“Wait up, you guys,” Posey says, jogging after us. I glance over just to see him reach me with a bag of gummy bears in hand. He presses it against my chest when he catches up, and he says, “To refill your stash. Can’t have you not have your lucky bears before a game.” He glances down at my shoes. “Hey, those aren’t the right shoes.”
Groaning, I say, “I know. Enough with the shoes, okay?”
“What did I just walk in on?” Posey asks, hands held up.
“Apparently, his shoes are incapacitated,” Taters says.
“And apparently, Taters is going through something emotional right now.”
“With Sarah, I know,” Posey says haphazardly and then winces while quickly making eye contact with Taters. “Uh, I mean . . . I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I pause in the hallway and turn toward Taters. “Are you seeing her again?”
“The other night,” Posey answers, only to receive a death glare from Taters. “Uh, you know, I’m actually going to jog ahead of you guys. Warm up the legs a bit.” And then he takes off.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Taters says, moving forward as well.
“Dude, she’s fucking with you.”
“You don’t know that,” he answers. “You have no fucking clue what we talked about.”
“Then what did you discuss?” I ask.
“Why don’t you worry about Pacey’s sister who you got pregnant and stay out of my personal life.” Before I can stop him, he picks up his pace as well and heads down the hallway.
What the actual fuck? When has he ever not told me anything? He shares everything with me. What’s changed?
Gummy bears in hand, I start down the hall and realize I don’t want to head to the locker room just yet, not after that “delightful” conversation, so instead, I move toward the offices. I’m going to check on Penny one more time before I can’t because I’m strapped to the ice for our game.
“Good luck tonight,” someone says as I walk through the hallway. I wish I knew everyone’s names who works for the team, but unfortunately, I don’t spend enough time here to grow familiar. Instead, I offer a fist bump and keep moving toward Penny’s office.
“Looking good,” one of the guys from marketing says as he moves past me. “Hey, where are the lucky shoes?”
Note to self, don’t designate wardrobe anymore. It only creates a hassle in the long run.
“Got them dirty,” I say. “These will work, though.” I offer the guy a wink, which feels odd, but I don’t know what else to do, and make the right at the hallway toward Penny’s office.
When I reach her door, I give it a slight knock and then let myself in, only to stop dead in my tracks when I see another man in her office.
But not just any man . . . Remi Gasper.
What the actual fuck?
“Gasper,” I say, straightening up. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He stands from the chair situated across from Penny and buttons his suit jacket. “Just saying hello to an old friend,” he answers, with that aggravating grin of his. “Good to see you too, Hornsby.”
Penny stands, and the worried expression that crosses her face snaps me out of my tunnel vision of wanting to chuck this guy through her glass door. “Well, you said hi, now you can move along.”
He smirks even wider and then walks around Penny’s desk, where he pulls her into a hug and drops a kiss on the top of her head. “Think about dinner, okay? Would love to spend more time with you.”
Dinner? Over my dead fucking body.
He lets Penny go and moves toward me, where his shoulder bumps into mine. “Still see you believe gummy bears will help you. Laughable, dude. See you out on the ice,” he says before moving out of the door and shutting it behind him.
“Hey, Eli—”
“How the hell do you know him?”
Her eyes draw into concern. “What do you mean? I grew up with him. He was good friends with Pacey. They played together for a long time.”
For some reason, that rings a bell. Pacey’s never said too much about Gasper because he knows how much everyone on the team absolutely hates him, and for good reason. If only he knew Gasper was behind why I wasn’t there to help Holden. Something makes me think Pacey wouldn’t want to be friends with him much longer.
“Is there something going on between the two of you?” I ask.
“Are you serious? Eli, I just told you this morning I don’t have time or energy for that. Can you not understand that? And what does it matter? It’s not like you and I are together. You don’t have claim over me.”