Page 49 of Pucked Up

“Bro. He can skate circles around these fucking teenagers.”

“I’m not arguing that,” I said, throwing up my hands in surrender. “His talent is quite unmatched.”

“And the Paralympics thing was all me—and a little bit Ford. Like, you get that, right? He was coming off a really shitty fight with his dad, and I wanted out of there. I felt like all that attention was going to flay me alive, and I was being a selfish prick and didn’t want to go down alone. I regret it so much.”

I believed him. His tone was heavy with his guilt. “It won’t be held against him forever. If he can keep his attitude toward me in check—at least in front ofpeople who matter—he won’t have a problem getting offers.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

I sighed and shrugged. “It’s alright. I think he and I have come to an understanding.” Tucker raised a brow at me. “Mostly.”

He snorted. “Yeah. I mean, that’s basically Bodie. He will fight. He will make it bloody. But he knows what he wants, and he’s not going to fuck up again. He already made that mistake once.”

My heart sped up a few beats. It shouldn’t have been so sexy, but it was. Christ, I was in trouble. “I trust him to do what he needs to do.”

Tucker’s jaw tightened, and he stood, taking a step back before pausing. “You actually give a shit about him, don’t you?”

I nodded.

His head tilted to the side. “Okay, but…why? Respectfully, because I love him more than I love myself most days, but he doesn’t usually inspire this kind of faith or kindness in people. That’s usually Ford’s job.”

I smiled. Ford was kind of the team marshmallow, even if he was also a bit of a goblin. “I see potential in him. Not just in hockey but as a person. He’ll be okay.”

Something in Tucker seemed to unknot. His shoulders sagged, and he breathed a little deeper. “You get him.” He bit his lip, then said, “Most people don’t.”

That made my heart ache. “Someone will.”

“I hope so. Thanks again. Oh, and, uh, if you want a second A, go for Coop. He’s a good guy.” He shot me finger-guns, clicking his tongue a few times, then slammed the door hard on his way out.

Sitting back, I allowed myself to feel the silence of the room, and then I grabbed my phone off my desk and opened up a text thread that only had a handful of messages in it. And none were particularly kind. But I ignored them all and scrolled to the short thread I had with Boden and began to type.

Me: You inspire a lot of love in your friends, Boden. And you inspire things in me I didn’t expect.

Boden: Don’t fucking get sentimental. Get horny.

Me: I can do that. Do you need to unwind?

Boden: My dad called. I could use a break, but Tucker and Deo will be here tonight.

Me: Do you want to come here?

Boden: I don’t want to impose. And anyway it’s not a good idea…

Boden: Is it?

Me: You already know what my answer would be, petit feu. I’ll send you my address and you can decide what yours is.

Boden: Uh. Thanks, I guess?

Me: Any time.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

BODEN

What was I doing?Oh God, what was Idoing? Panicking, that was what. Everything was changing, my dad was calling me more for some god-awful reason, my apartment was too quiet, and there was a weight on my shoulders now about the fucking community league hockey that hadn’t been there before.