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“Fuck off,” I mutter into the mattress.

A few seconds later, there’s another.

And then another.

I grit my teeth, wondering how long whoever is on the other side of the door will keep trying. Hopefully not long. They’ll soon discover that I’m either not here or not interested.

“Nash,” a familiar voice barks. “I know you’re in there, and I know you can hear me.”

I groan and flip onto my back.

“I also know that you’re hurting and…and…well, I can’t sit back any longer and watch from a distance. And unless you want to me to start shouting about what has you locking yourself away like you used to, then I suggest you come and open this do⁠—”

“That’s blackmail,” I spit, having wrenched the door open to glare at my former best friend.

He shrugs and grins at me. “Maybe so, but it worked, didn’t it?”

“Fucking pain in my ass,” I mutter as he invites himself in and takes a seat on the chair in the corner of the room by the window.

It’s the first time I’ve looked at the space. It’s nice, I guess. Much like every other hotel we stay in. They all begin to blur into one eventually. The only difference is which side of the room the bathroom is located.

“Ah, but you told me you missed me, remember?”

“Nope. I don’t remember saying that,” I scoff as I sit on the bed, my back against the headboard.

“Course you don’t,” he mutters, his eyes still on me. “How are you doing?”

My lips part to answer, but then I’m struck by how rarely I’m asked that question, and I freeze up.

Sure, the guys have asked what’s wrong, but it’s different coming from Kodie, especially when I assume he knows a little of the truth.

“Great. Living my best life.”

“Coop,” he sighs. “I know a lot of time has passed, but it’s me. You can talk to me.” He places his hand on his chest. “No judgment, just a pair of ears willing to listen.”

Fuck. I’d forgotten what it’s like to have a real friend. I guess I could have replaced him with another over the years, but I’ve never let anyone close enough. Losing him, even though it was my fault, hurt. I missed him so fucking much, and I hated myself for being the one to push him away. Not as much as I hated my dad, though.

“We’re playing Detroit tomorrow,” I say, avoiding what he’s really asking.

While I’m aware that Kodie figured out it was Garrett, we haven’t talked about it since the game against Vancouver. I suspect my time running from that conversation is dwindling, though.

Kodie’s jaw tics, letting me know that he understands what I’m saying. It’s the closest team to where we grew up. It was our team all those years ago. I used to live for trips to watch them play, and I could only ever dream of one day stepping out onto that ice. Of course, we both dreamed of playing for Detroit, but we knew it was unlikely. Neither of us can complain about where we ended up, though. And hell, we’ve even managed to end up playing together. Even if we did start out as enemies.

“Is he coming?”

“Yeah. Should be bringing Hux and Ryker.”

“Shit, how old are they now?” he asks.

We’d already gone our separate ways before Huxley was born, so he’s never really known much about them. I realize now just how incredible he would have been with them if things had turned out differently.

“Hux is the same age as Sutton. He’ll be turning ten soon. Ryker is eight.”

“Shit, man. Where the fuck have the years gone?”

“Don’t ask me,” I mutter.

“They must be so excited to see you.”