Page 52 of Lucky Sucker

“What?” I asked.

“It was only the business section,” he continued to defend himself. “Anything that mentions me gets cut out and sent to my mom.”

“As long as it’s nothing I write,” Wren said.

“As long as it stays positive,” Dixon countered. “But I’m sure it will, unless the two of you break it off, then I’m sure you’ll be a professional.”

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll always be a professional. I wouldn’t sacrifice journalistic integrity over something personal.”

I pulled him into a hug around his side. “See, I told you he’s great. And cute.” I finished getting the breakfast ready. I knew we had to leave soon, and he would want to go spend the day at home surrounded by all his things, which I could appreciate and understand.

The entire groups reaction to having Wren around was refreshing. Usually, whenever a guy brought a girl home and she stayed around, there would always be side conversations in the group chat talking about them, asking when they were going to leave.

It hit me. Of course, the side conversations were going to still happen.

I just wasn’t going to be part of them because it was about me.

It was about us. Like a gut punch, the realization hit and I couldn’t think of anything else.

“Liam,” I said, walking towards him as I left Wren to finish his breakfast.

“Yo, what’s up?”

“Your phone,” I said.

In his hand, he tried slipping it into his pocket. “Why? What do you want it for?”

“I wanna ee what you’re all talking about. I know what happens.”

He sighed and showed me. “Listen, it’s nothing, really.”

The conversations weren’t that bad. They were jealous that Wren would write more about me because I was dating him. It was clear there was still some form of plot to try and get me off the team, which was wild considering I was a senior, I’d put in the time, getting me taken off the time was going to be near impossible. Whoever it was had some wild idea, and I couldn’t narrow it down because the group chat was everyone in the house except for me.

“Wren’s not going to talk about me all the time,” I said in a hushed tone. “If anything, he’s going to be more conscious of it. He’s going to be trying to talk as little about me as possible in the paper.” Wren’s anxieties weren’t new to me, I’d seen them, and I’d witnessed what anxiety did to a person, forcing them to second-guess their every action.

“I know that, I do,” Liam said, taking his phone back. “But there are others who think he’s gonna be a distraction. And we’re not just saying that because coach mentioned it.”

The agenda was clear. I’d tried not to make it feel like it, but last night should’ve been proof that I wasn’t going to put a relationship above the game. I’d enjoy them both equally, for their own thing. “If anything, I think he makes me play better. Knowing he’s watching. You should try it sometime, you know, finding someone to date.”

He scoffed. “Come on, I don’t have the time to go out on dates.”

“Neither do I.”

“Yeah, well, Wren’s always around. I’m not exactly swimming in options. Am I?”

I didn’t know the answer to that, because I didn’t know how he aligned himself sexually, or anyone else in the house, except for some of those in relationships already, and they made it work by being with people who were also on sports teams.

Wren came to me, a hand on his stomach after finishing his breakfast. “I’m gonna go get my bag,” he said. “I should write my article before all the excitement goes away.”

“Don’t forget to mention me,” Liam said. “Please.”

He chuckled. “Obviously. You had some great plays. But I think you could do better if you let the other team come to you. You do much better when you can take a firmer stance rather than when you’re focused on going forward.”

We both blinked wildly, looking to each other.

“Ok, I see why coach wants you around,” Liam replied with a snort of laughter.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just have my own idea of how I see people play the game and I think holding back if where you could become stronger. Like, you—you are clearly already very strong, but I mean, like you aren’t exactly streamlined.”

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