Page 85 of Absolutely Pucked
“Because you’re an asshole who wants him to hurt, or…”
“He and I can’t be together. For obvious reasons,” I added, and he hummed softly, a concession but not quite an agreement. “I figured going cold turkey was better. I don’t want to try being friends. It hurts too much.”
Jonah sighed. “I get that, believe it or not. Everyone thinks I’m some kind of man-whore—not as bad as my brother, but you know. I date a lot, and they assume it doesn’t hurt every time it ends.”
“That sucks.”
He snorted. “It super sucks. I feel like I never get sympathy. But whatever. Look, why don’t you come to practice with me today.”
I jolted. “Oh. But…won’t people ask questions?”
“Yep. It’ll be really invasive and terrible, but I wouldn’t mind the company. I keep telling you that I like you, but it seems like you don’t want to believe me.”
“I do.”
“But…” he pressed.
“Just not feeling very worthy right now.”
“Sad sack of shit,” he said and laughed. “We gotknocked out of playoffs last week, so this practice is basically just to get a couple of the new guys oriented to the ice and whatnot.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.”
“Nah. I really didn’t feel like getting my ass kicked all the way through June,” he told me, shaking his head as he hopped off the stool and stepped away from the breakfast bar. “But the arena is nice. NHL plays there too, and it’s open year-round, so you can grab something else since you didn’t like my sandwich.”
I grimaced. “I liked it.”
“I can hear you, Killian. You took three bites. I know your ass didn’t finish a whole sub in three bites. It’s fine. It’s not my strong suit.”
He started to walk away, but I reached out and caught his arm. “I did like it. And your food has been good. I just can’t seem to keep anything down right now. Everything feels terrible.” This was worse than finding Delia in Daniel’s office with his dick in her mouth. This was worse than learning that everything I thought about her was a lie.
My heart was actually broken.
“Then coming with me is an even better idea than before. It’ll take your mind off things. Please,” he added, like he really wanted me there.
I was still feeling lost. Once again, I had no job, I had one friend left, a shattered heart, and no idea what I was going to do with my life once Daniel took the leash off my neck. So maybe cultivating this friendship wasn’t the worst idea I’d heard that week.
The team manager sent a car to pick Jonah up. He had a huge bag with the gear he didn’t leave at the arena, and he hoisted it over his shoulder like it was nothing, leading the way to the back door where all the athletes went in and out.
I’d never been into sports and had never seen a game, so it was all new to me. It felt like we were walking through underground tunnels, and the only thing keeping me oriented was the tactile strips that decorated the ground, which Jonah followed with his cane.
We came around a corner, which opened up into a larger hallway, and there were a handful of guys standing around. One of them, with very white hair and the palest skin I’d ever seen, and who was holding a guide dog harness, turned and grinned.
“Jonah! You brought a friend?”
“Yep. This is my new best friend, so you’d better be really fucking nice to him. Killian, this is Gabe. The rest of you, introduce yourselves, you godless heathens,” he demanded.
I laughed as we came to a stop near them. Two of them were very tall, practically towering over me, one with light brown hair and the other with pitch-black. They were both holding white canes and wearing glasses with thick lenses.
The brown-haired one stuck his hand out to me. “Matt.”
“Tiago,” the one with dark hair said.
“Nice to meet you.” I had no idea what to say. I wasn’t the most social guy.
“Anyway, this was fun,” Jonah said. “I’m going to point Killian to the WAGs and then meet you on the ice.” He walked off quickly, and I stole a glance behind us as I hurried to catch up.
“They’re whispering,” I said.
