Heteronym

Chapter 20

"All I'm saying is that if you're going to slide into my DMs, maybe don't if you have a boyfriend who will want to kill me when he finds out."

I know what you're thinking: this is petty high school drama far too stupid for adults, let alone people making millions to do their jobs. I would usually agree with that but let me introduce you to Taylor Nowak, resident idiot of the New York Rangers. His stupidity and foolishness never ceased to amaze me.

I shot him a 'bitch please' look from across the table while Beck responded to him without looking up. "Maybe don't try and fuck every girl you talk to and this wouldn't be an issue."

"I don't try and fuck every girl," Taylor defended while Beck scoffed at him. The captain glared at the center player who was looking down at his soup as he ate, pretending to mind his own business while hiding a smirk. "I haven't tried to fuck your girlfriend yet so I'd watch it."

"Yet?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Leave me the fuck out of this one."

"Oh please, you'd be grateful if I fucked you," Taylor rolled his eyes.

"And you'd have a broken nose," Beck rolled his eyes and mimicked Taylor's tone.

"Maybe you can straighten it out for him," I quipped with a shit eating grin.

"Why are you both teaming up on me? I'm just an innocent and lonely man," Taylor whined.

"You're the one who is third wheeling, so I'd watch it. Though I heard your couch and empty apartment is much more fun than your two friends," Beck mused.

"What did you even do before us? Stay home all day like a hermit?" I questioned after swallowing the rice noddles and chicken in my mouth. I loved this restaurant. Whether Beck and Taylor knew it or not, this was where my father used to take my brothers and I after he was away for weeks at a time on long haul flights. My dad was a pilot and as a child it made it so he was only around when I was sleeping, if at all.

I always wondered if that was why the two of us got along; he was never home. My mother was the one who was always around to yell at me or judge me, berate me for my choices. My dad was an escape from reality but I suppose in actuality he just wasn't there, because when I moved away it was the same. He didn't reach out, he just put me on the back burner like I was a kid again and he was at work. The only difference was there were no dinners together. Instead there was only empty space where I used to have two parents.

I loved Sylvia and Finn with all my heart, but they weren't parental figures. They were my siblings and despite what some people think, that would never replace the love of a parent. Don't get me wrong, I am eternally grateful for them, but it was just different. Maybe as a fifteen year old I should have gotten over the 'loss' of my parents faster, but I didn't. My therapist tried to tell me that's because my mother was emotionally abusive and manipulative but I wasn't sure about that. I think I just missed the idea of a whole family, not the actuality of it.

"No, actually. Niels and I would go party, so in your face. Also, Ed and his wife happen to love me as much as his kids so I'm kind of the designated babysitter. So you know, when you two have kids-"

I would have let Taylor finish but my subconscious reflex to choke on my water kind of put a damper on that. Beck too had to clear his throat, but much more subtly then my choking on water which I managed to tame with another sip and a cough. My eyes must have been wide for a second because Taylor was looking at me like I had four heads. "You're not pregnant, right?"

"Fuck no," I choked out maybe a little too defensively while Beck shook his head. Maybe that topic was a little too close to home too soon for us to react to that joke normally.