Park didn’t say anything to him once they were sitting again, and the game restarted. Jett tried not to look in his direction, but he kept spotting the arrogant smirks through the glass and felt compelled to flip him off several times.
Harrison took his hand the next time he held his middle finger up at Park, returning it to Jett’s side and holding it there until he got the hint. He was about to turn and tell Harrison off too, when he caught Park’s wide-eyed expression through the glass.
“What?” Jett hissed loudly.
Park took his glove off and held up his hand. All his fingers were lowered except for his pinkie.
Whatever the fuck that meant.
Jett ignored him and refocused on the game. Bracken took another shift, and everyone held their breath as the Sunburst captain cornered the puck in the Conclave zone, not looking as he flicked the puck to Comier, who tipped it into the net.
The booing went into the two-minute commercial break.
The lines switched around, and Jett was with Cote and Bracken again. While they waited for the break to finish, Jett stood facing his team on the ice, listening to Bracken as he gave a small speech to boost morale. He didn’t notice Park was standing beside him until they bumped shoulders.
“Is that your boyfriend? The coach?”
“You’re over the red line,” said Jett. He took another swig from his bottle and tried to appear bored.
“Killinger is way hotter up close,” Park continued, bumping Jett’s shoulder again. “No wonder that kiss of yours went viral. I wouldn’t have been able to hold myself back around a guy like that either.”
Jett finally spun and scowled at Park’s smirking face. “You really are begging me to put you on your ass tonight, aren’t you?”
Park laughed but was smart enough to step back and put a few inches of ice between them. “You’re such an asshole during game time, Fraser. It’s ruining the golden boy image you whip out for all your interviews.”
Jett fuckinghatedthat image. It was hard to be himself while constantly worrying about upsetting fans and sponsors. He had Harrison to thank for it because apparently coming from the same hometown meant they couldn’tbothbe rude assholes. Jett’s entire NHL career story had been twisted into a rivalry that made no sense since he had never played hockey with or against Harrison.
He was determined not to get scolded by his boyfriend again, so he kept his mouth shut and didn’t engage with Park, even after the game restarted and they were battling it out once more.
With the defence locked down on both sides, neither team could make a solid play. They were at a stalemate until the end of the second period, and the Sunbursts walked away with a two-point lead just like Harrison told them to. The score was 4-2, and anything could change, but for now, Jett felt good.
He stripped down to his pads so he could take a second to breathe, and Harrison handed him a bottle to drink from.
“How are you?”
The question threw Jett off.
“I’m great. Am I making a face?”
“Is hisface,” Wolf said, pushing into their conversation. “Is nothing new. Park always makes Jett look like that. They have a…rivalry.” He dropped onto the seat beside Jett and threw an arm around his shoulders. “Our little ferret gets grumpy every time we play Ottawa. Park gets a kick out of pestering him.”
Jett blew out a breath, not bothering to avoid Wolf’s rough tousling of his hair. His curls were already a sweaty, tangled mess. It’s not like they could get any worse.
“It’s hard to hear everything the guys are saying when you’re at home watching games,” said Harrison. “Knowing Jett as well as I do now, I know he’s not a pushover, but I find his bad attitude adorable after hearing it and seeing it up close.”
“You will enjoy playoffs then,” said Wolf. “Jett has a dirtier mouth than me. Makes for a fun game.”
Jett took another drink and then pressed the bottle to his warm face. He knew he was blushing, but it was hard not to when Harrison had called himadorableto Wolf of all people. He was never going to escape the teasing now.
“I seriously hate that bastard,” said Powers. He flicked his wet hair out of his eyes, receiving a grimace from Bracken sitting next to him. “The flirty shit-talk Park always does makes me want to whack him with my stick.
“Not interested in taking him up on it?” Bennett Ross, one of their other defencemen, asked. “He seems like your type.”
The guys laughed when Powers flipped them off, but Jett couldn’t help but glance at Bracken’s face, examining how blank his expression was.
Max said that he didn’t think they were only friends, and now it was all Jett could think about.
Ryan was giving off an abnormal amount ofdevil-may-careattitude right now, but that could mean nothing. He sometimes got like this when they played, so it wasn’t out of character.
