Page 51 of Wilder Puck
“Bro, she’s my best friend. She’s going to see straight through that and run.”
“Oh, she’s a runner?” Chase asks.
“She’s a runner, she’s a track star,” Colton laughs.
I ignore him and nod. “A track star, yeah.”
Andrew asks, “Why can’t you be upfront with her? Why is she a runner? Did she get her heartbroken before?”
I shake my head slowly, knowing exactly what it is. “No. It’s complicated.”
Chase’s lips pull to the side. “But you know what it is.”
I nod. “I do. If I’m honest with her, it’s going to freak her out. Just like last night. I was honest that I don’t want to date anyone. I even told her that I like what we have going, and it didn’t go well.”
Colton says, “It sounds like you need to stay focused on the sex.”
Andrew shakes his head and laughs.
Chase says, “And I think you need to be honest.”
I look to Andrew for his advice.
He looks deep in thought as he says, “Fuck it. Do both.”
“Both?” I scoff. “How?”
Colton snaps his fingers at me. “Make it romantic, make love to her, talk dirty, and then tell her how you feel.”
I glance around the bus. “That’s the most sensible shit you’ve said this entire time.”
“Hey,” Colton smirks. “We’re not all like Ryan Wilder, man. You have it all.”
I shake my head. “I don’t.” Now I’m nodding. “I don’t have all my shit together. I fucked up. And if she finds out, she’s not going to talk to me anymore.”
Colton stops smiling. “What did you do, man? Stuff her ex in your trunk?”
“Christ, no.”
Chase and Andrew watch me, waiting for what I’m about to reveal.
I sigh like the dumbass I am. “I bribed her landlord into putting me on her lease, so that I could pay the extra $400 rent increase because I need her at my games instead of at another job. But she’s keeping the damn job and not coming to my games anymore.”
“What?” Chase asks, disappointed.
“You did what?” Andrew asks. “And her not coming to your games is a problem?”
Chase shakes his head in disappointment. “This is getting worse by the minute.”
Colton doesn’t seem to think it’s bad.
I nod at Andrew. “It’s a big problem. She’s come to every one of my games since college. I need her there.”
“Is that why you let those fuckers win the last game?” Colton asks.
I laugh, running a hand through my hair. “She wasn’t there. She’s my good luck charm.”
“So, get her fired.”
