Page 22 of Wilder Puck
Chase swoops in next with a hug, stealing both of our attention from Colton. Andrew offers Addie a drink, which she politely declines. I grab a beer for myself and sit at the table, trying not to overthink the Humpty Dumpty comment.
Addie takes a seat next to me as Chase asks her, “How's the coffee shop?”
Addie beams, always happy to talk about her pride and joy. “It's going well. Yeah, it’s been fun. What about you guys? I watched the game.”
Colton adds, “On a screen.”
Chase chuckles. “Yeah, you can’t be missing this man’s games from now on. We have a bet going.”
“A bet?” she questions, looking over at me like I forgot to tell her a secret.
Chase nods. “Yeah, so if you can’t make it and we lose, he wins.”
Baddie glares at me now like I’ve done this on purpose, but I shake my head and shrug. Chase said he would help, and it’s funny that this is what he had in mind.
Baddie says, “I think the Saints would’ve kicked your asses either way though.”
I laugh, rubbing my chest. “Ouch! Damn, Bads.”
“Whoa!” Chase shouts.
Colton holds up his hands. “Hey, hey, hey now.”
Andrew shakes his head.
She laughs, holding up her hands in surrender. “I'm kidding. I’m kidding. It was totally because I wasn’t there.” Now she steals my beer and steals a sip, enjoying the silence of her cruel teasing.
“It's a good thing you're Ryan's girlfriend now,” Chase says with an exaggerated head turn in my direction. “Otherwise,” he trails off.
I feel the color drain from my face.Thisis their idea of helping? Baddie plays it cool, waiting to hear what Colton will say because he is pointing his finger at her.
“Yeah,” he says, holding in his burp. “Ryan told us all about this new little uh, arrangement, you two have going on. We know everything.”
“Everything?” Baddie asks, glancing at me amused. “Like what?”
Oh god, she would ask the drunkest one for details. I try to catch Chase's gaze, silently pleading for him to shut this down, but he's deeply invested in what’s going to happen next.
“Well, maybe not everything,” Andrew argues, and I’m thankful for it.
Colton waves him off impatiently. “No, no, I know everything, bro!”
I clear my throat loudly, but it does absolutely nothing to deter him.
“I know our boy Ryan here has had it bad for you for years,” Colton states with a serious head nod.
“Years?” Addie asks, impressed. I could crawl into a hole right now.
"Years!" he confirms, nodding so hard that I’m afraid he’s trying far too hard to be convincing. “And you don't have to worry about Hailey at all, he never shuts up about you.”
“Really?” She turns to look at me and I can only shrug helplessly. I think that’s the look ofsave-me. When she turns back to him, I silently chuckle, my chest only bouncing. Chase finally turns his attention to me. He’s enjoying that I’m squirming.
“Yup!” Colton points and shrugs at me. “Look at him over there, he's got it so bad for you. But I get it, I get it, this is new for you guys. Fucking Ryan, man. He’s a good guy, Addie. You’re lucky. One lucky girl.”
Now I’m wiping my face because that was not helpful at all. I should've known they'd find a way to make this as humiliating as possible.
Andrew tries to do some damage control by changing the conversation back to her coffee shop. She seems to be taking this all lightly, but now I need to come up with quick answers because right now the guys are acting as if they don’t know about the fake girlfriend thing. And because these assholes are playing it off, do I have to go with the lie?
I make my way to the kitchen for a breather and Chase follows.
