Page 126 of Empty Net

Hayes raises his hand. “Makes you feel any better, I had no clue until just now.”

“Dude, how?” Lawson asks him.

“I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve been busy raising a kid and juggling a new nanny and Quinn’s school schedule.”

“Whatever, but it was pretty obvious.”

“How was it obvious?”

Lawson shrugs. “I don’t know, man. Kinda weird how he was allegedly secretly seeing Lilah before New Year’s and then suddenly they were engaged when they spent ThanksgivingandChristmas apart. You don’t exactly do that with someone you’re so in love with that you’re getting engaged that quickly. Just didn’t add up.”

“Shit,” Hayes mutters. “I guess that does make sense.”

I look at Keller.

He lifts a shoulder. “Just knew you were full of shit. Good at reading people and you’re a terrible liar.”

“I am not. We fooled plenty of people.”

“Maybe old, senile people. Locke excluded, obviously.”

“I’m not fucking old,” Locke growls at Keller, though I don’t know why he bothers anymore.

I look at each of them. “So none of you care?”

They all shake their heads, and that relief I’ve been dying for hits, but it doesn’t completely chase away the ache that’s been in the middle of my chest for days.

“You don’t look entirely good with that. Should we be upset?” Lawson asks.

“No. I mean, yeah. Sort of. I lied, so that’s pretty shitty of me.”

“Fuck’s sake. Here comes the ‘good boy’ complex.” Keller drops his head back on a groan, but all I can focus on is two words.

Good boy.

They send a shiver right down my back, and unfortunately for me, they notice.

“Okay, one, that was gross.” Lawson points at me. “I know that reaction there,good boy.”

I narrow my eyes at him for using it again.

“Two, you don’talwayshave to be so…so…well, honorable. You’re allowed to just be a regular shitbag like the rest of us.”

“Speak for yourself on the shitbag front,” Keller says.

Lawson flips him off, eyes still on me. “It’s not like you lied to be malicious. You did it for a good reason.”

“Ever thegood boy.”

Now it’smewho flips Keller off. He snickers.

“So, we’re good,” Lawson says. “Stop worrying that handsome head of yours, okay? Need you focused in net tonight. We have a playoff spot to keep.”

Everyone gets pumped at that. We’ve managed to not only recover from our slip to fourth place but jump all the way to second. We’re crushing it right now, and the only thing I want more than to continue that is for things to go back to normal with Lilah.

“Shit, guys.” I pull the towel from around my neck and toss it into the laundry bin. “Thanks, I guess. For being so cool about it, I mean.”

“Oh, we’re not really ‘being cool.’ We’re going to mock you endlessly for this one,” Hayes says. “Give it time.”

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