Hockey With Benefits

Wade suggested a local bar that didn’t look too closely at ID cards. Worked for me.

It was a pub with a whole section for games, with an inside room that was sports heaven. I counted thirty televisions mounted, most with a different sport playing too. Wade grabbed a high top in the corner.

The server was nice. She barely glimpsed my fake, so we ordered water and beer. It was thirty minutes later, after we’d gotten through an entire chapter for abnormal psych when another roomie came in. Darren, and he brought a whole group with him. I was assuming football players judging by their height and weight. Big guys, or most were big.

“What up, roomies?” Darren snagged a chair at a table. A guy slipped into the other seat that Darren introduced as QB1, their starting quarterback. His teammates or friends filled the rest of the spots. Another group of guys showed up, and soon we took up half the section. It wasn’t long after that when the girls started coming over.

The first pitcher of beer was gone within five minutes.

“If I knew you were their roommate, the entire team would’ve been hanging out at Darren’s house all year long. Sorry, but damn, are you fine.”

“She just moved in this semester,” Wade said, reaching for the next pitcher.

“Don’t encourage him.” Darren shot Wade a look.

Wade shrugged, filling his cup, my cup, and the QB1’s cup. Darren wasn’t drinking.

“Don’t matter. She’s taken.”

“What?” QB1 spit out his beer, leaning back in his stool. He gave me a once-over. “Say it ain’t so.”

I frowned at him. “What’s your name?”

“Kyle.” He leaned in. “What’s yours?”

“You already know her name.” Darren bent his head into his textbook.

“Tell me again. I want to hear how you say it.”

“Call me Daniels.”

“Daniels, huh? That a nickname or something? Something only your best buds call you?”

“Yes.” I gave him a flat look. “It’s special, just for you.”

“Daniels!”

“I stand corrected.” I straightened in my seat as Gavin came around the side. He threw an arm around my shoulder, giving me a one-sided hug. “What’s up? Why are you here?”

“Wade needed a distraction, and I heard studying in a bar was the best type.”

“Fuck yeah, it is.” He turned for QB1/Kyle. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”

“Miller.” They gave each other a fist pound.

Of course they were friends.

Gavin did the same with Darren and Wade, then moved to the next table, repeating. None of the guys were surprised at seeing him.

I frowned. “Does Miller ever study?”

Darren snorted, grinning at me. “Not that I’ve seen.”

Kyle was still looking my way. “You got some friends. Wade. Darren here. Now Miller? Who else you know?”

I had no doubt he also knew about Cruz, but I shrugged. “Dude. I’m here to study.”

Wade started laughing.

Darren snorted again. “She ‘duded’ you. Friend-zoned.”

“Daniels!” Gavin came back, his backpack slung over one shoulder. “Make room for me. I’m joining you.” He had a chair behind him.

“What? No–”

“Yes.” He ignored Kyle, clearing the table himself of all the condiments until there was room for his phone. He made it work. The guys scooted in, giving him enough space.

The server came over and frowned at him.

He was side-eyeing her. “Don’t give me shit that this is a fire hazard or something. I know you let others do this all the time.”

She sighed. “Why are you here, Gavin? You’re not twenty-one.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’m in your freshman econ class.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

She rolled her eyes. “You can stay, but if you get me in trouble, I will make your life hell.”

She was walking away when he called after her, “Wanna go out?”

She ignored him, shaking her head.

Kyle laughed, shaking his head. “Why the fuck are you at Alpha Mu? You’re too cool to be at that house.”

Gavin reached for the beer, giving a shrug before he filled his cup. “Connections. And speaking of,” his eyes went to mine. “Heard you had a run-in with one of them earlier today.”

“What’d you hear?”

“Just that you had a little thing with Flynn.”

“Flynn Carrington?” Darren asked.

Wade said, “It was more me that had a run-in with him.”

Darren frowned. “Because of Rosa?”

Wade nodded, tight-lipped.

Gavin met my gaze, confused.

He asked, “Rosa?”

“A chick that woke up naked in Carrington’s bed and after a medical exam, she found out she’d had sex. She didn’t remember a thing.”

Gavin tensed. “When did this happen?”

“Last year. Fall semester. Let me guess, no one talks about it?” Wade bit out.

Gavin shook his head. “No one’s said a word. You want me to ask around?”

Wade narrowed his eyes at him.

I spoke up, “No.”

“What? Why?”

I answered Gavin, “It’ll make you a target. Keep your head down.”

“The guys who I could ask–”

“Just don’t. Guys like that, they always get away with it and everyone else gets hurt. And the girl, it always comes back to haunt her.”

I was aware of the guys sharing looks over my head, but I didn’t care. Let them think what they want. To be honest, it wouldn’t be so far off-base. I didn’t know a girl who hadn’t had to deal with sexual harassment, and I knew ten who had worse shit happen to them. Being a girl sometimes sucked and that was coming from a girl who enjoyed having sex, but I wasn’t supposed to.

I’d slept with three guys in my life, and was considered a slut.

“Damn, Daniels. Sometimes I think you’re too jaded to be my friend.”

I picked up a fork and threw it at Gavin.

The other guys laughed.

Kyle and I were at the jukebox, picking songs when a commotion sounded.

The hockey team came inside, bypassing the main room. Some went over to our tables, giving their hellos, shoulder pats, fist pounds, etcetera, but kept on into the sports room. They took up the entire length of the long table that ran the middle of that room.

Labrowski. Atwater. Barclay.

It was almost the whole team, minus a few, but then Cruz walked in. The commotion went up a whole notch. They’d just won both games against Minnesota, who was rated second in the nation, so it was a big deal. Cruz led the team in goals, and he opened up a third of the plays for the other players to score.

I hadn’t texted him. He hadn’t texted me either.

We both knew we were too far gone. It was sex or nothing for us, which I kinda hated, but I meant what I said. I didn’t want to sink back into sex and hide from moving forward. I felt for the first time in a long time that I could progress somewhere. Having friends who knew about my shit and still wanted to be friends was a big deal to me.

Right now, it was baby steps, but fuck. Cruz looked good, and he saw me as he walked past.

He didn’t stop.

They must’ve come from a practice because his hair was still wet from a shower, and he had the rough look in his face that he got from whipping around on the ice. He was wearing Grant West sweats, ones that hung low on his hips, and a Grant West hockey sweatshirt. It had his name and his jersey number on the back.

Girls were already descending on their table.

I tried not to let it bother me when I saw a girl plop down in the seat across from Cruz. I recognized her from hanging out at the hockey house. I didn’t know who her friends were, but she was friendly with all the guys.

I didn’t like her.

Or I didn’t like how she was smiling at Cruz, who was grinning back.

“Wait.” Kyle leaned back from the jukebox. “You and Styles. The pictures. I remember now. That’s who you’re with?”

“I’m not.” I turned back to the machine. We needed music, angry, fuck-you, heartbreak in the most toxic and messy way possible. That type of music. I hit a Nine Inch Nails song and then chose a bunch of Eminem ones. Those would do.

Kyle whistled, laughing under his breath at the same time. “I don’t know your story, but I am a hundred percent fascinated by you.”

“Shut up.”

“No, for real, I am. You’re cool, Daniels. Why the fuck haven’t you been coming to our football parties?”

I chose not to inform him that I had; he just hadn’t met me then.

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