five
Evan
“Pretty sure they were checking out my dick.”
Owen is hyperventilating as he laughs.
“It’s not funny! I didn’t realize these shorts ride up so bad.”
“Bullshit! You wanted to show off the goods. About time. You can go through that whole house and the other ones on the block.”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, that is the plan,” I say wryly, and he snorts.
“It should be! Enjoy college life. Let them all see the goods.”
“You’re an idiot,” I say offhandedly as I look through my bag for my towel. “I wonder where Mom is. I need my shit.”
“Are you really not gonna try to hook up with everyone?”
This guy. “I’m not. I’ve got bigger things to focus on. School, teams, and my mental health.”
“Fucking is really good for your mental health. It releases hormones and good vibes and shit. Plus, I’m just happier when I get a piece of Angie.”
I shake my head. How did we share a womb? “I don’t have an Angie.”
“No, but you have a whole gymnastics team of hotties in bathing suits.”
“Leotards.”
“Same thing,” he says. “Ass and boobs, dude. Just point at one of them, and she’ll come running.”
Ah, to be as cocky as my brother. “And she’ll be like, wow, you’re super fucked up. Byeeee,” I sing, and he laughs.
“She doesn’t need to know all that. You’re there to hook up.”
Oh, if only he knew. “Not happening. I’m not that person.”
He pauses for a second. “Why not? Have fun. You have no obligations or pressure right now.”
“I do have obligations,” I throw back. “And mindless sex isn’t what I want. I’ve never been like that, and you know it.”
When I’m met with silence, I stop mid-stride in confusion. What’s going on in his brain? Since I can’t see his face, I can’t read him, but nothing can prepare me for what he says. “Ev, you’ve hooked up, right?”
My stomach drops, but then thankfully, I see my mom’s truck pull up. “Oh, Mom’s here. I’ll call you later.”
“Dude! Answer—”
“Love you,” I say, and I hang up before he can say more. I throw my phone on the bed and jog down the stairs and out the front, saying hi to the guys as I pass them. The team is a good group of guys. They’re a younger team with only two seniors, but they’re damn good kids. My meeting was actually with both Jayden Sinclair and River Moore. I was given my assignment, basically what Owen said—keep them sober and from knocking anyone up. After my run this morning, the latter may be an issue if we keep running by the gymnastics team’s house. I honestly don’t know how I’m supposed to keep my composure around them. I’m not like Owen, overly flirtatious or anything like that, but even for me, it’s hard to ignore a gorgeous girl. Especially one in a bathing suit, as Owen puts it.
When I get outside, I stop in my tracks when I see my dad opening the cab of the truck. My stomach drops out of my ass as I search for my mom, my buffer. But she’s nowhere to be seen.
Fuck.
Dad looks over at me. “Hey, bud.”
“Hey,” I say slowly as I come toward him, trying to act like this isn’t an issue. “Where’s Mom?”
“She had a meeting. I offered to bring everything.”
“Oh, okay,” I say, and then he looks at me, a grin pulling at the side of his lip.
“Where’s the rest of your shorts?”
I grin as I chuckle. “Didn’t know they were this short.”
“Sure,” he teases as we start to grab boxes. We make quick work of it, especially when some of the guys come out to help. I’m thankful since they’re talking to him and he isn’t talking to me. Everyone, of course, is gushing over my dad. He’s the best hockey player, in my opinion, and I think they all know that. He’s basically Tennessee’s Wayne Gretzky. It’s awesome having him as a dad, but even more depressing when I remember I couldn’t live up to his legacy. I start to unpack as he relives one of his game sixes from one of his Cup wins. He’s had a lot of them.
“My favorite was when the boys were like six, I think,” he says, glancing my way, and I smile. I don’t remember this Cup win, but the picture of him holding us and the Cup is in the living room of our home. “They woke up every day and did my routine with me. I used to eat a piece of lasagna with shrimp Alfredo and three pieces of garlic bread before my nap, and the boys ate the same thing, all of it, because I did. Owen could keep the food down, but Evan sometimes threw it up.”
The guys laugh as I nod. “It’s a lot of food for a six-year-old!” I say in my defense.
Dad laughs. “It is, but they were in it to win it with me. When we won, I told them it was because of them.”
A warm feeling fills me because he told us all the Cup wins were because of us. Mom says the same thing.
“That’s so cool,” Benny says, leaning on the door.
“I can’t wait. I want to play for the NHL so bad,” Philly Reilcango says.
“You can get there if you work for it. You guys have a hell of a coach this year.”