Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Y ou Want Her

Macklin

I’m at morning skate, doing my stretches, when Luc walks up to me.

“You ready to talk?” he asks.

“About what?” I play dumb.

He tried to get me to talk last night on our way home from the bonfire in the Uber, but I remained tight-lipped.

“Don’t play coy with me, Dombrovsky,” he replies.

“This isn’t a good time,” I return

“A good time for what?” Hayden asks, walking up to us.

“Nothing,” I answer my best friend. The last thing I need is for Luc to tell Hayden I lost my shit about his sister walking off with some guy. Playing the protective brother’s best friend card will only get me so far before someone realizes I have feelings for Ruby.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing,” Hayden says, looking between me and Luc.

“Buddy here lost his shit last night when your sister walked off with some guy,” Luc declares.

My stomach sinks. Fuck me.

“You mean Knox?” Hayden asks.

I nod.

“I’ve spoken with Ruby. He’s a good guy. He isn’t pushy at all, but thanks for looking out for her, bro.” He puts his fist out to bump me.

“No problem.” I bump his fist.

Luc watches the encounter between us, and I see the balls rolling in his head. I really hope he drops this whole thing.

Coach Heaton blows the whistle, and we all line up. “Okay, we will break into two teams. I want to go over some of the game plays we watched yesterday,” he says.

He tells our team what to do and which plays each of us should carry out. I knew drinking last night was a mistake, but my head has been all messed up. Having Ruby in the house is messing with my life. She is too pretty, too sweet, too damn perfect. And she is still seeing that guy from her class, which pissed me off. When I invited Luc to the bonfire, I didn’t tell him why I needed to get out, but I knew Luc was the type of guy who wouldn’t say no to fun. I had been chatting up some girls and drinking when we decided to join the circle around the bonfire. I was up for a good drinking game and getting drunk enough that I would forget about Ruby and find a girl who was available. Everything was supposed to play out perfectly, except my plan didn’t account for Ruby being at the bonfire with her stud muffin. Now my body is achy, and I’m not performing like I should.

“Luc and Macklin,” Coach Heaton barks, calling us out.

Fuck, we are toast.

“We have a game against Ohio coming up. Luc, I need you protecting that net like it’s no one’s business, and, Macklin, I need you waking up. You missed like three plays you could’ve stopped. If you don’t start pulling your weight, I’m not giving you ice time.”

“Sorry, Coach,” I say apologetically, and I do feel bad. The team is important to me, and I plan on drafting next year.

“Sorry won’t cut it. I expect you both to do better,” Coach barks. “Now, all of you go get dressed and meet in the media room in twenty.”

I bow my head, feeling like shit for so many different reasons. I have come this far; I can’t go screwing up my life now. Last night was a stupid mistake.

I take the quickest shower of my life and when I head out to my locker, Luc is already there, a few lockers down, getting dressed. We don’t say anything to each other. Complaining about the stupidity of last night won’t get us anywhere, and Finn is right beside us. If he hears we got wasted last night, he’ll be disappointed, and I respect him and my team. I don’t want to flaunt my bad choices.

When we get to the media room, Coach makes us watch some tape. He points out where we went wrong during practice and how we can improve.

When we are dismissed, I am inside my head. Having Ruby living in the house is really screwing with me, or maybe it’s her naked body ingrained in my brain that has me all messed up.

When I leave the sports complex, Luc catches up to me. “I’m not dropping this. You want her, don’t you?”

His words cause my stomach to sink. I stop walking abruptly and look at my friend. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Ruby. You want her.” This time it isn’t a question.

I stare him in the eyes like I want to punch him out, but it isn’t his fault I am crazy in love with my best friend’s sister.

Luc watches me like I am wild prey, and he doesn’t know what to expect from me.

I exhale any form of anger or aggression and feel it seep out of my pores like a poison I don’t want or need. “Dude, I’ve liked her since the first day I met her.” My confession is a first. I’ve never admitted my feelings for Ruby since the day we met. It’s the first time I am hearing and validating what I’ve always felt.

“You’re fucked,” Luc says, looking sympathetic.

“You can’t tell anyone, Luc. Hayden is family. He’d never accept my feelings, and I am pretty sure Ruby doesn’t feel the same way.”

“I got you, bro. Your secret is safe. But you really need to get some self-control. Last night was next-level shit. You can’t be bullying a guy she’s seeing because you’re jealous.”

“Fuck, if you saw it, then maybe Ruby saw it too. Maybe her friends saw it,” I worry.

“Everyone drank last night and emotions were running high. I don’t know how obvious you were. I’ve just never seen you like that before. You were protective but also. . .”

“A jealous asshole,” I fill in.

“Yeah,” he deadpans.

Just fucking great.

“We better get to class,” Luc says.

“Bro, please keep this between us. They’re all I have,” I say, feeling choked up.

Luc nods and I hate the sympathy I see in his eyes. I’m the guy who lost his family. Hayden, Ruby, and Abuela are all I have. It’s my fault I caught feelings for Ruby. I’ll just need to control myself better.