Page 61

Kota

T he second I heard Crew’s tone through the phone, I knew something was wrong. He was practically growling, sounding so disturbed that I could feel it rattling my bones.

I had no idea what was going on. Didn’t have a single clue. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared.

When I first picked up the phone and heard the words, “We need to talk,” I nearly crumpled to the floor sobbing. Whenever someone heard those words from the person they’d been falling for, it usually never ended well. My lungs had immediately halted, and I held my breath until it burned. Ten minutes was enough time to cry over Bobby, but it sure as hell wouldn’t have been enough for Crew.

But Crew assured me that it had nothing to do with us, or with me, I should say.

Which didn’t leave me with much to guess on— maybe something about his parents? Hockey? Did his teammates piss him off when he went to go hangout?

Crew barged into my bedroom with so much force that I was surprised my door didn’t fall off its hinges.

“Listen to this!” he exclaimed.

I sat on the edge of my bed, speaking indifferently. “Listening.”

He began pacing back and forth, making me a bit unsettled. Brows furrowing, I slowly lifted my legs onto the bed and scooted backwards.

“Our roommates... our best friends ,” he spat like poison, “have been lying to us.”

“How so?”

“They’re dating.”

I stared at him silently, watching him pace, steam rolling off his body. Finally, I gave a laugh. “There’s no way. Bridget would’ve told me.”

“Well, apparently she wouldn’t because she didn’t.”

I held my hands up, shaking my head. “Where did you get this information from?”

“TJ.”

Another laugh. “You’re gonna trust what TJ says?”

“All the other guys backed it up.”

“I’m going to need a little bit more information,” I said skeptically.

“At the last party, Jett caught Lane and Bridget sneaking out of the bathroom together. I don’t know if Jett started asking questions or what, but according to Jett, they’re a couple.”

I crossed my arms, staring off in thought. If this information was coming from TJ, I doubted every little bit of it. No offense to TJ but he wasn’t the most reliable source, in my opinion. Half the time he was clueless, and the other half, he was saying something stupid.

But , if this was coming from Jett, then we had an issue. Jett had a good head on his shoulders. He was smart, put-together, and responsible. His only true flaw that I was aware of was that he used vodka lemonades as a ploy to get girls to talk to him but other than that, he was probably the second-most reliable person on the hockey team.

Second to Lane, of course.

Eventually, I shrugged, letting my hands drop to my comforter. “Do you really believe this?”

Crew stepped close enough to place a hand on the bed and lean towards me. “Think about it,” he said quietly. “All those times they went off to ‘study’ for hours and hours on end, numerous times a week? All the times they conveniently had to go to the same places at the same time?”

I thought about what Bridget had been like since her and Mitch split up. It was a stark difference to how she’d been when she broke up with her freshman year boyfriend, Ethan.

There was a solid month after Ethan where she basically had me handcuffed to her, counting on me for comfort and stability. She was a complete wreck for a while, turning to a puddle of strawberry blonde tears whenever she was alone. It took a lot to get her out of that mindset and back to a good place.

Bridget was strong. She was independent. But in times of sadness and stress, she leaned on people she loved the most.On the day that her and Mitch ended things, she hadn’t even called me. She texted me, which was unlike her when she had something important to tell me. And I came home to Lane consoling her in her bedroom, sitting dubiously close to one another, heads tipped like they were about to kiss if I hadn’t barged in.

Oh my God. She didn’t call me because she called Lane.

In the months following the breakup, she wasn’t attached to my hip. She was attached to Lane’s. It was when she and Lane started to get close.

She didn’t need me because she had Lane.

“Oh my gosh!” I screeched, jumping up on my bed. “They’re dating!”

“I know!” Crew shouted back.

I plopped back down on my ass, feeling the bed bounce from the weight. “Do you think they know about us?”

Crew chewed on his lip for a moment, stuck in thought. Finally, he slowly shook his head. “Nah, I think they would’ve said something if they suspected it.”

“Yeah... you’re probably right.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“We’re gonna have to say something,” I said. “You know I won’t be able to keep my mouth shut.”

“Alright,” he nodded, slipping his phone out of his pocket. I watched him tap it a few times and pull up their locations on Find My Friends. “Looks like they’re leaving Starbucks right now.”

I gave a slow nod, staring mindlessly at my comforter. “Are they heading home?”

“I think so...”

“Alright. I guess we’ll wait then.”