Page 2 of Puck Shots (Love The Game #6)

I chuckle and am about to lock the screen and put it away when it starts to ring with The Monkees song from that old television show. I know people don’t really use personalized ringtones anymore, but I love them.

“Hey, Calvin, what’s up?” I ask, and my brother, the nicer of the twins, replies, “Hi Cossie.”

Great, the only time he calls me that is when he’s about to ask for a favor.

“What do you need?”

“It’s not me.”

“Sure, it isn’t.”

“No, I mean, I do need something but it isn’t for me. It’s for a guy on the team; do you remember John?”

“Yeah, the second baseman, right?”

“Yeah. Well, he’s got a younger brother and—”

“I don’t do blind dates. It might have worked out for you, big brother, but no, thank you.”

“I don’t want you to date him.”

“Then what do you want?”

“He’s a legacy at KOK.”

“Oh, umm, cool, so thanks for telling me, I guess.”

“I need you to look out for him.”

“Why? If he’s a legacy, he’s already pretty much got in.”

“Yeah, but he’s sort of…shy, and John was just worried the guys might not give him a fair go.”

“So you’re asking me to, what? Rig the vote?”

“No, no, nothing like that, just maybe, keep an eye on him, that’s all. Make sure no one messes with him.”

Luka is mouthing, “What vote?” and I roll my eyes.

“Sure, okay, whatever. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Thanks.”

“No worries. I got to go. We’re headed out.”

“Wait, you don’t know his name.”

“John’s brother isn’t his name?”

“It’s Eli Morely,” he replies, and I’m not even surprised that he’s ignoring my smart-ass remarks.

That’s one thing Calvin and Tony got really good at.

Ignoring me. They’ve been joined at the hip since birth.

Fuck, before birth seeing as those fuckers grew in the womb together, identical twins, always there for each other, a built-in best friend.

Where the fuck was my built-in best friend?

I was the one they never expected. Hence the name.

Cosmo. You know the whole, humans plan and the universe laughs quote, well that’s what my parents refer to my conception as being.

“Okay, Eli got it.”

“Thanks, bro. And it was really good seeing you the other week. You should totally come hang out more.”

“Sure,” I reply, knowing I probably won’t.

It’s not that I don’t like my brothers, I love them, they’re family.

But being in Savannah with two Banana Ball players is like trying to walk down the street with a neon sign above your head.

Everyone stares, and they come up asking for photos, and guess who ends up being the guy holding the phone to take the pictures. Yep, me.

“Oh, and Ash says hi.”

I feel my smile spread across my face. Calvin’s boyfriend is a huge fan of hockey, and it was the second-best thing about my visit home.

The first being Brent. My oldest brother moved across the pond to the UK years ago and hadn’t been home in three years.

We talk all the time, and not just because he wants something.

“Tell him hi from me.”

“Cosmo says hi,” he says down the line, and then Ash’s voice comes over top.

“Hi, Cosmo.”

“Umm, Luka and Rover are waiting for me, so if that’s it…”

“Yeah. Umm, thanks, I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

“Yeah. Sure. Bye.”

I hang up and shove the phone into my pocket.

“So what did B-One want?” Luka asks, and I love the way he refers to my brothers by the nicknames they hate. That’s a real best friend right there.

“A new pledge is a brother of a guy in his team. He wants me to keep an eye on him.”

“What? Like a babysitter?”

“Nah, just you know, watch the guys don’t go too heavy on the hazing.”

“Since the Becker incident two years back, no one really gets hazed anymore. I think the worst we got was having to wash the outside of the frat house in our underwear.”

“I scored three dates out of that.” I laugh, and Luka shakes his head.

“Come on, Mr. Popular, time to fuel up for the night. This camp will be over before you know it.”

“Yeah, five days and a summer cup showdown game to go.”

“I can’t wait to be back. Do you think they’ll let us share the attic again, or do you think the work we put into it last year will have other guys wanting it?”

It’s good to hear that Luka is just as keen to share the same room we scored last year.

Other than the missing drywall and being generally shit, we also shared the space with a squirrel we named Gunther for a few months until he disappeared.

Maybe he’s still in here, hiding his nuts behind the drywall we put up.

The derelict state of the place was part of the reason we got it, but Luka’s dad’s a builder and did up the bathroom for us, so now it’s less shit.

“I bet they give it to someone else this year now that we made it half decent.”

“Riley messaged a few days ago asking if I cared if we shared it again this year. Apparently, there are a bunch of newbies rushing this year.”

“And you said yes, right?”

I don’t answer right away, and he nudges my side. “Please tell me I’m not sharing with Hewie, Dewy, and Louie?”

I laugh. “No, we’re good. It’s just us up there again this year. I think they’re probably hoping we do the rest of the work to fix it up so that when they do kick us out of there, it will be an actual livable space.”

“Phew. You had me worried for a second.”

“Hewie’s coming tonight, and I’m telling him you didn’t want to room with him.”

“It’s not him, it’s Dewey and Louie I can’t stand.”

“You mean Dennis and Leon?”

“My names are funnier. You have to admit, they look like triplets, with the matching crew cuts, bowling ball shaped heads, and arms bigger than my leg.”

“Wrestlers all look alike to me.”

“So what are we doing tomorrow?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Bueller, what do you want to do on your day off?”

“That joke works better on Ferris.”

“I know, it’s good, hey? Because it’s actually his name. So it’s funny.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.”