Puck Drills & Quick Thrills (CU Hockey 5)

I swallow against the tightness in my throat. It’s all ancient history now.

The gym has been decorated with large vases of flowers, low lighting, and sheer drapes. It looks a thousand times nicer than the tackiness of prom, but the best thing is knowing tonight won’t end in tears—I hope. I was all set to skip my prom, but the Dawson’s Creek episode where Jack and Toby went as the first ever gay couple made me think I could do it. I could take a date. I wanted to show them all that their taunts, their name-calling, and their assholism couldn’t affect me.

All I got was humiliation and a broken nose when my date, Dean, grabbed my hand and dragged me outside. I thought he was going to kiss me. Turns out, even though Dean went to a different school in Nashua, he played weekend hockey with my tormentors, and they’d set up the whole thing as a prank.

Fun times.

It’s not lost on me that I’m back here, trying to prove myself to them again.

What do I do? Go up and start talking to people? That’s not my style.

“Thirsty?” West asks and points toward the makeshift bar.

I nod, but we barely get two steps when—

“No way,” a deep voice says. “You’re Westly Dalton.”

I turn to the voice and find Thomas fucking Harvey. In all my fantasies, he was bald and wrinkled, but in reality he looks like an older version of the jock he was in high school. Still blond and broad-shouldered. Still good-looking.

Shit. Karma seriously sucks at her job.

A trickle of fear passes through me as West shakes his hand, and I hate myself for it. I don’t want these guys to get to me, damn it. I’m above it all now.

“The one and only,” West says easily.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He turns to call over his shoulder. “Yo, Clay. Check out who it is!”

And suddenly, I’m faced with Clayton Reez.

Sure, this is what I wanted—to make sure these two saw me with West—but I thought I’d have more time. I figured I’d chat with a few people to build my confidence before I forced myself to face them.

But now they’re here.

Talking to West.

And pretending like I don’t exist.

I clear my throat, catching Clayton’s attention. “Sorry, man.” He holds out his hand. “Clay Reez. I don’t think we’ve me—” His words dissolve into laughter as he reads my name tag. “Shit, Tommy, look who it is.”

“Fuckstain? No way!”

I force the word not to affect me and smile at them instead.

“I would never in a thousand years have recognized you.” Thomas holds out his hand, and even though every cell in my body wants to slap it away, I force myself to shake it. I will be above them. “Hey, sorry about the nose. No hard feelings, right?”

West stiffens beside me, and when he steps closer to rest his hand on my lower back, his fingers press tight. “You’re the one who broke his nose?”

He turns sheepish, only looking like he regrets it now that he has West’s attention. “It was high school. We were all dickheads then, weren’t we?”

Clay jumps in before West can answer. “Hold on, are you two here together?”

“Yes.” West pulls me closer, his hold almost possessive. “I wanted to see where my boyfriend went to school.”

“Boyfriend?” They exchange a look, which fills me with satisfaction.

“That’s … awesome,” Thomas says, and this time when he smiles at me, it seems genuine. He hooks a thumb at West. “How did you meet this guy?”

“We both teach at the same college.” My words are hesitant, sure this is a trick.

“You’re a teacher now? Let me guess, something with numbers, right? I remember that huge textbook you used to carry around everywhere.”

Yeah, in case I needed it to defend myself. “I’m a math professor, and West is a coach for our hockey team.”

“I would have given my front teeth for a chance to be coached by you,” Clay says.

“Bit hard considering West was a child then.” See how handy numbers are?

He waves his hand like I’m joking. “You know what I mean.”

Clayton and Thomas call more people over, and it doesn’t take long before a small group has formed. All people I never spoke to in high school, all asking me questions and hanging off West’s every word. Slowly, my tightly coiled nerves start to relax.

They’re being so … nice. Joking around and showing me photos of their kids. Harmony’s some business executive in Nashua, and Michelle is an aerobics coach. Clayton owns a lawn-mowing business that’s apparently doing well, and Thomas has gone into the family business, selling hiking and fishing gear. Most of them have stuck close to home, and why wouldn’t they? This place wasn’t a nightmare for them.

Tonight is giving me a taste of what it would have been like to have friends back then.