Page 41

Brooke

"Can we talk about the bed?" Grant asks as we get dressed the next morning.

"Nooo," I whine, putting my hands on my hips. "Don't ruin this lovely morning by talking about the bed."

"You're going to have to sleep on it someday." He laughs. "Come on, doesn't it look comfy?" He moves next to the mattress that's been leaning against my wall since it arrived.

"I know it's comfy, but it just feels weird," I pout, leaving a safe distance between me and the mattress.

"Brooke, your mattress spring poked through the fabric last night and cut me." He points to his side where, admittedly, there is a faint scratch under his shirt.

"You're making it sound worse than it was." I wave my hand dismissively at his side.

"Brooke." He moves towards me and cups my face in his hands, and I laugh at him.

"Grant."

"It's time," he says firmly, and I look up at him.

"Don't make me," I plead.

"I'm sorry," he says, opening my door to reveal Bear, who walks into the room and grabs one side while Grant grabs the other and the lift it off the bed frame.

"No!" I stamp my foot. "That's so sneaky."

"Sorry, Brookie," Bear says over the mattress. "Can't have the captain sleeping on death springs." He whispers that last part, and I widen my eyes at him as I follow them down the hall.

"Death springs?"

"Don't deny it, Brooke," Grant grunts as Bear accidentally pushes him into the wall with the mattress, and they wrestle with it between them. "Cami said she jumped on your bed the other day to gossip, and her jumper ripped on a spring."

"What's going on?" Cami pokes her head sleepily out of her room and walks down the hall into the living room.

"Intervention," Bear and Grant say collectively as they deposit the mattress outside the door.

Cami's eyes widen in excitement, immediately waking up. "It's happening," she squeals and sprints to my room. As I walk in behind her, I get to witness all five feet two of her try to manoeuvre the mattress onto the bed by herself.

"Help me, B," she begs, blowing her hair out of her eyes as she tries to lift it.

"No!" I stand my ground. "I want no part in this."

"You're being a baby!" She sticks her tongue out at me while still tugging on the mattress. "Come on, the first step is acceptance. Help me."

"I don't want to." I grab a corner of the mattress. "It feels weird."

"We will unweird it." She smiles as I help her shift it onto the bed frame before she climbs to stand on it like she's conquered it.

"How?" I huff, standing next to the bed, crossing my arms, and she reaches out and drags me up onto the bed and starts jumping.

"Come on, B." She laughs. "It's so bouncy; no wonder Adam wanted it."

"This is ridiculous." I laugh as she drags me with her, and we bounce for a bit and then lie down together, out of breath.

"Fine," I concede. "I'll give it a shot."

"Yes." She punches the air. "Not like you had much of a choice, or you would be sleeping on the sofa."

We settle into silence, and I know I need to tell her about what happened last night.

"I'm pretty sure Gunnar broke up with Sasha last night," I whisper, even though it's just the two of us.

"What!" she gasps, turning on her side to face me.

"She surprised him when they got back, but then they got into a fight, and it turns out she’s been checking his phone and she cheated on him."

"Oh my God, poor Gunnar, and I felt bad already that I didn't text him after the game, but this makes me feel worse." She bites her thumbnail nervously.

"Hey, it's not your fault." I tug her thumb away before she bites her whole nail off.

"I know, but this all just feels like weird timing." She turns onto her back and stares up at the ceiling.

"It does." I nod, agreeing with her.

"I don't want to think about it right now.

" She sighs. "Hey, what made Grant come get rid of the mattress?

" Cami asks, turning on her side and leaning on her elbow, and my eyes widen up at the ceiling involuntarily as my brain goes blank because I can't tell her we were fooling around and the spring broke.

"Um, Bear sat on it, and it cut him." I pull my lips between my teeth, nodding because that sounds believable. "I guess it was just too far having his goalie hurt."

"As it should be; protect Bear at all costs." She sits up and looks down at me, and I nod at her.

"Of course, he's our MVP."

"I'm going to pretend we didn't hear that." Grant shakes his head as he walks through the door with Bear, and Adam has joined them. "Unacceptable that you have favourites."

