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Crew

I ’d been coaxed into hanging out at the hockey house, bribed with beer, pizza, and Xbox.

Every hockey player’s weaknesses.

Matt called me up and told me that if I didn’t get my ass over to the house right now , that the guys were going to come key my car.

Of course, he had me on speakerphone, and of course, the other guys chimed in, yelling that I hadn’t been over to hangout in far too long.

I’d asked Lane if he was going to go. He said it was his dad’s birthday and that he was going to go have dinner with him. He’d come stop by the house afterwards if we were all still there.

Kota was scrambling to finish some bio project and wanted me to leave her the fuck alone anyway, which was another reason why I figured I’d head over to the house.

I left a kiss on her cheek, which she had no reaction to because she was scribbling some drawing of a DNA strand onto notebook paper. Her tennis bracelet jangled on her wrist as she did it, and I smiled at it while backing out of the room quietly before she had the chance to lose her mind.

The guys were all exactly as I pictured them when I walked in— sitting on their asses, spread out throughout the living room and loud as hell.

The house was still semi-trashed from the party last weekend. Beer cans and garbage were overflowing the nearest trash can and random shit was scattered along the floor— half-empty liquor bottles, a spilled bag of chips, articles of clothing left by strangers.

I tiptoed through the mess. Matt and Jett were locked in on their GTA mission with cops on their tails as they both screamed at each other to get their shit together.

“What a lovely welcome,” I declared, collapsing onto the adjacent couch where I’d found room beside Cody, who was scrolling through TikTok and laughing to himself. TJ was nowhere to be found.

“Hello, shithead,” Jett called out and I immediately knew the comment was meant for me and not Matt.

“Asshole,” Matt tipped his head, greeting me.

“Wow, such great hospitality,” I said.

Matt didn’t bother looking away from the TV as he spoke. “You used to live here. You don’t get hospitality.”

I laughed once before diving into the box of fresh pizza on the coffee table in the center of the room. “Where are the others?” I asked between bites. “TJ ran upstairs. Probably jerking off or something, I don’t know,” Matt replied. “Keith and Jonah are on a double date.”

I raised a brow. “A double date?”

“Well, Jonah saw it as a double date. Keith probably saw it as a creative way to get laid.”

It was comical how much Keith and Jonah resembled Lane and me. Keith, my replacement in the house and soon to be my replacement on the starting line once I left, embodied all the qualities that I carried with me throughout college— nonchalant playboy that didn’t care much about anything other than his boys, his game, and his own future.

Whereas Jonah was a smart and caring natural talent, who dabbled in hookups but didn’t care for them all that much. Mr. Rule Follower and future team leader. He was practically Lane 2.0.

“Interesting,” I said, wiping my hands together to rid myself of pizza crust crumbs.

“Crew,” Jett spoke sharply, “can you please shut up? You’re distracting Matt and making him suck more.”

“You’re the one that fucking sucks,” Matt barked back.

“I didn’t come over to listen to you guys bitch at each other,” I chimed in.

They just responded with sighs and groans.

I watched their game go on for another ten minutes before Jett accidentally cut Matt off on a sharp turn, sending the two flying off the road and getting arrested.

“Goddamnit, Jett!” Matt shot up off the couch as Jett tossed the remote on the couch beside him. “I’m never playing with you again.”

I loved Matt, but he was like a ticking bomb with no time warning; you never knew when he’d explode.

On the ice, Matt played fucking dirty. And my prayers went out to every player who ever pissed him off out there because he showed no mercy, becoming a complete animal with no regard for safety.

Same went for off the ice. He’d gotten pissed off at us before, but he never got physical with us. Thank God.

I considered myself to be a damn good fighter; I’d never backed down from a fight. But if Matt ever tried to swing on me, you’d bet your ass I’d be running.

I wasn’t at all surprised hearing the details of his fight from the party last weekend, where he’d allegedly destroyed the guy’s face and given him a bruised rib or two. It took Lane, Jett, and Cody to get him off the guy. I never understood why any dude ever thought it was a good idea to walk into the hockey house and start a fight anyway.

After Matt threw his small tantrum and disappeared for a few minutes, he came back with an ice-cold beer, acting chipper as if nothing happened.

I don’t understand this kid, I thought .

“I told TJ to get his ass down here,” Matt said, taking his spot back on the couch.

“What was he doing?” I asked.

“He was fucking sleeping,” he scoffed, holding his beer halfway to his mouth before he brought it home.

I held my hands out. “You didn’t get me a beer?”

“Again,” Matt raised an annoyed brow, “you used to live here. You know where we keep the beer. Go get your damn own.”

“Fucking assholes,” I murmured under my breath as I stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. When I got back, Jett had now disappeared and TJ had turned up shirtless, yawning and stretching after his interrupted beauty sleep.

