueful smile on his face. “And, look. I know you’re not my biggest fan, but I won’t get in your way, okay? If something bothers you, you gotta bring it up, though,” Levy offered.
Guilt squeezed Alonso’s gut. “I don’t…I don’tnotlike you. As in, I don’t dislike you or anything. I’ve just been focused on making the team. Sorry if I’ve come off as a bit of a dick,” Alonso apologised.
“It’s whatever. We’re teammates now, yeah? We’ve got to have each other’s backs.”
“Right,” Alonso replied.
Time would only tell if that was really the truth.
CHAPTER TWO
