Puck'd

Chapter 12

Puck

Convincing Dev to let me drive his car once he was ready to leave the party was much easier than expected. The guy actually seemed relieved by the idea, and then he asked me if he could crash at my place.

I wasn't sure how Jack would feel about one of my drunken teammates on his couch but when Dev started muttering about how his dad was going to hand his ass to him if he came home trashed again, I couldn't leave him hanging.

However, convincing Dev to wake up the next morning is proving to not be nearly as simple.

"Come on!" I urge, shaking his arm again. "I've got things to do today, man, and I don't want to leave you lying here."

Dev grumbles and pushes my hand away. "Don't sweat it, Pucky. Parents love me."

I frown at the way he says my nickname, and Dev cracks his eye open with a sly grin.

"I got to talking with Lowe's friend, Ronnie, last night," he explains.

Ah, that explains it. Ronnie's the only one who's called me that before.

"She's cute, eh?" he says next.

I never thought I'd see the day when Dev refers to a girl as "cute" instead of saying she's hot or sexy, but it's a nice change. I'm not sure if him and Ronnie would be a good idea or a recipe for disaster but I'm not going to bother getting involved.

"She's a nice girl," I say in way of agreement. "But really, Dev, you've got to go. You may have forgotten but I don't live with my parents. Jack and Alice are letting me stay here as a favour, and I don't want to push any boundaries. Driving my drunk teammate to their house might already be pushing it..."

"Wait," Dev says while sitting up, "Did you say Jack and Alice? As in, Jack and Alice Reid?"

"Uh, yeah?"

That finally gets him moving. He swings his feet off of the couch and lets his mouth drop open. "Yoooo, man," he exclaims with a laugh, speaking much louder than necessary, "You're railing the cop's niece while you live with him? Ballsy!"

Oh, the joys of a tight-knit community where everyone apparently knows who's related to each other...

"Would you lower your voice?" I snap back at him and then grab his arm to pull him to his feet. "Your keys are on the kitchen counter. I'll see you at practice."

Dev grins and lightly punches my shoulder. "You're a brave man, Puck McCallum. I like you."

I shake my head and gesture toward the kitchen. "Later, Dev."

He laughs while making his way to the kitchen and then to the front door, and I sit down with a sigh of relief when I hear the door close behind him.

The relief is short-lived, trampled down when I hear none other than Jack clearing his throat.

I look in his direction to find him hovering in the doorway between the living room and the hallway that leads to the master bedroom.

"So," he starts, and I immediately know that he must have heard what Dev said, "you and Marlowe, huh?"

"Err... uh..." I try to come up with an honest explanation that won't sound like absolute bullshit. "Yeah... but um, no?"

Wooow, Puck. Very smooth. Real winner.

Jack crosses his arms over his chest and lifts an eyebrow. "Okay... and what does "er, ah, yeah, um, no" mean, exactly?"

I start to look away but then force myself to keep facing him. I don't want to give him a reason to think that I'm being dishonest.