He laughs and pulls me along behind him. “Grab your keys, Red. We need to go pick up C and then find food.”
I lock the door and let him lead me down the stairs, only stopping to lock the door there as well. It’s a short drive to the hockey house and we get out. I’m hesitant to go in, but Hutch takes my hand and drags me along behind him.
“Are you still able to stay here now that you’re not on the team anymore?”
He stills, key in the door lock. “Huh?”
“Well, technically you aren’t on the team and the house is only for the players, yeah? That’s what I think you told me at least.”
“Damn, I didn’t even think about that. I need to talk to Coach about it.”
“If they kick y’all out, you can stay with your mom until you find something, can’t you?”
“Yeah.” He unlocks the door and pushes it open, moving so I can enter.
The place is a mess. They must have had a party last night or carried it back from wherever they partied to begin with. Emptybeer cans and solo cups are scattered everywhere with sleeping people on the furniture and in the floor of the living room. The whole place is a pigsty.
“Well, fuck,” Hutch mutters. “It’s not normally like this.”
“Uh, huh.”
He sighs. “Let me get C and we’ll go. Don’t touch anything. I don’t want you to catch something nasty. Better yet, don’t even step on the carpet. God knows what they did last night.”
No worries there. Hutch runs up the stairs and I take the time to look around, trying to ignore the half-naked people sleeping everywhere. It reminds me more of what I think a frat house looks like after a party then the hockey house. Not that I’ve been in a frat house, but I’ve seen photos online. Joseph’s friends posted enough of them.
“Well, hello, beautiful.” The deep, sleepy voice comes from behind me and I turn to see a guy shuffling down the stairs. He’s tall, blond, and very wide. Like wide receiver wide, but this is the hockey house, so he has to be a hockey player.
“Hey.”
“You just waking up from last night?”
“Uh no, I’m just waiting on Hutch and Collin.”
His gaze sharpens. “Daisy?”
I nod.
“Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Denver.”
“Denver…”
He smiles good naturedly. “My parents had this thing about naming their kids after cities they visited. You had coffee yet?”
“We were just going to breakfast.”
His gaze sweeps the house as he comes to stand at the bottom of the stairs. “Fuck me. I knew I shouldn’t have went to bed last night. This place is a mess.”
“Well, make them all pitch in and clean up when they finally get their asses up.” Hutch slaps Denver on the back as he comes downstairs, followed by Collin.
“You ever corralled hung over college kids?” Denver asks, shaking his head.
“Yes, on more than a few occasions. You need to learn to use the captain voice now that I’m not on the team anymore.”
“Contract signed?”
“Both of us,” Collin affirms. “We’re going out to breakfast to celebrate with Hutch’s girl who is my bestie.”
I have not agreed to be anyone’s girl, but before I can correct it, Collin plows ahead.
