Page 93 of Bad Teammate
“Party?” I stammered. “I didn’t party.”
“Oh, right,” Dane said. “It’s just a coincidence you’re coming in here all late. Hey, Reavo, if I sniff your neck, am I gonna smell that menthol shit?”
The room burst into laughter.
“Seriously. I didn’t party last night,” I said. My eyes narrowed skeptically. “What’s everyone talking about?”
“Wait.” Hath tilted his head at me. “Youreallydon’t know?”
“No.”
“Oh. Hm.” Hath gestured across the room at Niko’s stall. Niko wasn’t there, and all his gear was gone, too—as if he’d removed it all. “Your roommate.”
Shit. Did he leave for Russia? What the fuck?
“Where is he?” I mumbled. “I, uh, didn’t see him this morning. Did something happen?”
“Oh no, he’s still here,” Parisi said, rolling his eyes.
“That’s actually the problem,” Dane added. “Kid is tanked and he won’t leave.”
I gasped. “What? He’s drunk?”
“Shithoused, actually,” Parisi said.
I looked at Hath to confirm, and he nodded solemnly.
“Yup,” he said. “Since you were late getting here, we figured you two went out drinking after you got home from my house last night.”
“No, I never—” I caught myself before I saidnever made it home last night.“I never saw him last night.”
“The kid can barely walk straight,” Dane said. “I mean, we’re laughing about it, but it’s actually kind of fucked up.”
A seriousness gripped the room and heads around the room bobbed in agreement.
I looked around the room with shifty eyes. “You said he won’t leave. Where is he right now?”
“Out on the ice,” Hath said. “Coach Q came in, took one look at him, and said, ‘Nope, take off your gear, you’re suspended.’ ”
“But he didn’t take his gear off,” Dane chimed in.
“Nope.” Hath shook his head. “He threw a tantrum and marched out to the ice by himself.”
“Fuck,” I grumbled. “What the hell happened?”
“We were hoping you’d know what got into him, Reavo,” Dane said.
Avoiding everyone’s eyes, I dropped my head and tied my skates.
“Nah. Beats me.”
“I’ll tell you whatIknow,” Hath said. “Coach knew Niko was playing hungover the other game. The Vicks VapoRub game? Yeah, that one. Anyway, he was waiting for Niko to slip up again so he could punish him.” Hath shrugged. “Well, here we are.”
“So he’s out there on the ice right now?” I asked, dressing myself faster, hastily pulling on my shoulder and elbow pads.
“Yup,” Parisi said.
“What’s he doing out there?”
