Page 17 of Wilder Puck

I stare at my hands. I'm worried about Addie's money problems and she won't let me help. But that's a new thing – Ihaven't been sucking all week, and I don’t know why he seems to think so.

“Is it a girl?” he asks, and I stay quiet. “It is, isn’t it? And let me guess, that girl didn’t show up to your game tonight?”

I look up at him, pissed off now. One time I let it slip that Addie missed a game, and he fixated on that being why I played shitty. Here he is now, relying on that as an excuse. As if he doesn't put enough pressure on me.

“She's not just any girl,” I say firmly.

He scoffs. “Right. Your 'best friend'. Since when does a grown man have a woman best friend?”

I can't believe he's talking down to me like this. Getting reamed for hockey is one thing, but now he's judging my relationship with Baddie?

“She's more than that,” I reply, meeting his gaze head-on.

“What are you saying?”

I stand abruptly, so angry I can barely speak. I don’t know what I’m saying, but I know I’m pissed about a lot of things. I need to get out of here before I say something I regret. Hand on the doorknob, I pause, glancing back at his scowling face.

“Is she your girlfriend now?” he asks sarcastically.

“Yes, Coach,” I say evenly as I pull the door open. “She is.”

I walk out before he can reply. Adrenaline surges through my veins as I feel his glare boring into my back. I guess losing this game tonight is all my fucking fault but whatever. I’m his toilet now that I’m on his team. He can shit on me all he wants, but I’m flushing this fucking blame down the drain. My dad and I are close, so he’ll come around, but when he comes down on me this hard, I need space. I appreciate him pushing me to be my best, but he needs to back the hell off about me and Addie.

Addie.

Baddie Addie.

What the hell am I going to do now that I’ve told my dad she’s more than a friend? He’s going to speculate that it’s been going on for a while. Shit, what am I going to tell her? Ask her to fake date me? Or I could ask her to seriously be my girlfriend. But if she finds out the circumstances, it’ll hurt her.

Fuck!

I pull out my phone to distract myself, hoping to see a few texts from her. She has texted, but it’s Hailey’s text at the top that catches my attention.

Hailey: We need to talk.

I ignore the guys and their curious stares. But of course, they don't let it go.

“What did Coach say?” Chase asks.

I glance at my screen, brow furrowing at Hailey's text.

“Some bullshit about Baddie,” I mutter distractedly as I type out a quick reply.

Ryan: Agree

Andrew chimes in, “She didn't come tonight, huh? Thought you said she was your good luck charm, bro. She needs to show up next time so we can test that theory.”

“Yeah, but the next game should be an easy win,” Colton adds.

Another text comes through.

Hailey: I don't like what happened Monday morning.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. So, she's jealous of my totally platonic running routine with Addie? And she hasn’t mentioned it all this time.

“What did you tell your dad?” Chase presses gently.

“I told him she’s my girlfriend.”