“Oh, Crew,” Matt nodded towards me. “Did you see the thing Rave ‘N’ Roll posted on Instagram this morning?”

“Nah, what was it?”

“They’re having like a half-off drinks night on Wednesday so we’re all gonna go get drinks and bowl.”

“Like, just us, or the whole team?” I asked, setting my beer beside my feet on the floor.

“Whole team, probably. And whoever everyone wants to invite.”

TJ sat on the armrest of the couch, opposite the side Matt was seated on. His brows furrowed, voice coming out strained like he was stressed out. “How come I didn’t know about this?”

“You’ve been sleeping on and off all goddamn day,” Matt answered, holding his beer out to the side.

“Whatever,” TJ ruffled his dirty blonde hair. “I’ll find a girl to bring.”

Cody sounded bored, still scrolling aimlessly on his phone. “Good for you.”

With an eye roll, the corners of TJ’s lips climbed upwards as he repositioned himself on the armrest. “Are the lovebirds gonna go?”

I took a swig of beer. “Who are the lovebirds?”

My first thought was that the stars had aligned for Matt and that he’d finally hooked up with El.

But apparently, I was way off.

TJ looked at me like I was an idiot. “Lane and Bridget.”

My beer shot down the wrong tube as I started laughing, sounding like I was delirious. I think the entire planet was fully aware that Lane had been pining for Bridget since night one. “He wishes,” I joked.

For whatever reason, the other guys had their eyes locked on TJ like snakes waiting to strike. But still, they kept quiet, on standby for TJ’s response.

He gave a light chuckle, rubbing the light stubble along his jaw. “I mean, I don’t think he’s gotta.”

“TJ,” Matt growled, burying his head in his hands.

“What?”

For the first time since I’d arrived, Cody was paying full attention. He shook his head at TJ. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

“What the hell do you mean?!” TJ whirred, twisting around as his eyes jumped from Cody to Matt to me. “I was just asking a question!”

There was obviously something I didn’t know, something that Matt and Cody were fully aware of, but I couldn’t tell TJ’s part in it all.

“Well, now I’m confused,” TJ confessed.

“Yeah,” I said sharply, “so am I.”

Matt turned towards TJ, bringing a hand up to block his mouth. “He doesn’t know.”

Jaw twitching, my teeth clenched. It felt like there was an inferno currently blazing around my body, set alight by my surging ire. “I can still fucking hear you,” I seethed. “What don’t I know? What the hell is going on!”

Cody made a face before sitting back against the couch. “Now you gotta tell him.”

Whatever twisted game they were playing right now needed to stop. I didn’t like to be left in the dark, and they better speak up now because I sure as hell wasn’t leaving this house without answers.

The look on Matt’s face said, Um, what the fuck, no?

“Well, I’m not telling him,” Cody said. “I don’t want this shit pinned on me.”

“Me neither,” Matt finally spoke.

My brows had been wrinkled for so long that they might stay that way permanently. I couldn’t figure out whatever the fuck was going on. “What shit?!” I yelled.

Eventually, Cody sat forward and sighed. When he finally found his voice, it came out soft and slow, like he was afraid the news would give me a heart attack if he wasn’t careful. “Jett caught Lane and Bridget coming out of the bathroom together at the party last weekend.”

My stomach collapsed as reality caught up to me, slowly and painfully. “What?” I let out.

Cody bit his lip. Matt aimlessly glanced around the room like he was lost and not part of the conversation. And TJ had finally realized that he fucked up, sitting there slumped over, shoulders rounded as his expression twisted into that of a sheepish child.

Just to make matters worse, TJ added, “According to Jett, they’ve been dating for a while. I just didn’t realize you didn’t know.”

I knew from the get-go that Lane had a thing for Bridget. He wore his emotions all over his face, practically rocking heart eyes every time she walked into the room. But he never mentioned any sort of growing relationship to me. I felt like a hypocritical dick for being mad, granted Kota and I had been sneaking around too, but I couldn’t even count on one hand the number of times that Lane lied to my face.

Everything was clicking in my head. Every time they were “going to the library to do homework or study” or “running to the grocery store” or “both going to have dinner with their families” just conveniently on the same day at the same time, they were going on secret dates.

All those times that I asked what he was up to, he fucking lied to my face. I may have left out what was going on between Kota and me, but at least I didn’t outright lie about anything. If Lane hadn’t been so busy in his own secrets and had put two and two together, I probably would’ve told him the truth if he’d confronted me.

But I couldn’t say the same for him.

Squeezing my beer can until it caved in, I chugged what was left of it and stood.

“Where are you going?” Cody asked.

“Home.”

“Make sure you don’t pin this shit on us! It was all TJ’s fault!” Matt called after me.

“Hey!” TJ started, his voice becoming muffled as I walked out the front door and slammed it behind me.