Page 59 of The Breakaway

"No, I didn't mean that."

"What is it, Thompson?" Heat lifted to my cheeks.

Another pause, another breath. "I need to wash my home jersey." My pulse quickened.

His jersey. I blinked, then turned my head. That would probably be in his bedroom.

I thought about pushing his door open, walking in and looking around at where he kept his clothes. Where he slept.

I swallowed hard. "Okay. No problem. Where can I find it?”

“I'll probably have time if we get back Sunday night.”

“Rob. I'm about to throw in a white load anyway. Where is it?"

"In my room. I think it's in the closet on top of my laundry bin."

"Okay. I'll take care of it. Anything else?"

Rob grunted. "It's kind of a mess in there."

I grinned. "Well, that's embarrassing because my room is always spotless." I meant it as a joke, but he didn’t laugh.

He was quiet a moment. "Thank you."

"Yeah. What are friends for, right?"

Silence.

Rob was quiet long enough, I wondered if the call had disconnected.

“I’m not your friend.” His voice was so low, I barely heard it.

When my brain caught up, it felt as if someone had their hand over my stomach, and they were starting to squeeze. “Okay, I?—”

“See you tomorrow.”

The dial tone made me jump.I’m not your friend?I pulled the receiver from my ear and stared at it. What the hell did he mean by that?

Just as I set it down, the phone started to ring, and I yanked it back to the side of my face. “What the hell did you mean by that?” I snapped.

“Uhh, hello to you, too.”

Logan. It was Logan’s voice on the other end of the line. My face burned. “Oh, hi! Sorry, I—I thought you were someone else.”

“Who?”

“Oh, just someone from orchestra.”

Logan blew out a puff of air. “That explains why your line was busy forever. I've been trying to call."

Guilt streaked through me. "Sorry, the Outlaws got snowed in at Leduc. I was on the phone with them, trying to help get things sorted for next week's invitational."

“And then the orchestra asshole?”

I laughed a little too brightly. “Yep, exactly.”

Logan drew a breath. It was quiet. There weren’t a hundred other voices sounding off in the background. "Man, I miss the Outlaws. It's great here, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing like your hometown team, you know?"

---