Page 29 of Offside Angle

“Yeah, he’s been weird.”

“Super quiet lately.”

“Something’s off.”

I stare around the room in pure disbelief as half the team starts agreeing with Shane like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Traitors. Every single one of them.

Damian doesn’t let it go. “You’ve been weird since the day before playoffs,” he says, calm but direct.

I shoot back without thinking. “You need to stop being so perceptive.”

“That’s my job,” he counters, completely unfazed.

Elias, who’s been listening from his stall, speaks up. “What happened before playoffs?”

Before I can even try to shut it down, Shane — the absolute traitor — opens his mouth.

“Tape day,” he says, counting on his fingers. “We talked about Halifax for about two hours. Mats was texting Lena most of the day.” He glances at me when he says that part. I stare back at him, silently asking how the hell he even knows that. Shane ignores me and keeps going. “Then Zara walked in with the new guy. We all went home after. And ever since then, he’s been acting as if someone stole his favorite stick.”

The room goes quiet for a second.

Cole tilts his head, thinking. “So the only new variable that day was…” His eyes slowly drift across the locker room until they land on the corner where Santi is sitting, completely absorbed in the pictures on his camera and apparently unconcerned with any of this.

Cole blinks. “Did the new guy do something or… what are we missing?”

I feel every pair of eyes in the room turn toward me.

I run a hand over my face and groan. “Stop being so nosy,” I mutter.

Of course, that only makes them worse. Now half the team is leaning in, suddenly way too interested. Cole keeps looking between me and Santi, visibly trying to solve the mystery, while Shane wears the triumphant grin of a man who just figured something out. Even some of the rookies are watching with wide eyes.

Cole narrows his eyes at me, suspicion written all over his face. “Is he an ex of Lena’s?” he asks. “Is that it?”

From the corner of the locker room, there’s a quiet snort.

I look up just in time to see Santi push himself out of his chair and start walking toward us. I immediately shake my head at him, trying to silently tell him to stay the hell out of this, but he ignores me completely.

He stops a few feet away from the group, calm as ever. “No,” Santi says. “I’m not Lena’s ex. I’m nobody’s ex. Just… his best friend from high school.”

The words land in the middle of the room like a brick.

I let my head fall back against my stall with a dull thud and let out a long, tired sigh.

Cole blinks, staring between me and Santi like his brain is trying to reboot. “Oh…” he says slowly, even more confused now. “That still doesn’t explain why you’ve been so… fucked up lately.”

A few of the other guys murmur in agreement, clearly trying to piece it together. Shane looks way too entertained. Elias is watching quietly, and even Damian hasn’t said anything yet — he’s just observing everything with that sharp, assessing stare.

This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.

Santi stands there, hands in his pockets, looking completely unbothered while the entire team tries to figure out why his presence has apparently broken me.

Damian groans and rubs a hand over his face before looking straight at me. “Do I need to fire him?” he asks, deadpan.

Every single pair of eyes turns toward me — including Santi’s.

I feel my face heat up. “God, no,” I say, way more offended than I probably should sound. “Don’t fire him.”

Santi’s mouth twitches into a small smirk at my reaction, but he doesn’t say anything.