Page 23 of Lucky Sucker

—I needed a nap, and then my head hurt, so I was not looking at my phone.

—I’m ok.

Cool relief swept across my brow. My head relaxed into my pillow as I stared at the ceiling and placed my phone on my chest. Until another vibration came through.

—I still want to come over for the party, because we should talk in person.He added.

That lined up to what I was going to ask, but I felt slightly self-centered for even wanting to bring it up.

—Good. I’m glad you’re ok. If you want to come over a little earlier, we can talk. I just want to let you know, I’m already regretting pushing this on you. I just figured you’d be open to it.

My nerves hadn’t been like this since my first day on the team when I was surrounded by the Orcas who I never thought I’d fit in with.

—I’m happy to help, but we’ll talk later.

I didn’t know if it was reassuring or not, but the photo was out there, people now thought of me as gay, which—again, didn’t feel like the right label for me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, maybe because I’d never really tried to.

Birthday were a big deal for the team, it was another team building moment, we could all bring a guest into the house assuming it wasn’t a closed event, but birthdays were to be celebrated and operated on a more the merrier policy.

Wren arrived at the house in a nice, checkered blue and white shirt, representing the team colors, and a small box in his hand, as well as a tote bag on his shoulder. We were locked in a staring contest the moment I opened the door to him, not knowing how to approach the moment, did we greet with a handshake, a hug, or should I wave him on through?

“I brought something for Jack,” he said, waving the box around. “I made it. It’s nothing, but I didn’t want to come empty handed.”

“It’s not nothing,” I said. “He’s not in yet, so should we go talk?”

He nodded, slipping the box into his tote bag. “I’ve had time to think about it now, and—”

“Somewhere private,” I said, gesturing up the flight of stairs from the entryway. “My room is probably the most private place.”

“Sure.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “I’m always in awe of this place. There are so many rooms. Like, so many. How do you even allocate them?”

“Seniority,” I told him as we walked up to my room. He was more verbal and open now to asking questions, and he didn’t seem to slow down with them either. “Captain picks first, then all other seniors, juniors, then sophomores. But none of the rooms are awful.”

He nodded. “I’ve only seen yours.”

On the tour, I had only shown him my room, briefly. Some doors were open as we passed, so he might’ve seen into those as well. “I really hope I haven’t done too much damage,” I let out, a string of words all jumbled fell from my mouth. “You know, with people probably asking you about me.”

Wren shrugged. “I don’t really have social media, so I wouldn’t even know.”

My room was pristinely clean. I knew I’d be bringing Wren up to talk, and I didn’t want him to see how messy I could be. I was trying to impress him, even if there was a pair of underwear on by the foot of the bed, right in front of the mirror where I’d changed. I kicked them under the bed and caught him smile. “You want to sit?” I grabbed the back of my desk chair on wheels. “It’s a comfortable one. Good for the back and posture.”

He sat in my chair and immediately gasped. “Oh my god, is this where all the funding goes?”

“Some of it, I suppose.” I sat on the edge of the bed and spun him around to face me. “We’ve probably got about thirty minutes until everyone is ready tosurpriseJack, not like he’ll be surprised, we’ve got Jordan and Noah out keeping him occupied.”

“I realize I have the power,” he said. “And I don’t really like that. I’m not someone who likes that, I’m better at being told what to do, but obviously, there are boundaries and things, and consent, but—blugh, I’m getting off track.”

Placing my hand on his knee, I tried my best to calm him. I’d already gotten a picture of the way his anxiety had him wrapped. “I don’t want this to be a situation where I’m using you,” I told him. “I’m not even asking you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, just hold hands if we’re together in public until we can break this off and not because of anything bad, we’ll figure it out.”

He nodded. “I’m helping you with this, so maybe you can help me,” he said, his eyes at his fingers fidgeting in his lap. “The ice hockey fantasy league I’m in, I did bad last year, and I really want to do better this year. And maybe you could help me, because obviously, I can’t just pick an entire Orcas roster. So, any insight you have into the teams in the draft. And that will be the reciprocation.”

There were a lot of fantasy leagues, some of them had the Orcas in with some top D1 colleges, and others we were much better in. “I’ll throw in some skating lessons too,” he said. “You know, because I can’t be dating—fake dating someone who stops themselves by bashing into the barrier.”

Wren giggled and let out an adorable snort that tickled something in me, right where tickles shouldn’t be. This was a dangerous game I was playing now, and we were going to get hurt. “Ok,” he agreed. “So, you get me, a gay person to make you look good, and I get you, a team captain who will make me look good to my fantasy league.” He pushed out his pinky. “It’s a deal.”

“A pinky shake?”

“Yep. It’s more binding than a handshake.”

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