Page 68 of If You Love Me

“What the fuck happened to bro code?” Madden rages.

“I didn’t—” Bright tries to defend himself.

“Get the fuck over it, Madden! So I fucked your sandwich. Big fucking deal. It was two slices of bread and a couple of slices of ham. All you had to do was throw it out. You’re the one who fucked my damn shirt!”

“I cannot be hearing this right.” Who fucks a t-shirt or a food item? These two, apparently.

The team seems to be frozen in shock.

Except Bright and Stiles. They don’t look the least bit surprised.

“Everyone but Madden, Grace, Stiles, Bright, and Hammerstein get out,” Vander Zee bellows.

Vander Zee crosses his arms. He waits until the locker roomis empty before he speaks again. His voice is quiet, but it wavers with barely contained rage. “Explain yourselves.”

Grace and Madden glare at each other.

“I fucked Madden’s sandwich at the Hockey Academy.”

“Finally! You fucking admit it!” Madden fires him the bird.

“But only after you jizzed on mylastclean shirt.”

Coach Thomas coughs into his elbow. Coach Boxer does the same. Stiles rubs the back of his head, and Bright rubs his mouth to hide a smile. Roman bites into his apple with a loud crack.

I give him a look.

He licks his thumb.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two?” Vander Zee asks.

Roman and I both look quickly back to him. But of course, he’s talking to Madden and Grace.

“We were living in Pearl Lake,” Bright explains. “It was a small town, and half the population was the coaches’ kids. We were a bunch of walking hormones with nowhere to blow off steam. Bread is a lot softer than our hands.”

“Are you seriously fucking defending him?” Madden’s voice is laced with disbelief.

Bright shrugs. “He has a point. You can throw out a sandwich. Who wants to wear a jizzy shirt?”

“Who wastes food like that?” Madden looks straight at Connor who doesn’t respond.

“Why did you take Grace’s shirt, Madden?” I ask.

Madden pokes at his cheek, which have both turned a wild shade of red. “It was an accident. I thought I had some privacy, and then I didn’t, and I reached for the first shirt I could find which happened to belong to Grace.”

Grace makes a sound that indicates he doesn’t buy it.

Vander Zee pinches the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe this shit.”

“I’d be pretty pissed if someone fucked my sandwich,” Stiles offers, backing up his best friend.

“Shut the fuck up, Stiles.” Vander Zee looks ready to bench every player in this room.

“Thanks, man.” Madden tips his chin at Stiles.

I roll my eyes. Everything starts to line up. “Grace and Madden, apologize to each other. Now.”

They glare at each other.

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