Page 42 of Pucking Your Best Friend

Speechless, Dax stared at him. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m always here and on your side.”

“No, you arealways with Lucyand currently only onherside! At least when it matters.”

Dax’s mouth gaped. “What the hell is going on with you? Are you seriously blaming me for your unhappiness?”

Matt narrowed his eyes and sighed heavily. He was an asshole, wasn’t he? “No. I don’t want to. I’m happy for you, man, okay? But, you are…not truly present right now. And it’s okay that you spend more time with Lucy, but honestly, just because you’ve been in a relationship for two seconds doesn’t mean you are an expert. And just because I gave you a lecture about Lucy doesn’t mean you have the same right when it comes to Maddie. Because, honestly, you don’t know anything about us!”

“I…what?”

Yeah, he didn’t understand. How could he, when they hadn’t had a chance to talk in the last few weeks? “It doesn’t matter, Dax,” he muttered wearily. “Let me know when you have a free slot in your busy schedule. I’m going home. I don’t feel like company.”

He turned abruptly and pushed toward the exit. He ignored the fans and groupies who grabbed his arm, trying to encourage him to stop and chat. Man, he was tense. He hadn’t realized how much he had relied on Dax over the last few years. What would it be like when Maddie found someone and was swallowed up by a relationship like Dax?

“Fuck,” he muttered, rubbing his face when the fresh air finally hit him. There was too much change. Too much movement. That was how it had always started. His father had announced that they were moving again and his teammates had assured him that they would keep in touch. It was hard to keep in touch when everyone had better things to do, though. And he had always understood that, but it still sucked.

“Are you okay?”

He turned abruptly to see Jack exiting the bar.

“Yup,” he replied curtly.

The center nodded slowly and then said, “You know we only made the chicken jokes to piss you off, right?”

Matt chuckled reluctantly. “It’s not about the chicken jokes.”

“Then what is it about? You know I think it’s pretty cool of you to help Maddie out. You seriously have nothing to be ashamed of regarding that whole TV segment.”

“I’m not ashamed of anything, Jack,” he said matter-of-factly. “Pretty much never. I think being embarrassed is a waste of time. That’s one of my best qualities, in case you didn’t know that already. Your brother is just pissing me off right now, that’s all.”

Jack grinned. “Yeah, that was obvious. Trust me.”

Matt snorted. “Fine.”

“You may not realize it, but when it comes to being angry at Dax, I’m the best person to talk to.”

Matt rubbed his eyes with a sigh and gave him a quick sideways glance. “I get it, but I don’t feel like talking.”

“Ah, okay.” Jack nodded, folded his arms across his chest, and leaned against the wall next to the entrance of the Ice Lounge. “You know if you were a woman, people would say you just made a scene. In your case, they just say you’re in a bad mood. Both are bullshit. Women don’t make scenes. Men aren’t just in a bad mood. We all do the same thing: We express our feelings. I don’t see anything wrong with that. If I hadn’t expressed mine, Dax still wouldn’t be talking to me. He’d still be pretending I didn’t exist.”

Matt smiled weakly. “He still acts like that, Jack.”

“No. He says hello. He passes the puck to me with a smile on his face. He told you, Lucy, and Maddie about me. He doesn’t hate me anymore. This is a huge step for him. Dax is…slower than everyone else when it comes to most emotional things.”

“You don’t say.” He snorted. “You know, I’m happy for him and Lucy. Truly. I want the bastard to be happy, but…”

“He’s not good at multi-tasking,” Jack said innocently.

“Yes!”

“You know, you can be happy for Dax and still be mad at him.”

“Yeah. But it makes me feel like an asshole.”

“Why?”

“Because I should only be happy for him! Not angry with him for not having time for me anymore. Like I’m a damn kid whose mother goes back to work.” He laughed dryly at himself.

“Is that what you told him?”

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