Fucking clocks. 

Everything came down to a clock. Sleep schedules. Work. School. Everyday life. But none of those things were the reason why my heart was pounding against my rib cage right now. None of those things were the reason I could hear the goddamn tick tick tick as the scoreboard counted down to zero. 

With a quick lift of my eyes, I glanced at the board. The game was tied 5-5 with ten seconds left. Ten seconds. It usually seemed like a short amount of time. Not even the length of a decent kiss with Karma. But still…ten seconds. Sometimes a lot could happen in ten seconds. And right now, my team's victory for the first hockey game of the season was riding on these ten seconds. 

Nick and I exchanged glances as we flew down the ice towards the goal. The team we were playing had a decent goalie who was known for his skills at blocking my shots during previous seasons. That's why my best friend and I worked on some new strategies. One of which, we were about to attempt right now. 

I moved my stick back and forth, guiding the puck down the right side of the ice. Nick watched me closely, as did the goalie. When I was just a few feet away from the goal, I gave Nick the signal. Right on cue, he skated behind the goal and came around to the other side. 

My eyes went to the clock again. Five seconds. Five fucking seconds. This win was only going to happen if our plan worked. I looked at the goalie again. He was in position with gloves open and eyes pinned on me. 

I came to a stop right in front of him, and drew my stick back like I was getting ready to fire a shot into the goal. Instead, I passed it to Nick, who was positioned behind the goalie with a clear fucking shot. 

And he took it…and it went IN! The buzzer sounded and applause echoed through the rink. I joined in on the excitement, throwing my hockey gloves and stick on the ice before Nick nearly tackled me in a celebratory hug. 

"We fucking won!" He yelled over the chanting from the other players. 

I smiled, riding the same wave of adrenaline that he was. "Yeah, we did. About time we scored on that SOB!" 

"Hell yeah! We're going to Anthony's later to celebrate. Party tonight!" 

Having a party after a winning game was a tradition we did every season. And I always went. But that was before. When I liked to drink and occasionally hooked up with girls at those parties. 

"I think I'll skip it this time."

"Ah, come on!" He whined. "We've barely hung out since you started dating. Don't bail on the party!"

Shit. I hated when he put it like that. It made me feel guilty every damn time. "Alright, fine. But only for a little while." 

"That's what I'm talking about!" Nick clapped his hands together before skating towards the rest of our teammates that were still celebrating in the middle of the rink. 

I scanned the stands and my eyes found Karma immediately. She was standing next to Lanie and Harper, cheering as they held up a sign that read GO ROYALS. 

Like a moth to a flame, I skated over to where they were. Karma came down the steps to meet me at the wall. Reaching over, I opened the small door and stepped through it. When she got to the third to last step, she jumped into my arms. 

"That was amazing, Nathan! You guys did so great!" 

Setting her down, I tapped the tip of her nose playfully. "I have you to thank. Since sophomore year I haven't been able to score on that guy. You're my lucky charm" 

Her smile was short-lived and she reached into her purse. "You're bleeding! Here I have a tissue." 

I brushed my sleeve against my nose and looked down. Yep. Blood. "It's okay, baby. Happens all the time. Some asshole elbowed me earlier in the game. It'll stop soon." 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah. I'm good." 

Her smile was back. "Want to get some ice cream after you change?" 

Shit. "Uh, well…Nick kinda invited me to this party. It's kind of something we do every time we win a game. I told him I didn't really want to go, but he begged me and—"

"You should go." 

I opened my mouth then closed it. Twice. "What?" 

"You should go hang out with your friends. I can just do something with the girls." 

She sounded sincere. But still… "Is this a test? You know, you say I can go, but when I do I'm going to end up getting in trouble?" 

She chuckled and shook her head at me. "No, Nathan. It's not a test. We spend time together during school and after. And weekends. It'll be good for you to hang out with your friends. And it'll be good for me to hang out with the girls." 

Cupping her face with my hands, I leaned forward and kissed her. "You're pretty amazing, you know that?"

"Yeah. I know. But go have fun with your friends and call me later." 

"You got it, gorgeous." One more deep kiss before I pulled away and stepped back onto the ice. 

