Page 17 of Overtime

Olive had come out as an Omega the previous season and then sort of disappeared for weeks with some undisclosed medical condition people suspected was tied to his abuse of suppressants. Since the beginning of the current season, though, everything seemed to be on the up and up for him—he looked healthy and happy under the fall sun.

“Bro,” Zee said loudly, giving Levy a slapping hug. “Long time no see. You’re not gonna growl if I hug your guy, huh?”

Levy rolled his eyes. “God, you really are as annoying as I remember.”

Zee barked out a pleased laugh. They all said their hellos but ended up having to squeeze two-by-two through the crowd. Zee sidled up to Levy, and they immediately shoved each other like a pair of bros.

Ishir and Olive shared an exasperated look. “Should we leave?” Ishir joked.

“Yeah. We have like three minutes before they notice.”

Ishir chuckled. “Good to see you, man. How’s it going? I’m sorry I didn’t text you sooner.”

“Oh, no worries. I could have done the same. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in hockey as soon as you step foot in New York.”

“So fucking true, though. And then the playoffs hit, and you lose your mind.”

Olive snorted. “And if you don’t hit the playoffs, it’s even worse.”

“Ha! Seriously.”

“So, how are things going? I cannotbelieveZee got traded to your team. What are the chances? It’s like…kismet.”

“I know, dude. So wild.”

“Did Zee go crazy?”

“We both did, but, yeah. I mean, obviously he hasn’t been here long, but I think he likes it.” Ishir shrugged.

“Oh—Zammy, he’s playing withyou. You could be in freaking Salem and he’d be psyched.”

Salem, who had been the worst team in the league the previous year, seemed like a rough place to play. “I mean, I don’t know about that.”

“Oh, please. Hey, Zee!”

Zee turned around. “Oh, shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you guys.”

Olive waved him off. “It’s totally fine. Question, though. If Zammy was traded to Salem, and you had the option to stay here or go with him, what would you do?”

“Oh, go with him. Easy.”

Ishir scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. They’re in their second rebuild in the last ten years. Their management is a mess. You’d never win a cup there.”

“Oh, and you wanna go alone?” Zee asked, eyebrow quirked.

“No, but—”

“Then we’re going together. End of discussion. Anyway, where the hell should we eat? These lines are so fucking long—should we do a sweep, choose a couple of places, split up, order some shit and eat it?”

Ishir decided to let the point go.

They went with Zee’s plan, Ishir and Olive going to one stand while Levy and Zee went to another.

“Anyway,” Olive said. “Told ya.”

Ishir regarded Olive carefully. “Hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve changed a lot.”

The amusement left Olive’s face, but it wasn’t upset or annoyed either. “Yeah, well. I had a lot of shit going on in Juniors, what with the whole…keep the Omega thing a secret.”

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