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Once he also realizes that Deanna honestly didn’t know she was sleeping with teammates, he can’t be pissed about that aspect. If Deanna started things as she did with me, by being open enough to say that I wasn’t the only one she was sleeping with, then I don’t see the problem unless she somehow led him on. More and more rationalizations form in my mind as Deanna puts on a movie and lies down with her head in my lap.
Eventually, it hits me that I keep coming up with these rationalizations because I don’t want Zane to be a problem. I want to keep seeing Deanna.
Zane mutters something under his breath once again. All I clearly heard was motherfucker. He’s been making comments under his breath all throughout practice. He’s pissed or upset or both, but that should stay away from the ice. He bumps into me, ramming into my shoulder too hard for it to be unintentional.
That’s when I hit my limit.
I grab the neck of his sweater and yank him in front of me. “Will you fucking get over it already? You fucked her and now you don’t, but I do. Stop moping.”
His eyes widen. “You’re still seeing her?” The outrage is palpable in his voice.
Shit. I figured he’d realize that, but he’d have no reason to assume so. “Yeah.”
He jerks back from me. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
“No. Stop being an ass while we’re here; can you do that? You lost your fuck buddy, get the fuck over it.”
“She was more than that,” he argues.
“Not to you, she wasn’t. You barely knew her!” He’s been slowly pissing me off all practice. I don’t get his anger, but I am sick of it. If everything was as Deanna said, then he shouldn’t be that fucking pissed. I’m not pissed to find out he was the other guy. Why is he so fucking pissed to find out that I’m the other guy? That she ended things with him?
“You don’t know what I know about her.”
“Yeah?” Before I can stop myself, I throw it all in his face, what I’m banking on that he doesn’t know about her. “Do you know she has a dog named Otis? Does she know where your spare key is? Does she know your alarm code so she can come over to your house whenever she wants? Does she come to your house uninvited?” His face starts to blanch. “Do you even know wher
e the fuck she lives, Z? Have you been in her house? Do you know where she works or what she does for a living? Do you know her mom died last week? Were you the one who went with her to the funeral? No. You’re full of shit if you actually think you know anything about Deanna except what she looks like naked.”
“You son of a bitch.” That’s all the warning I get before he uppercuts me a good one.
Whether I deserve his anger and his punches or not, I fight back. There are yells as the guys rush to break us up. My jaw aches a bit and my lip feels like it might be spilt; Z’s nose bleeds, but otherwise, he looks okay.
“What the fuck is wrong with you two?” Bruiser asks.
“Look, Z,” I start, ignoring him. “I’m sorry that she didn’t care more for you. My point is to deal with what happened, face the fact that there was nothing between the two of you, and keep the shit off the ice. We can’t win games if you’re too busy being pissed at me. I didn’t do shit to you anyway.”
Zane pushes against Ian’s hold. “Let me hit him one more time.”
“I walk away for five seconds,” Coach Mike yells, “and two teammates are fighting? You’re on the same fucking team!”
“We’re all good now, aren’t we, Z?” I level a stare at him. This ends now whether he wants it to or not, whether he likes it or not. The thought of giving up Deanna gives me an uneasy feeling, even if I’m doing it for hockey. I have realized that much today. I’m not losing her because of Zane. No fucking way.
“Yeah,” he grunts. “Personal issue and it’s over.”
“I’m glad it’s over for you two! There are reporters watching. What do you think the headline will be for what should be a boring optional skate? My office, now.”
As we skate off the ice, Zane says, “She came to my house last week and started crying before she left.” As if that should mean something.
“Yeah, and I don’t know which day it was, but I can tell you that she spent every single night since her mom died at my house. She ended up with me.”
His shoulders slump.
“I don’t want issues, but you pissed me off with all your shit, so I said what needed to be said. Deanna ended things with you for a reason, Z. Whether that’s because of me or not, I don’t know. But you don’t have an actual reason to be pissed at me unless it’s because I’m still seeing her and even then, you’re reaching.”
“Just shut the fuck up, Brayden,” he snaps. “It’s over and everyone’s fucking happy. I can do my job without this interfering.”
At the end of the day, that’s all I needed to hear.
***
