Puck Drills & Quick Thrills (CU Hockey 5)

“Thank you for telling me,” I say.

But how do I handle this?

“If I heard anyone say it, I told them to shut the fuck up, but—”

“You can’t talk that way at school, Rhys.” I’m totally going to get a phone call from the principal.

“I can when they’re talking about Hazel. The girls are jealous because Hazel’s friends with the boys she plays hockey with, so they’re saying shit about her.”

“I’ll handle it.” I go to walk away but pause. “Thank you for having her back.”

“Eww, don’t tell her I stood up for her or anything.”

I sigh. He’s so much like the smaller version of Asher, it’s not even funny.

I bound up the stairs but hesitate outside Hazel’s door. Another day, another teen drama.

I’d like to say Asher and I were different when we were their age, but I can remember monumental blowups of epic proportions. Asher resented how he was always compared to me and my achievements, and back then I did nothing to help him realize he’s better than me at almost everything. Of course I rubbed hockey in his face. I was a first-round draft pick, and he was sixth. I played for one of the top teams in the league, and he was picked up by a team that’s never won a Stanley Cup and hasn’t even seen the finals since the ’90s. But that’s just it—I might have him beat when it comes to hockey, but behind Asher’s surly exterior and fifty-foot walls, he knows how to handle life better than I do, and now that the NHL is over for me, what do I have to give this family?

Sweet fuck all.

But I need to try.

I lift my hand and knock on Hazel’s door.

“Go away.”

My heart hurts for her. Out of all the kids, Hazel’s my good one. She’s quiet, she does her homework without asking, and she’s so talented at hockey I have no doubt she’ll go far if she wanted to pursue it. Though, the salary for women hockey players is criminally low.

“It’s West. I have your computer. And your photos.”

“Hang on.” She sniffs, and when she comes to the door, her eyes are all puffy and red.

“Can I come in?”

She looks like she wants to protest but steps aside.

I put the brand-new laptop down on her desk with the hard drive on top and then sit on her desk chair. “Are you okay?”

She sits on the edge of her bed. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

“Rhys said some kids were being mean to you at school.”

“Rhys has a big mouth.”

“Do … do you want to talk about it?”

“Nope.”

Part of me wants to say Thank God, but the other part of me knows that I can’t ignore this.

“Apparently, they called you a slur,” I hedge.

“Yep. Because I’m best friends with Jonah, who’s all hot and cute and a hockey player, the girls would prefer I was a lesbian so they think they have a shot with him. Spoiler alert, he thinks girls are gross. Well, except me. Because I’m practically a boy. His words, not mine.”

“Are … are you … hmm, actually nope, I’m not going to ask because if you were … a … uh—”

Hazel lets out a giggle. “I’m not. That I know of. I like Jonah just like the rest of the girls do. But … I also might like girls? It’s hard to tell because all the girls at my school are bitches.”

“Hazel!”

She pales, and I realize she might not know what I’m yelling at her for.

“Uh, don’t say bitches. But, I mean, that’s cool if you do like girls. And boys. Or neither. Or both.” My neck heats. “I’m sorry. I suck at this.”

She smiles. “No, you don’t.”

“I wish I could give you some good advice, but I have none. When I was in junior high and high school, it was easy for me to be with girls and pretend to not be interested in boys.” I suck in a sharp breath because I think I just came out to my little sister? “And because I played hockey, no one questioned anything. It wasn’t until I was older and in the NHL I was comfortable enough to date men, and even then it was on the down low. So, I kind of know how you feel? But also I don’t, because I didn’t have assholes—”

“Don’t say assholes.” She grins.

“Sorry. I didn’t have bullies calling me names over who I liked and didn’t. Do you want me to talk to the school?”

“No! Please don’t. I just … I want to ignore it.”

“I have a feeling that’s not what you’re supposed to do in these situations.”

“Can we please ignore it and hope it will go away? I don’t want to make it a big deal. Then I’ll become a bigger target, and—” She’s panicking now, so I drop to my knees on the carpet to bring me down to her eye level.