On Thin Ice

03

Ryan stood up and pulled a chair for me and placed it beside him. I thanked him and sat down, feeling the stares of the rest of the group.

"I figured since we're teammates now, we should get to know each other," Ryan said, though he seemed to be addressing the whole group.

"I don't even know if I'm on the team yet," I replied, looking across the desk at Fox who was leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed on his chest, looking at me through hooded eyes.

Even though he was looking at me like he wanted me to evaporate into thin air, I couldn't take my eyes off of him for a moment. Fox was insanely handsome, and he knew it. That was why I hooked up with him over the summer. His brown hair was tastefully messy on top of his head, complemented by his tan skin. He wore a charcoal grey champion crew neck with the sleeves rolled up his forearms. Fox's face was void of any noticeable blemishes and his eyelashes were long enough for any girl to be jealous of them.

That man was all sorts of good looking, and I hated him for it.

"Coach put the final roster on his door this morning. You didn't see it?" Ryan said, tearing me from my thoughts and causing my gaze to travel to him.

"Oh, no I didn't," I answered in a surprised voice. I tried my best to hide my excitement, but I couldn't tell how well it worked. It felt good to not have to worry about making the team anymore. I guess Fox didn't hate me enough to keep me off the team.

Ryan introduced me to the other guys in the group, Ian and Jude, who were also on the hockey team. Ian barely spared me a glance, but Jude was about as friendly as Ryan. I found out that Ian was another defenseman on the team.

Great, I thought. The guy seemed to hate me as much as Fox did and there was a possibility he would be my defensive partner on the ice.

"You got plans tonight, Elijah?" Jude asked me, nudging my arm with his elbow.

"You should come hang out with us tonight," Ryan added to which Fox sent him daggers. Fox hadn't said a word since I sat down.

"I have plans," I said, looking straight at Fox. His eyes immediately softened when he heard me and he turned his gaze to me.

"You're already so popular," Jude joked with a laugh. "What're you doin'?"

At first I didn't know if I should tell him the truth. My sexuality was obviously more accepted here than it was at Holy Trinity, but these were jocks. Jocks always had something to say about gay people. They definitely knew I was gay, but I didn't know if it was such a good idea to bring attention to it, especially around Fox. When I looked to Fox to see his glare transfixed on me, I decided I didn't care. I was done hiding who I was.

"I'm hangin' with some of the GSA kids at Trevor's," I answered, turning to face Jude.

"Nice," Jude replied. "Trevor's a cool guy." It didn't surprise me that he had something nice to say about Trevor. I was sure everyone did.

"He saved my ass in chemistry last year," Ryan said with a laugh. "I was failing and he offered to tutor me. I passed with a B."

"You'll have to hang with us some other time then," Jude said to me.

I nodded in agreement. "Sure."

Soon after, the bell signaling the end of class sounded. The five of us immediately packed up our things and headed toward the classroom door.

"See you at practice, Ellis," Ryan said with a wave, walking off with Fox.

By the time lunch rolled around, Nadia and Lexa were obviously done with their fight considering the two of them were making out at the table. I wanted to look away from them, but for some reason my eyes stayed glued to the girls, watching them with a look of disgust and hoping for the rest of the group to get to the table so I wouldn't be left alone with them.