The caption Fuze wrote is:
Fuze: east dock activities
and the team response is exactly what I expect.
Trey: oh no
Knox: Is that a towel?
Mac: He’s wearing the socks
Dude: LMAOOOO THE SOCKS
Amusement and dread in equal measure. It's funny right up until it isn't.
Fuze: BRO
Fuze: I DIDN’T POST IT I SWEAR
Fuze: okay I posted it in the group but NOT online
Fuze: I think someone screenshotted it
Fuze: this is not my fault (it might be a little my fault)
I swipe out. Open Instagram. And there it is. The photo. Me in a towel. Skate socks. Standing too close to Toni. Her blazer slightly open from the wind. Hair pulled loose around her face. Looking up at me like— fuck. Like that. Like she forgot the world existed for half a second. And I’m looking at her like I never wanted it to come back.
The caption:
“NHL Trainer Gets Cozy with League’s Biggest Problem Child ”
Comments flood underneath:
“Isn’t that the ref trainer???”
“Conflict of interest much?”
“LMAO Stevens finally scoring somewhere”
“That’s NOT a good look for the league”
“Her dad is gonna LOSE IT”
"She probably slept her way into that job anyway lol"
I read that last one twice. My jaw locks so hard that it aches. It’s not funny at all. This isn’t locker-room shit. This is her job. I put my phone face-down on the bench. Pick it up again. Put it down.
“Max,” Trey says, low. “You need to get ahead of this.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s not the point.” His captain’s expression is on.
“How bad?” I hand him the phone. He reads. His expressiontightens by a degree. He returns the phone. “How much of that photo is what it looks like?”
“We were locked out.”
“I know that. How much of it is what it looks like?”
