Page 167 of Revenge Puck

“I’m sorry—what did you just say?”

“Declan slept with Aaron’s girlfriend,” Garrett clarifies. “His ex. Before you.Obviously,before you.”

Before me.

“Wait.” I hold a hand up. “Declan slept with Aaron’s girlfriend? While they were dating?”

He hesitates again. “Yeah, that’s usually how cheating works.”

The world tilts.

“Dude, neither of them have said anything, but my guess is Bishop caught them,” Garrett adds quietly. “Like, I bet he walked into Kennedy’s apartment and found them fuc—having sex.”

The air leaves my lungs in a rush.

“W-when was this?”

My brother.

Aaron’s girlfriend.

“No idea when this was, but it’s been so fucking awkward—all they do is rage around the ice,” Garrett continues, mistaking my silence for confusion instead of horror. “They’ve been at each other’s throats, and it’s gotten worse since you started seeing Bishop.”

My mouth gapes open in dismay.

I have no words.

“Why didn’t he tell me?” I don’t know if I mean Declan or Aaron.

Garrett shrugs helplessly. “Probably because you’re the last person anyone would want to drag into it.”

Too late.

I’m in it.

So deep in it that I’ve been mentally confessing all my sins to HR, drafting my letter, so I can stop looking over my shoulder, waiting to be fired.

“Can I ask you something? And I want you to be honest.” I lick my lips, brain malfunctioning. “I saw you break up an argument at the last game before it started. What were they saying?”

He exhales slowly. “It’s probably not something you want to hear.”

I disagree. “You’ve told me this much, you might as well tell all of it.”

He doesn’t look convinced. “God, like—take this with a grain of salt, yeah? Guys say stupid shit when they’re pissed.”

I am well aware.

“Would you spit it out?” I can’t handle the suspense.

“Declan may have implied that…” His sentence trails off. Garrett is visibly uncomfortable. “Bishop is using you.”

“Using me?” I repeat.

“To get back at him,” he explains. “Your brother doesn’t believe it’s a coincidence you two started ‘seeing’ each other.” He uses air quotes around the word seeing. “He used the word ‘revenge’.”

Revenge.

The office noise fades into the background, and I don’t hear any of it. Not the sound of heels against the marble floors, or the televisions playing highlights from the last game, or the phones ringing.