"Please, as if Brooke's not yours," Adam mutters low enough that not everyone can hear him.

"What did you say?" Grant turns back to him

"Nothing." Adam smiles and claps Grant on the back before diving onto the bed between Cami and me

"Adam," Cami squeals as he tickles her.

"Don't worry, Cam, the MVP is on his way," Bear shouts, jumping on Adam, and we move apart to make room for the hulking boys. I'm laughing at Bear's comment when Grant joins on my other side.

I grab my pillow and whack him with it, and he covers his head as Cami takes up my idea and grabs another pillow. Soon enough, we are all in a giant pillow fight, and at one point, Grant picks me up as a human shield against Bear.

Hearing a cough at my door, we all stop and turn. It must be a comical sight, as we've all stopped in our exact positions. Gunnar is standing there with his hands in his pockets, his hair wet from a shower. He looks low.

"Hey," Cami says first. I turn to look at her, and she's giving him a tentative smile.

"I thought we were getting rid of the mattress." He nods down at the mattress we are all standing on.

"Death springs," we all say unanimously in response.

He chuckles, and we all let out a breath of relief as he holds a hand out. "Who's going to give me their pillow?"

Adam launches a pillow at Gunnar's face, and he catches it with ease before striding across the room and jumping up onto the bed with the rest of us. "Who's winning?"

"Us," the boys, Cami, and I say before launching the assault again. I smack Bear's face as Cami hits Grant, and Gunnar takes on Adam. Before long, my pillows look misshapen, and we have all ended up lying across my bed, exhausted.

"Night of drinking plus pillow fight," Cami groans, holding her stomach. "Terrible mix."

"Agreed. " I turn my head onto Grant's shoulder, closing my eyes, tempted to take a nap.

"You okay?" Bear asks Gunnar.

"No," he says honestly, "but this helped; text me next time I'm about to miss a pillow fight."

"Why does everything revolve around Brooke's stupid belongings?" Adam scoffs.

"Oh, the mattress is stupid when you can't have it anymore, huh?" I lean over Grant to look at him, and Grant holds me back, as if I'm about to attack Adam.

"You lost it in a bet when you were supposed to sell it to me," he yells back, practically climbing over Bear. "Zero-star seller."

I gasp, clutching my heart as Grant sits up, hugging me to him, and Bear pushes Adam off.

"Enough, you two. Who's up for grabbing some brunch?" Bear asks, heaving himself up.

"I'm game." I yawn. “I need coffee."

Grant stands with me still in his arms, and we both look at each other for a second before he drops me, and we pretend it didn't happen in case Cami is watching.

"Gunnar, can we talk before we go?" Cami asks, still sitting on my bed cross-legged, and we all turn to see his answer.

"I think that's a good idea," he answers.

"I'm going to wear this," I say to the boys as I walk to the door, leaving them to talk in my room. "Let's go. We can meet you two there."

As we exit the apartment, Grant heads toward his door.

"Where are you going?" I call out as he disappears inside, and we wait by the stairs.

"To get you a pair of sweatpants, Brooke, it's the middle of winter," He says as he walks back out. "Those are the shortest shorts I've ever seen. I won't make it through brunch."

I laugh as I take them from him and step into them; they are so baggy I have to roll them over twice, but I smile up at Grant before hopping down the steps behind Bear.

"Why is she so happy?" I hear Adam ask as they follow me down.

"She knows I'm going to get her an iced caramel latte to say sorry for making her keep the mattress." Grant sighs.

"Does it not freak you out that she drinks iced coffee all year round?" I see Adam shake his head as I turn around once I reach the jeep's passenger door.

"She says it goes to her veins quicker." Grant shrugs, pressing the key to unlock the jeep from the other side. I get in, still able to hear and eavesdrop on their conversation, smiling.

"Dude, that's not how it works." Adam snorts, opening the back door.

"I know, but she gets all happy sipping on her iced lattes, so I let her think that." Grant chuckles before sliding in next to me, and I beam at him, making him smile back at me

"What's that smile for?" he asks me, and I just shake my head back. "No reason," I reply, looking out the window and internally swooning at him being sweet.