If they had, it would’ve been the kind of locker room humor you would expect but would’ve been touchy enough for me.
“I’m not telling you to do anything, bro,” he said, “I’m just saying that, if this gets in the way of us winning a championship, you’re a dick and it’s all your fault.”
“Are you serious?”
“Well, that and I’ll never want to see you again.”
Ryan Detenbeck couldn’t even say something serious without an air of stupidity.
“Yeah, well, like I told you, it’s a two-way street,” I said.
That was really all I could say.
47
ERIK
Ishould’ve known that Kayden wouldn’t stay away from me forever. Like, we’d both done a great job of avoiding each other over the last few days. No texts or phone calls, barely even a glance in one another’s direction. Yeah, game seven of the championship series was tomorrow, and the two of us not being on speaking terms didn’t help our chances. But I couldn’t take the blame for it. I couldn’t help it if Kayden’s behavior had grown unmanageable, and I’d had to take action. And we hadn’t broken up.
Staying silent on the breakup seemed appropriate enough since we’d never announced our relationship to anyone in the first place. It was best that we just ignore each other completely. That way, we could move on with our lives after this game.
But Kayden wasn’t sensible. He approached me on the ice after our last practice, once everyone else had hit the locker room. Like I said, I should’ve known better.
At first, I didn’t know what he really wanted. I should have, though. Common sense, right? I felt like I could predict his every move. He’d stayed at one end of the ice while I remained at the other. When he stared down the length of the rink at me, I knewI couldn’t escape him. The question was whether he would have the guts to chase after what he wanted. Everything I knew about Kayden told me he would.
God, those moments were so fucking awkward.
Finally, he skated toward me, and my eyelids fell shut. Telling him to go to hell wouldn’t help. It would feel good, but it would drive another wedge between us, and neither of us could afford more animosity.
He stopped in front of me, but amazingly didn’t shoot ice shavings at me. He didn’t wear his usual cocky look, no swagger, but neither did he look sheepish. Yeah, I wanted to analyze his every move but understood that would do no good either.
“Need to talk to you,” he said.
“And I need to take a shower.”
“Hard practice, I know.”
“No, it’s from having to spend less than five minutes around you, dude. Anyone would feel filthy inside.”
His expression didn’t change. Normally, he would think up a comeback for a remark like that. It wouldn’t be a verygoodcomeback, but he wouldn’t stay silent.
This is Kayden Preston we’re talking about.
“Look, we should talk,” he said. “It’s for the good of the team to clear the air a little.”
“Fine.”
I quarter-turned, unable to look at him head-on. Discomfort consumed me,and I couldn’t squash it. Kayden had a point. Maybe a talk wouldn’t be such a bad idea. A few days had passed, and we’d calmed down a little. Maybe he could even pass for a rational human being. But I still hated having this conversation. I had no idea where it would lead or if I wanted to go there.
“We’ve got to at least be clear about what’s going on,” he said. “And then we’ve really got to drop some stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Whatever you want to call what happened between us the other night, we’ve got to pretend like itdidn’thappen.”
“Why?” I waited for Kayden to huff and let his frustration show, but he stayed cool.
“Why? Because people are noticing. And they’re asking questions.”
