Page 107 of The New Guy
“Stop,” I say under my breath. “Do you know how hard up I am these days?”
Our gazes collide, and his is as heated as mine. But he looks away first. “Sorry. Forgot myself there for a second.”
“Same,” I whisper. “Last night I thought about taking a giant drill and blasting through the bedroom wall.”
He snorts. “God, get out of my brain.”
We both laugh. And that’s when Henry walks in. “Hey, guys. How’s the hip?”
“Stiff,” I grumble. “But Gavin doesn’t think it’s fatal.”
Henry hangs his jacket on a peg. “I can see why you’d worry, though. We need to get you through the playoffs without a flare-up. Any new drama so far this morning?” he asks Gavin.
He shakes his head.
“That’s what we like to hear. Another three weeks of good luck. That’s what we need.”
Plus a new contract, I silently add as Gavin’s skilled hands dig into my muscles. I want to haul him onto my body and kiss him like the world is ending. What’s the point of winning hockey games if you don’t have anyone to celebrate with?
I’m twenty-five years old, and I never wondered that before this year.
But I think I’m finally onto something.
* * *
We dispense with Carolina in six games. Then, in a blink, we’re mired in round three. Tampa this time.
I’m exhausted. My teammates are exhausted. The staff is punch-drunk. My dad is ecstatic. He won’t stop calling me.
I don’t have to answer him, though, when I’m on the team bus, shuttling to Tampa’s stadium for game four. I text:Sorry, on the bus! Can’t talk. And then I silence my phone.
There’s a message from Gavin, though, so I turn my phone toward the window and read it.
Hope you’re sleeping okay on the road. Jordyn wants to know if the hotel is on the beach.
Nope, but there’s a nice pool, and I’ll get to take a run by the water if it’s not ninety degrees. What are you guys up to?
Going to see some mimes in Prospect Park. Then we’ll watch the game.
If we make the playoffs next year, I hope there’s a game somewhere fun, on the weekend. So I can fly you and Jordyn out to watch the game.
That sounds like fun.
We’ll need adjoining rooms. So you can sneak into mine for postgame adult activities.
This trip just keeps getting better.
“All right. Who’s got you smiling like that? Didn’t even know your face could do that.”
I look up quickly and find Castro, my seatmate, watching me. “Oh. Just a friend.” And, yup, I feel an instant slap of guilt, because Gavin is so much more to me than that. “A friend for now, anyway.” Even if Gavin can’t hear me, the correction feels important.
“Ahhh,” Castro gives me a knowing smile. “That kind of friend. Who is she? How’d you meet her?”
That’s the problem with lying. You have to keep doing it. I don’t correct his pronouns, of course. “In a bar, actually.”
“You sly dog,” he says. “You don’t even spend much time at the bar. You’re, like, one drink and thenI need my beauty sleep. Unless you’re cheating on your teammates.”
“Nah,” I say quickly. “Not much of a drinker. Alcohol makes me groggy. But also…” I hesitate.
