Chapter 25
Nauseating
Ella
The rowdy athletes never stopped talking, sharing dirty jokes, or making fun of each other in that non-stop, rapid-fire way that hockey players do. Eventually, their raucous banter faded into a distant background noise that I was able to tune out. My mind was elsewhere, and I nervously fidgeted with my hands while Lance and Radar were having a chat outside.
Radar wouldn't really tell Lance, would he? But what if he did? How would I feel? Would it change things?
I didn't know.
All I knew was that, when Lance returned ten minutes later, Radar wasn't with him. Lance was smiling, but I could tell he was straining to put that smile on for all of us.
“Hey, where'd Radar go?” one of his teammates shouted.
“Turns out, Radar really wasn't feeling well, guys. He went home.”
The room groaned.
Maybe Lance was telling the truth? I didn't know. But then I spotted Radar's jacket.
He would've taken it with him if he was planning on leaving, wouldn't he?
“I bet we got too close to the truth,” Ilya joked. “He is love-struck, isn't he?”
“Who the hell knows with that guy?” Lance shrugged.
He grabbed his glass of ice water, took a sip, and then did something strange: he lowered the glass to his lap, out of sight, where he held the cold glass against his knuckles.
Oh my God, did they have a fight?
I slunk in my seat.
Now what?
The servers entered with our food. While all the starving athletes around me inhaled their meals, I stared at mine. I felt sick.
“What's wrong, Ella? Lose your appetite?” Lance asked.
***
After suffering through dinner, Lance suggested that the team go to Club Regret—then caught my eye to see my reaction.
Okay. He definitely knows. I'm screwed.
Outside, an armada of cabs was once again waiting for us. Lance and I grabbed a cab, but this time, he told Ilya to ride with someone else.
We climbed in.
“I think you'll like this Regret place,” Lance said. “Unless, of course, you're going to inform me that Regret is also a chain, and you conveniently have one of those in New York, too.”
I gulped loudly.
“Something you want to tell me, dear sister?”
“Seems like Radar already told you,” I muttered.
“He sure did. So how'd it happen? Did he take advantage of you?”
“Of course not. It 'happened' because you bailed on me to go hang out with Lindsay, and then Radar felt bad for me because I hadn't even eaten dinner.”
“Oh, so it's my fault.”
“It's no one's fault, it just happened.”
“So Radar treated you to dinner. Wow, he's such a nice guy, isn't he?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, he was, actually.”
“And that's why you were willing to lie for him, when you made up that ridiculous story about catching him with the puck bunny?”
I sighed. “I guess so.”
“It's funny, because I thought you never told a lie, and you lorded that over everyone's head as proof that you were better than everyone else. But I guess in the end, that turned out to just another lie too.”
I tutted. “Stop being so dramatic. It's not like I wanted to lie about it. It's very simple, Lance: Radar and I got caught up in the moment last night, and we did something we shouldn't have. And then he begged me not to tell you, because he thought you'd freak out and get him kicked off the team. I went along with it, because I didn't want to see his career get wrecked.”
“Which it will, by the way.” Lance smirked. “I have to say, Honey Badger, sleeping with my roommate is pretty damn low. I wouldn't expect that from you.”
“Uh, excuse me? I didn't sleep with him.”
“Whatever you two did. I don't want to know, honestly.”
I stared at him. “You know … that's pretty ballsy coming from you, Lance.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Quinn? Hello?”
“Oh, here we go with Quinn again. So that is what this is about, isn't it? I asked you if you planned to fuck Radar to get back at me—and you said no. Remember when you said you weren't the kind of sister who'd fuck her brother's best friend? What was that, lie #47 you've told so far this trip, Ms. One Hundred Percent Honest?”
“I didn't plan on fucking him—and I didn't fuck him, either! This wasn't some plot of revenge. It just—”
“It just sort of happened?”
“Yes …!” I let out a heavy breath. “He was sweet to me, Lance. Not just last night, but the night before, too. He didn't have to take me out to dinner, but he did, and we started talking to each other and getting to know each other more, and yes, I liked him enough to kiss him.”
Lance rolled his eyes. “Oh, great, you like him, too. The more I hear, the more nauseating it gets.”
He thought it was nauseating, but my heart fluttered at hearing that.
“… Ryan told you he likes me?”
Lance sneered. “Ugh. You call him 'Ryan'? Seriously?”
“Forget it. Where did he go, anyway?”
Lance shrugged. “He went home, like I said.”
“Did you guys have a fight?”
Lance didn't answer, so I grabbed his hand and inspected it. “Your knuckles are puffy and bleeding. You punched him, didn't you? Is he hurt?”
“He'll be fine.”
“I can't believe you, Lance. You think you can solve everything with violence? You think you can hit a guy just because he likes me?”
“Radar doesn't like you, Ella. The guy always has some new slut he's banging, practically every weekend. Did you know he never brings a girl around a second time after he fucks her? Wanna take a guess who his new slut was last night?”
My jaw dropped, and my eyes narrowed with rage, and that was when I caught Lance with a back-hand to the mouth.
He recoiled and dabbed at the blood trickling down his lip. “So this is the thanks I get, for inviting you out to my place for the weekend. You try to bang my roommate, you hit me—”
I interrupted him. “You are so selfish, Lance. You lied to me about why you wanted me to visit. You weren't even home the first night I arrived in town. You bailed on me last night to hang out with your girlfriend, all of which created the perfect storm of me and Radar hanging out together. You also aren't even sorry about the fact that you fucked Quinn, my best friend, and sabotaged our friendship in the process. But when the same thing happens with me and your best friend, suddenly it's some egregious crime?”
“Uh, yeah. Exactly. I'm a guy, so I'm supposed to try to sleep with your friends. But if your sister tries to sleep with your guy friends, it's like, wrong and stuff—”
“That is so stupid. You are so stupid.”
I told the cab to pull over.
“Wait, where are you going, Ella?”
“I'm going home, packing my things, and staying at a hotel for the night. I've had enough of you and Radar both.”
I slammed the car door shut before he could say anything else.
Asshole, I muttered as the car drove off.