Page 33 of Beyond the Lines
“Or to bed to show her your stick!” Maine blurts out.
The table falls silent again, everyone turning to stare at him.
“What?” He shrugs.
“Leave him alone,” Mike says again, but this time his voice is harder, and the guys drop it. He reaches over and gives me a fist bump. “About time.”
“About time for what?” Rook asks, his fork paused halfway to his mouth, looking around for answers.
Mike grins. “Unlike the rest of you animals, Dec’s actually a gentleman. He doesn’t sleep around.”
“Hey!” I protest, heat creeping up my neck. “I’ve been with plenty of women before.”
“Yeah.” Maine snorts. “Like, what, three?”
“More than that.” I stab at my chicken, knowing the real number isactuallytwo. “I just... choose ones I’m actually compatible with.”
“Instead of what?” Rook asks.
“Instead of fucking any girl who offers,” Mike explains, then grins at Rook. “You animals can date whoever you want—except my sister—but Dec is different.”
The table falls silent.
Even Maine stops eating, which is practically unheard of.
“You have a sister?” Simon asks finally.
“Yeah.” Mike shrugs. “Andy. She’s starting here this semester.”
I lean back in my chair, studying Mike. In three years of friendship, he’s barely mentioned his family, and he’snevermentioned a sister. His parents rarely show up to games—I think I’ve seen them maybe twice—and he never talks about home. I always figured there was a story there, but I never pushed.
“Andy?” Rook perks up. “What’s she like?”
Mike’s expression darkens. “She’ll be at the Princeton game.”
Simon grins. “She cute?”
“I’ll cut your face off with the blade of a skate if you tryanything, Sim,” Mike glares. “And be extra nice—she’s had a rough summer.”
Something in his tone makes it clear that’s all he’s going to say on the subject. The table falls into an awkward silence, broken only by the scrape of forks against plates. I keep my gaze on Mike, but some of the others are clearly feeling a bit awkward about the vibe shift, because they’re looking at each other.
So I do what Mike helped me do a minute ago, change the topic, backing him up like he’d helped me. Off the ice and on it, we’ve been like that for the last three years, reading minds and firing off assists when needed. I’ll miss that when we’re both done with our senior years, unless by some fluke we land on the same NHL team.
I clear my throat. “So, Princeton game…”
The conversation shifts easily to hockey, and I watch as the tension drains from Mike’s shoulders. Whatever’s goingon with his sister, he clearly doesn’t want to talk about it. But I can’t help wondering why Mike keeps his family life so private, even as my mind keeps drifting back to Lea.
“Dec!” Maine’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
I blink, realizing everyone’s staring at me again. “What?”
“I asked if you wanted more chicken.” Linc holds up the serving plate. “But you were too busy daydreaming aboutSienna.”
The way he says the name makes it clear he knows it’s fake, but thankfully he doesn’t call me out on it. I pass my plate over, trying to ignore the knowing grins around the table, even as Linc piles my plate higher.
“So.” Rook leans forward. “When do we get to meet her?”
“Never.” I take my plate back from Linc. “Because you’re all assholes.”
