Page 3

Crew

W hen my eyes peeled open, I saw a mess of blue streaks on the pillow beside me, questionably close to me.

When she started stirring, gradually moving towards me, I rolled over so that my back was facing her. I secretly felt around for my phone, moving at a snail’s pace in hopes that she wouldn’t realize I was awake.

The second my phone was in my hand, I shot Lane a text.

Me: The girl from last night is still here

Lane: Okay. And?

I froze when I felt the mattress move beneath me, followed by the small of her hand on my back. My eyes widened, and I remained as still as possible while responding to Lane.

Me: She’s trying to cuddle

Lane: Hahah cuddle with her then

Me: Um, no?

“Good morning,” Lucy said.

I squeezed my eyes shut, sighing underneath my breath before shifting onto my back. “Good morning.”

“Have you been up long?”

“Nah, just woke up. You?”

“Yeah, I haven’t been up long,” she said, dropping her head onto my shoulder. “Kinda hungry though. Would you want to go get breakfast?”

Lord, help me.

I gulped. I needed an excuse. Any excuse.

I slyly pulled my phone out by my side where she couldn’t see, typing with my free hand. “Uh, I’m not really ready to get up yet,” I said casually.

“That’s fair. We can lay down for a bit longer.”

Me: Oh gosh, now she’s asking if I wanna go get breakfast with her. Help me

Lane: How do you expect me to do that?

Me: Knock on my door and pretend we have practice or something

Lane: No

Me: No?! Why the hell not?

Lane: Because you’re a child

I could feel a growl get stuck in my throat and I choked it down, pulling up Cody’s contact instead.

If anyone in this house understood shit like this, it was Cody Holtz.

Me: Help me

Cody: What’s wrong?

Me: Level 10 clinger. Come bang on my door

Cody: On my way

Within sixty seconds, there was a loud fist pounding against the door.

“What?” I shouted, pretending to be clueless.

“Get your ass up! We’ve got practice in thirty!” Cody yelled.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled, running a hand over my eyes. “I’m sorry. I totally forgot we have practice.”

Lucy’s brows knitted slightly. “You have practice on Sundays?”

“Uh, yeah,” I lied.

“Damn, that must suck,” she said.

“It does.” My conscience was shunning me, but I was trying to brush the remorse off.

We did have to go lifting today, so I guess it wasn’t a total lie.

“Well...” she muttered with disappointment, sitting up. “I guess I’ll head out then.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again. But I did mean it. Just not for the reason she thought.

“No worries.”

I bit my bottom lip as I watched her get dressed. Fucking dammit. If I wasn’t practically kicking her out right now, I’d be pulling her on top of me.

Instead, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and grabbed the closest pair of pants there was.

Once Lucy was entirely dressed, she turned to me. “Can I... get your number?”

“Yeah, of course,” I said. She handed her phone over and after I typed my number in and handed it back, I walked her out, giving her a friendly hug beforehand.

Cody was sitting back against the couch, a smug smile on his face. I joined him.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“Thanks. You’re a lifesaver,” I replied genuinely. “What happened to the girl you were with?”

He sat forward. “Get this,” he tapped me with a shrewd smirk. “Took her back from Stallions last night, fucked, laid there for a bit, fucked again , and then she just got up and left!”

My mouth fell open. “You didn’t even have to ask her?”

“Nope,” he shook his head. “I passed out right after the second time and when I woke up in the middle of the night to piss, she was gone.”

I fell back against the couch. “That sounds so nice. Those are rare. Only happened to me once.”

Cody Holtz was one of the best goalies in the NCAA. He was just as good of a playboy as he was a goalie. With the infamous “hockey player haircut”, he was rocking the flow, which I could never pull off. But with Cody, girls flocked to him, always complimenting his hair.

It was hardly ten a.m., and I wasn’t surprised that the rest of the guys were still asleep. I also wasn’t surprised that the house looked like it had been ransacked.

Dirty dishes littered the tables, and random shit was all over the floor— blankets, backpacks, snack wrappers, red solo cups.

Nine times out of ten, the house was a mess. Lane usually dedicated time every few days to cleaning, and he’d make us help most of the time, but sometimes he’d tell us we were messing stuff up and would send us to go do something else.

One time, Lane asked TJ to wipe down the countertops in the kitchen and gave him the all-purpose cleaner for it.

Instead, TJ tried using straight bleach and spilled it all over the floor. The house reeked and was almost unbearable to be in for a whole day.

Slumped against the couch, I watched Lane appear from the kitchen with a glass of water, plopping down on the recliner in the corner. Face scrunching together as he glanced around, he didn’t say anything, but it looked like he was about to gag.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the house always looking like this. But Lane? It absolutely disgusted him. So much so, that he insisted we moved. As his best friend, I couldn’t say no. He was going to move either way, whether I went with him or not, and we’d lived together for years now, so the thought of living without Lane was a bit jarring.

Our new apartment was only two blocks away from the hockey house, so luckily, we could come hangout whenever we wanted. It was also right across the street from Stallions, which was extremely convenient since our team could be found there all throughout the season. It would be nice in the winter, because our freezing cold walks would be much shorter.

I narrowed my eyes at him, remembering how unhelpful he was this morning. “You’re a dick,” I muttered to him.

He smirked. “Why? Because I didn’t help you solve the problem that you created for yourself?”

“Yes,” I said sharply. “Brothers are supposed to help clean up each other’s messes, regardless of how dumb they are.”

His face dropped and his voice fell with it. “C’mon, bro. Don’t hit me with that.”

I took in his sullen expression, knowing exactly what was on his mind. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

My brother was a whole decade younger than me, same with my sister. I didn’t know what it was like to have a sibling I was close with, to grow up with them, to share a womb with them.

And ultimately, to lose them.

I’d probably go insane if I lost either of my siblings, and half the time, I didn’t even like them.

He responded with his head down. “It’s alright. I know what you meant.” Everyone was silent for a few moments until Lane spoke again. “We need to pack.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, tipping my head back. “Why today? We’ve got all week.”

“Because I know your ass won’t do shit during the week and you’ll wait until the last minute.”

Cody stood. “I’m leaving this conversation because it makes me depressed.”

I rolled my eyes.

All the guys in the house had been giving us shit for moving out, and honestly, I didn’t blame them. If it wasn’t for Lane wanting to move, I probably wouldn’t have been moving.

I genuinely enjoyed living in the house, and I knew Lane did too, but he was so much more mature and smarter than everyone else that I was pretty sure it was just hard for him to live with five idiots.

At least this way, he’d only have to deal with one idiot— me.

“Alright,” I sighed. “Let’s hit the gym first and then pack after.”

“Deal,” Lane agreed.