I waved goodbye to her before I skated back over to where Nick and the other guys were getting off the ice and heading towards the locker room. I really didn't want to go to this party. Spending hours making out with my girlfriend sounded much more enjoyable. But Nick had me riding the guilt train. 

So I was gonna go. I just hoped it was a little fun and not something I was going to regret. 

***

I one hundred percent regretted coming to this fucking party. I was currently sitting on Anthony's couch, holding a red Solo cup that I wasn't going to drink from, while I prayed that I didn't have another girl try to hit on me. 

Pretty much the whole school knew I was with Karma, and yet because I showed up at this damn party without her, they assumed I was single again and ready to mingle. 

I looked down at my cup. Maybe I should be drinking. 

"Hey, man." Nick plopped down on the couch beside me. "I'm glad you came. Why aren't you drinking?" 

I shrugged. "Not in a drinking mood tonight." 

"Since when?" 

Since drinking—and this godforsaken party—was a reminder of the old Nate. I fucking hated the old Nate. 

"Just not in the mood," I lied before handing him my cup. "Want it?" 

"Hell yeah." 

He downed the beer that was in my cup in one huge gulp. Damn. Nick was kind of a light weight. He was going to feel like shit tomorrow. 

"Are you staying here tonight?" I asked him. "Or do you need me to take you home?" 

Please be the former. I really didn't want to be stuck here tonight until he was ready to go. If that was the case, I was going to be here for hours. 

"I'm gonna crash here," he finally mumbled. 

"I'm gonna take off then. I'm exhausted." 

Nick sucked his teeth before punching me in the shoulder. "You should stay! The party is just starting." 

I got up from the couch and looked back at my friend. He had his head back against the couch with his eyes closed. It was only a matter of time before he passed out. 

Heading towards the front of the large house, I spotted our other friend on the hockey team, Max. Perfect. 

"Max!" I called over the sound of Eminem's The Real Slim Shady. 

He turned towards me and nodded to let me know he heard me. When I waved him over, he met me in the kitchen. 

"What's up, Nate?" 

"Do you mind keeping an eye on Nick? I'm heading out and he said he was just going to crash here." 

Max clapped me on the shoulder. "No problem. I got him." 

"Thanks." 

Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed my keys and started for the front door. I was so ready to get out of here. Maybe Karma was done with the girls and wanted to meetup or something. 

My phone was the next thing I fished out of my pocket. I scrolled to my girl's name and started to type a text. 

Hey baby. I'm leaving Ant's house now. Are you still with th—

Someone body-checked my shoulder when I was just about to walk out of the house, causing me to drop my phone. I picked it up before turning around to see who it was.

"What's your problem, Brian?" He was one of the guys on the team. Actually, he was a friend. 

Looking over his shoulder he said, "Like you don't know." 

I actually didn't. Was I missing something here? "Why don't you enlighten me." 

He said something under his breath, something I couldn't make out. But I did hear a name. Karma. 

"What did you just say to me?" My anger started to rise, and when I took a step towards him, Max appeared out of nowhere and held me back. 

"Leave it alone, Nate," he said quietly. Max was always the peacekeeper in our group. "Just go." 

My eyes never left Brian. "You better watch your fucking mouth," I warned him. "Because if you don't, I'm gonna make it very hard for you to talk shit again." 

Brian acted like he was gonna say more. So I waited. Luckily, he stayed silent before finally walking away. Good thing too. Because another ten seconds and I was going to stop letting Max hold me back.

"Go, Nate." Max pushed me towards the front door.

Taking my friend's advice, I walked through the front door and headed for my Jeep. If I stayed any longer, Brian would probably keep running his mouth and I would end up punching the asshole. Better I leave now than get into all that. 

When I finally got to my Jeep, I looked at the text message I started to write to Karma. I was too pissed off to go see her now. She was probably having a good time with the girls and I didn't want to ruin her night. 

Deleting the half-written text, I turned on my Jeep and started driving to the gym. Maybe hitting a punching bag for a couple hours while picturing Brian's face would make me feel better. 

***
A little drama among teammates! I love how protective he is off Karma 🥰

Xoxo

🖤