Playing the Part

13. good friends

Everett

It's a fifty-fifty chance; it's either Allie jumps from the washroom window to avoid ever speaking to me again or she waits it out in there until I inevitably take the hint and leave. 

But none of those things happen as she turns the door knob and sits back down, looking less flustered from before. 

We simmer in the excruciating silence while we eat our food and I realise that some things should be left unsaid. 

I came into this to get her the guy she wants and to make Tori jealous. And that's all I'm going to do. Anything other than that will complicate things and that won't be good for either one of us. 

So I make a mental note that from now on, anything intimate done will be under the pretence of achieving either one of those things. Good friends is what we'll be. 

I can do just that, right?

"I have a match tomorrow. We can do more game plan." I offer. 

"Hm? Game plan? Oh right, yeah. Zach will be there?" She looks up from her noodles, distracted. 

"I'll make sure he'll be there." I honestly couldn't be sure if Zach was going to show up but the odds were high since we were facing off with the strongest school in our conference: Cornell. 

"So what's the plan? Or are you gonna be a dick about it and tell me two seconds before the actual thing?" 

I huff out a laugh, grateful that the awkwardness has passed and we're back to jabbing at each other. "You will end up overthinking it and the whole thing will go up in flames. I can't let that happen. It's crucial this time." 

She rolls her eyes and pushes her glasses up. "How crucial?" 

"This could very well earn you a date with Zach." 

Her eyes immediately light up at the idea and an unwarranted pang of jealousy hits my chest. 

Which since fucking when do I ever get jealous? 

"Really? What's the plan, then?" 

I tilt my head at an angle. "I thought we agreed with no game planning tonight." 

"Everett, you can't get me all excited and not tell me the plan. I don't make the rules." She shrugs. 

I sigh and rub my neck. "Fine. Now that we've established he's into you-"

"When was that ever established?"

"Did you not see him undress you with his eyes at the game? No uninterested dude would be so obvious about it." 

She gives me a skeptical look but gestures me to continue. 

"You'll give signs of being unhappy in this relationship. For example, of how I'm always away partying, training, et cetera. Then hint at the fact that he could do better than me." 

Saying all of that out loud leaves a more than bad taste in my mouth but this is the only way it can be done. 

"Is that going to work?" Allie's hopeful tone is a punch to the gut. I shake myself out of it. 

I smile, amused. "I haven't failed you thus far, have I?" 

"No," she stretches out her neck in a fucking sexy way, "you have not." 

I cough, grabbing the remote from behind her. "Shall we watch Sex and the City till our brains rot?" 

Allie plops onto the couch and finds a comfortable sitting position, her little shorts inadvertently rolling up. "Thought you'd never ask." 

God, I'm in need of a proper distraction. 

*

I slip out of the door at around six A.M for an early start on the ice. 

I don't know how it happened but I ended up passed out on Allie's couch and woke up with her head on my lap. 

Her hair was covering most of her face and her puffy lips were pressed up against my thigh and yet, it didn't feel real. 

Not even the shallow fall and rise of her chest were enough to convince me that this human being that I liked being around so much wasn't just some dream I conjured up. 

It's only been a couple of weeks since I was dropped off, drunk, at her doorstep. But when she's around, I feel ten pounds lighter. She's so fucking infectious with her adorable laugh and quirkiness and I get out of there before I mull over the fact that this is all fake. 

Nick and Leon arrive at the rink before me, as usual. 

He's talking Leon's ear off about Jordan Peele's Nope while Leon is staring straight ahead, his brown hair sticking out at all directions. 

He's no doubt still recovering from last night. 

A couple more players show up at the rink and we jog around the rink, freezing our asses off because its six in the fucking morning during winter. 

Elo's ice hockey arena is massive. Partly due to some alumni making it to the NHL and giving back to Elo and mostly because our team is the cream of the crop when it comes to ice hockey. 

We've won three back-to-back Frozen Fours comfortably in the last three years but it's about to get a lot harder this year. 

Coach Hutson arrives fashionably late. No surprise there. 

Despite being the only coach in Elo's sports history to bring the trophy home three times, his humility to the fact speaks volumes about his personality. 

He's the no-nonsense, stern but ultimately caring dad I never had.

"What's wrong with you cocksuckers? If all of you skate like how you jog, we're all royally fucked." Except when it's early in the morning. Then his default mode of emotion is transforming into the only grumpy Canadian you'll ever meet in your life. 

Nick falls into step beside me while Leon's lagging behind the whole crowd. "Conor can't make it for the match." 

I push my hair away from my forehead. "Yeah. Winning odds drop to sub-zero." 

He sighs. "He just had to miss it when we're against Big Red. Couldn't have missed it for fucking Brown." 

We finally slow down to catch our breath while Coach briefs us about the match this afternoon. "Scott, you'll be our alternate captain for today. Perry, you'll take Strauss' place. And, you," he points to the freshman Conor was a hair away from beating to a pulp, "will take right defensemen."

He reads off his tiny notepad. "My starting six: Scott, Van Kirk, Larson, Perry, James and your name?" Coach nods to the freshman and a gruff 'Doncic' comes from the back. "And Doncic, give em' hell. Now the rest of you, don't think you can dick around. We're all skating extra minutes so buck. The. Fuck. Up. Alright put your skates on, boys." 

He turns and takes a sip of coffee from his Thermos. 

Leon yawns beside us as he scratches his head. "What did Coach say? I blanked out." 

Nick shakes his head, "go ask him." 

He flips Nick off and ties his skates, eyes glazed over. 

"What the fuck happened last night?" I mutter to Nick. 

"The two girls sucked and fucked the living shit out of him. Dude's high off orgasms." 

"Not the island." I drag my palms down my face. 

He slowly nods his head. "Everywhere, Evie. You were lucky you got outta there." 

It's a little alarming that I don't miss any part of that lifestyle. I'd expected myself to miss all the meaningless sex and casual hookups but I don't. 

And I can't help but wonder if it's my personal character development arc finally kicking in or if it's got something to do with Allie. 

I pray that it's not the latter.