Page 90 of Unrivaled

Try as he might, Max couldn’t connect the dots. He glanced at El, who shrugged, then looked back at Hedgie. “Is this you coming out as bisexual and telling us you think he’s a snack? Because I agree, but dude’s taken.”

Hedgie rubbed a hand over his forehead. “No, that’s not…. Look. He said I needed to tell you what I said to Armstrong on the ice.”

Max went cold all over. “What? Why would he say that?”

“Because apparently I’m the reason he’s ghosting you.” He raised his head. “I swear to you, Max, I didn’t do it on purpose. I have no idea why he’d get so….” He spread his hands.

Fuck. Max swallowed. “What did you say?”

“That’s the thing. I barely remember. Like, it wasn’t super memorable to me, but I must’ve set him off somehow. I probably said something about Christmas? Because I knew the two of you spent it together.”

No, that couldn’t be it. “He knew you knew about us. He might not have appreciated it, but he wouldn’t have ghosted me over it.”

On the other side of the couch, El had called up the game on ESPN+ and was fast-forwarding through it. “What about here?”

The TV showed the end of the second period, when Grady went down with Hedgie on top of him.

“I was mostly apologizing,” Hedgie said. “I basically tripped over him. I probably made a joke.”

Max needed to understand what had happened to make Grady react the way he did. “Please try to remember.”

El turned the volume up. Neither Hedgie nor Grady had been wearing a mic, but the rattle they made as they hit the boards got picked up anyway. Finally Hedgie’s expression brightened. “Okay, so I was thinking about the sound it made when we collided, and you and Grady, which, sorry bud, but I see your tattoo way too often and know way too much about your sex life. So I said something like ‘didn’t mean to smash you like a lobster.’”

Max’s bile rose. “Oh fuck. No wonder he hates me.”

El sat up and put her hand on his leg. “Hey, come on. He doesn’t hate you—”

“No, he would.” He pressed his balled fist into his thigh to distract from the churning in his stomach. “I know it was a coincidence, but he thinks I told Hedgie something really personal and then he used it against him on the ice.”

Hedgie flattened his lips. “Okay, but he didn’t have to assume the worst and then ghost you.”

No, he didn’t. The least he owed Max was to tell him to fuck off in person, even if he didn’t believe Max’s explanation. “I didn’t say I wasn’t pissed, I said I know why he thinks I’m an asshole.”

His stomach turned over again. He felt like he’d been gut-punched.

Why was Grady so fucking determined to believe the worst of Max? Hadn’t Max treated him well enough to deserve the benefit of the doubt? The least Grady could do was have the spine to tell Max why he ditched him.

Max rubbed his face. “Well. That’s that mystery solved, I guess.” He wished knowing made him feel better.

El picked up the M&Ms bag and handed it over. “You need these more than I do.”

Max already regretted eating so much chocolate. “I think I better eat something more substantial.” With a sigh, he stood up and considered the contents of his kitchen. “Forget the snacks. I’m going to go find myself some dinner.”

El and Hedgie exchanged glances. “We could order takeout,” she offered.

“Thanks.” Max shook his head. He needed to fume in private. “Maybe next time.”

GRADY WASN’Tsure how road trips were going to go with his new team—a lot of people had travel superstitions and designated seat partners—but right after he sat down, Mitch took the seat next to him, so he didn’t have to worry about being left out.

Then Farouk took the seat in front of him and turned around, hugging the top of his seat as he put his head on his arms.

“So listen,” Farouk said, “we’ve got a weird tradition.”

Grady glanced from him to Mitch, who said, “It’s notweird.”

From this, Grady gleaned that it definitely was. “Okay.”

“And you’re the new guy, so it’s your turn for initiation into tattoo roulette.”

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