AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER ONE
No.
The thought rang through him for a single beat, laced with dread. It crumbled a moment later as Zee barrelled into him, a wide grin on his face.
“Fuck, are you—are you serious?” Ishir stuttered incredulously. Fear gave way to excitement, to joy.
Zane “Zee” Monroe, his best friend since childhood, had just been traded to the Brooklyn Cats. To the team Ishir had been drafted by four years ago.
Zee jumped through Ishir’s apartment like a kid, hollering at the top of his lungs.
“I just got the fucking call from my agent.” His eyes were huge, hands buried in coiled hair. “Dude.Dude. We’re gonna fucking play together…in theNHL. Holy…” He started jumping again.
Ishir laughed, letting himself be jostled as Zee crashed into him. “I thought you were happy in Denver?”
“I mean, yeah, sure, the Leopards are good, but we’ve been talking about this since we were kids.” His body stopped moving, smile dimming a little. “Right? I mean, you’re psyched, yeah?”
“Duh,” Ishir replied, and he wasn’t even lying.
Of course he wanted Zee in Brooklyn with him. Of course he was happy about the trade, as random and unexpected as it was. The fact that Ishir had been in love with Zee for years, well—worse things happened to a person than unrequited love.
Both Ishir’s and Zee’s parents were ecstatic after hearing the news.
“Good. You need someone to keep you out of trouble,” Zee’s Alpha mom said.
Zee rolled his eyes, still smiling. “Why doesn’t anybody believe me that Zammy’s the troublemaker?” he protested, using Ishir Zamman’s hockey nickname like always. It was a travesty that the inseparable pair had been dubbed ‘Zee and Zammy’ by their junior teammates, even worse that it’d stuck in the big leagues.
Zee’s mom snorted. “Because it’s bullshit, honey. Because it’s bullshit.”
Zee grumbled under his breath but didn’t protest further—not even he could lie well enough to sell that Ishir was the more mischievous one of the two. They’d all lived through the days when Ishir had been painfully quiet and awkward despite being one of the best defensemen on their Peewee team.
It was Zee who’d gotten him out of his shell, sticking by him year after year, his energy and positivity rubbing off on Ishir as time went on.
Zee’s mom winked at Ishir. They had always been close, Ishir admiring her impressive career as a sports journalist. Although her job was in football, she had always understood the sacrifices necessary to make it as a professional athlete and had ensured that both Zee and Ishir had always had every opportunity to do so.
Not that Ishir’s parents hadn’t cheered him on, but they were both in academia, far removed from the sports world. It had been nice to have someone older to go to when he’d struggled to see a future for himself on the ice.
She was also one of the only people who knew he’d almost quit hockey once. Not even Zee knew that.
It was a strange, surreal summer. Usually, the off-season months were spent soaking up Zee’s presence. They’d grown up in Minnesota and returned to its forests and lakes to recuperate from disappointing playoff results. The best way to heal those particular wounds, Ishir had found, was dedicating himself to preparing for the new hockey year.
It was usually a worry, fitting enough time with Zee in. They’d train together, go out together, crash in the same apartment most nights, and yet the clock would perpetually tick in the background, counting the seconds until they were separated again.
Now, though, Ishir kept being hit by the reminder that he wasn’t on borrowed time. Zee was following him to New York in September.
It was as exhilarating as it was terrifying.
Ishir had lived with a few of his teammates the previous season, but he didn’t protest when Zee assumed it’d be just the two of them in a new place. Zee seemed to have downloaded every apartment-finding app, going as far as contacting a few realtors even though it was Ishir who had the connections.
“Gonna find us thebestplace, dude,” Zee assured him.
“You literally haven’t even asked me what I want in a place.”
Zee scoffed. “An in-unit washer and dryer and two bathrooms.”
Ishir opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. “Uh, yeah. That sounds good, actually.” Ishir hadn’t really sat and thought about what he’d like in his next place, but that was right on the money.
“Yeah, man. I heard you complain about having to wait to shower last year. I know how much you like looking pretty,” Zee teased.
