Page 117 of Bad Teammate
“I’m so excited to see what she’s going to wear,” Austen said. “She always looks amazing.”
Tell me about it,I thought.
Three cell phones—mine, Dane’s, and Hath’s—began to ring and buzz and chime all at once. We knew that meant team business. The three of us reached into our pockets like gunslingers, but Dane won the draw.
“I’ll read it. It’s a text from Mr. Bowfield,” he said. “ ‘Hey boys. Just wanted you three to be the first to know that I’ve made a trade with Colorado.’ ”
A trade? Hath and I nervously held our breaths.
“Who’d we get?” Hath asked.
“And what’d we give up?” I asked.
Dane held up a finger as he silently read ahead. Suddenly his eyes grew wide. “Holy shit, boys.” He stared at us. “You might not like this, Reavo.”
My heart pounded. “Is it me? Did he fuckin’ trade me?”
That’d be a hell of a way to spoil the night,I thought.
“No, it’s not you,” he said.
“Well who is it?!” Hath and I roared.
“We got Jack Cameron,” Dane said. “And all we had to give up was a first round draft pick.”
“Jack Cameron?Hellyeah.” I pumped my fist. “Wait. Why’d you say I wouldn’t like the trade, Dane?”
“Cameron was the guy that tried to kill you when Niko gave you that suicide pass. Don’t you remember?”
I waved my hand. “Look, I knew he was hunting for me. I don’t care. Kid’s trying to make a name for himself out there, and I respect the hell out of his game. What matters now is that he’s playing for us. He’s going to make our back end so much bigger and faster.”
“Imagine how good we’ll be,” Hath began, “once Niko gets back and Cameron’s snapping him pucks tape-to-tape.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “Jack Cameron can really move the puck.”
Emma chimed in. “Another Jack on the team, though?”
The boys laughed.“Can’t have that.”
“We’ll have to give him a nickname,” I said.
“How ’bout we call him Denver?” Dane asked.
I shook my head. “Why, because he played for Colorado? And make him feel like he’s an outsider in Dallas? Nah, I don’t think so—he plays for us now. Fuck Denver. He’s a Devil now.”
Dane stroked his chin. “Hm. Good point.”
“Okay, how about Director?” Hath asked.
His proposal fell flat.
“Director?” Dane hated that one so much, he almost looked angry. “What kind of nickname is that, Hath?”
“Well, obviously, Jack is a nickname for John.” Hath paused, realizing he needed to explain it further. “Jack Cameron … John Cameron … as in, the movie director John Cameron … get it?”
Everyone groaned—me, Dane, Austen, Emma, I think even Hathaway himself groaned.
“Awful,” we all agreed.
