ready for it? • t. zegras

four

teagan
hey so
i have an idea

jamie
Hey
What is it?

teagan
you should come over to watch the game!
me, my roomies, and my brother will be there.
if you like me youll prob like them and i know its
a bit weird because we just met through another
person but like... just makes it more exciting!!
also snacks and food and hockey
you definitely like at least one of those!

jamie
Two of those are the same thing

teagan
i realize that now

jamie
Are you planning to figure out hockey before
or during the game?

teagan
during! which is why i need all the experts i
can get. you coming would make that number
a giant 2

jamie
I'll see what I can do.
If I were to come is there anything I could bring?
More snacks?

teagan
let me ask the planner

jamie
Okay

teagan
chips apparently
any kind you'd like
im being told to actually tell you to just bring
anything youd like in general

jamie
Alright
IF I come

teagan
yeah!
if

* * * * *

"Sunny, how much clothing can one person have?" I shout, walking out of the laundry room that had way more clothes than usual. "Do they even all fit in your room?"

My idiot brother turns around in one of the bar stools at the counter. "Yes, they all fit in my room. You have no room to judge how much clothing I have. You have way more."

"I don't think so."

"Probably because it takes up less room since most of your clothes barely cov--"

"Do not slut shame my clothes."

"I wasn't slut shaming your clothes, I was slut shaming--"

"No slut shaming at all," Mira states. She's cutting fruit on the other side of the counter from Sunny. An aggressive chop prefaces her warning, "We have gone too long without having new friends and if you guys scare them off so help me, I will go insane."

"I'm the source, I can't scare them off," I say.

Another chop. "You on your lonesome and you with Spence are two different things."

"She's so mean to me," Sunny mumbles with the fakest fucking pout I've ever seen.

"Maybe you should--" The doorbell ringing cuts me off. Who rings our doorbell?

No one in our trio goes to open the door. I'm still standing in the doorway to the hall, Sunny in his seat, and Mira keeps cutting fruit. It rings again. Did I give Jamie our address for if he comes? By the way, I don't think there's actually an if in there.

Tilly pushes past me, "Hey, I'll get it!"

The door opens and in all his glory is Jamie Drysdale. He looks straight past Tilly at me and I realize I should have gotten the door. Poor boy. Tilly welcomes him in and, although hesitantly, he walks in with two grocery bags of just chips. When Tilly turns around from closing the door, she shoots me a thumbs up.

"Jamie, welcome to the--"

He cuts me off. "Moron Mansion. I saw the welcome mat."

"Oh, right," I laugh through my words. Little does he know, I was going to use Fuckhead Fortress. I walk over, taking the bags from him and setting them on the counter. Tilly immediately gets to work unpacking them. "You ready for introductions?"

"Uh," he slides into the stool at the end of the counter, leaving one between him and Spence. Probably for the best, he was a biter and I'm not convinced he outgrew it. Jamie says a quick, "Sure."

"Matilde got the door for you. Mira, here, is probably going to be your favorite." I motion to each of them as I go. "And... that's Spencer. My little brother. He doesn't live here but it sure seems like it sometimes."

"Oh my god," Sunny mumbles.

"Do you want to pick up nicknames on your own or..."

"Trevor already told me about the nicknames," Jamie says.

"That snitch."

"He doesn't stop talking."

"That makes sense."

Tilly claps her hands and has the audacity to laugh when I flinch. "Drinks, anyone?"

* * * * *

teagan
dude this game goes hard as fuck
i know you wont see this for a bit but i
cannot believe i missed out on this sport
for so long
it's so easy to tell when something dumb
happens w a call or a pass with jamie next
to me this is the best learning experience ever

teagan
crazy how when i watch you guys win!
congrats you did good according to me AND jd

trevor
I would hope with my two goals and an
assist you'd pick up on the fact I did good
Also I told you you'd like it

teagan
good to see not even getting punched few
times can diminish your ego

trevor
If that could happen I'd have no ego whatsoever

teagan
you get into a lot of squabbles on the ice?

trevor
Squabbles?
And yes

teagan
brb going to go watch some of them

trevor
Or you could watch my best goals or best
assists or anything else

teagan
i wanna see you get put in your place

trevor
That's not what happens

teagan
fine
i wanna see people attempt to put you in your
nonexistent place

trevor
That's more accurate

* * * * *

And we did. Jamie and Tilly figured out what the best cases of Trev getting into it on the ice are and showed them to the class. It was enjoyable. Seeing the smiley guy I've texted nearly nonstop since I left his place get so worked up is fun as hell.

Now, Tilly and Sunny are in the kitchen making cookies for some reason. Mira is curled up on the loveseat with her Kindle. The chill hangout playlist was on mostly for background noise. My head's on Jamie's shoulder, watching whatever he's doing on his phone. So far, it's been texting his teammates congratulations and compliments and them checking up on him in return.

That was always my favorite part of playing basketball growing up. The team aspect. Some of my closest friends were through the sport. Some of my favorite memories. Although, I guess my little group in the Moron Mansion is pretty damn close to having a team. If only they let me hug them more often. That'd be the life.

Jamie goes on Instagram. He goes to scroll the home page but stops. He clicks on an icon with a green circle around it-- someone's Close Friends story. He doesn't move the phone away and I don't look away. I don't know the guy in the video. He's using front flash and singing along to some song. The camera switches around. A few familiar faces but that's not what my brain pays attention to. It's Trevor with his arm around a blonde who has a hand on his thigh. She's fucking gorgeous, my god. The video ends and it goes to the next person's story.

That really humbled the hopeless romantic part of my brain. Realistically, I know there was no possible whirlwind romance coming my way. Majority of my brain knew that. However, there is a part of my brain that likes to imagine those things before bed and-- come on -- what kind of girl wouldn't let a professional athlete that looks like him take hold of those imagination sessions.

Oh well! I'm over it.

"I never gave you the address," I whisper.

"Z sent me it," Jamie whispers back.

"Hm."