Page 89 of Unrivaled

She shot him a flat look. The effect was ruined by the way she was lying, which made her look like her chin came directly out of her boobs. “Imagine being stuck in the house with a baby for six months because there’s ten feet of snow on the ground.”

“You could get a little snowmobile,” he said. “Maybe a dogsled. And at least the baby won’t be a newborn in the winter.” Another M&M hit his forehead dead center. “Ow. Hey.”

El huffed. “You’re not helping.”

You’re not usually this dramatic, Max wanted to say, but he didn’t want to get pegged with another chocolate, so he kept it to himself. El was growing a whole new human. She could be as dramatic as she liked. “Sorry. You know there’s nothing to those rumors, right? Hedgie’s agent confirmed it.”

She sighed and rubbed her stomach again. “I know. But I’ll be on edge until the trade deadline passes anyway. Hormones are seriously the worst.”

“I believe you.”

El turned onto her side and regarded him seriously. “What about you? How are your hormones doing?”

Oh Jesus. “Did I relapse into a teenager when I wasn’t looking?”

“I’m just saying. Pretty sure I heard you blasting early Taylor Swift the other day. If the shoe fits….”

“Harsh, but fair.”

“You still haven’t heard from Armstrong, huh?”

Max reached for the party-size bag of M&Ms and grabbed a fistful. “My last text came back as undeliverable. Pretty sure he blocked my number.” Chocolate might not fill the void inside him, but he’d never know until he tried.

“What the fuck.”

“That’s what I said,” Max mumbled around a mouthful of candy. Depending on the day, thinking about it made him either angry or depressed as fuck. In any case, he needed chocolate.

“Save some of those for me,” El said.

He passed her the bag.

On the television, Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts kissed.

El sniffed. “This is so dumb. I miss action movies. I hate that I’m loving this. I hate that I’m crying about it. I hate that I want to watchEver Afternext.”

A bird may love a fish, Max thought,but where would they live?A secret romance story with a happy ending would hurt to watch, but maybe it would be cathartic. “Done.”

But Hedgie came back in before they could put it on. “Hey, turn on TSN.” He sat on the ottoman.

Oh fuck.Max automatically reached for the remote and obeyed before his brain could process.

… replacing Monsters head coach Jason Saunders. New Jersey’s front office released a statement of support for Saunders, who has taken a leave of absence in order to seek treatment for addiction—

“Jesusfuck,” Max said. He snapped the TV off. “Addiction to what?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Hedgie raised a hand to his face and touched the side of his nose.

“Christ.” Max groaned. “Who’s in charge now?”

“Well, if you’d left the stupid thing on—”

Max turned the TV back on, but the program had switched over to something involving a doping scandal. “Damn.”

Hedgie rolled his eyes. “They’re promoting Wells.”

Their assistant coach thought Max’s best use was drawing penalties because his goals didn’t make the highlight reels. Max assessed the M&Ms along with the mounting pile of bad news and made a prediction. “We’re gonna need more snacks.”

“Yeah. About that.” Suddenly Hedgie’s shoulders tensed, and his head drooped between them. He looked miserable. “I got a text from Baltierra while I was out.”

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