“Baby, I’m right here?” Nate says, raising an eyebrow.
Henry chuckles, winking at Nate. “It’s a good job because I think Anastasia wants me.”
“Remember when you were quiet?” Nate drawls. “I miss those times.”
Rolling my eyes, I nudge my shoulder into Nate. “We’re off topic. Hen, you have to tell me what the hell started last night.”
My palms are sweating, stomach twisting with anticipation. I want to know and at the same time, I don’t want to know.
“I don’t want to tell you, Anastasia,” Henry says. “Not because I want to lie to you, but because I don’t see what you gain from knowing. He was talking shit, I hit him, and he left. You don’t need to ever live with him again, even next year when Nate and JJ are gone, I’ll still be here to look out for you.”
I feel like the Grinch when his heart grew three sizes, the love I have for Henry is overwhelming. I don’t think he even realizes how sweet he is. But sweet or not, my brain is going to carry on creating situations in my head until I know.
“I’d still like to know, Hen. I mean, you took on three guys; it must have been bad. I didn’t even know you knew how to fight.”
He looks at me like I’ve got two heads, face scrunching. “I’m a hockey player, study art, and I have two moms. You think I’ve never had to hit someone before?”
“All right, tough guy,” Nate drawls. “Let’s not pretend you didn’t grow up in the cushy Maple Hills suburbs. Tell her, she has a right to know.”
Henry sighs and nods. “I was looking for Gen when I noticed him come in with two guys. They were clearly drunk. Aaron asked where you were, so I told him to leave. He said he wouldn’t, so I punched him.”
My eyes narrow as he looks everywhere but me. “You’re lying to me.”
“I don’t lie, Anastasia.”
“I know you don’t, so why are you lying now? Tell me what he said.”
Nathan sighs and tugs my body closer to his side, pressing his lips to my temple. “It started at the beginning of October. It was right after I asked you to bring Brin to Robbie’s birthday party. Said he’d enjoy watching you drop me like you do with everyone else.”
“And then what?”
His fingers gently stroke up and down my back. Henry sits silently opposite us. “Every time we had practice after you and you’d go into the locker room, he’d hang around Brady telling her you’re distracted, you’re out of control at parties, drinking and hooking up with strangers. It went on for weeks until one day, Brady fucking lost it with him.”
“We didn’t hear what he said,” Henry interjects. “But she said if he had such an issue with how you skate, he should look for a new partner. This was right before he got hurt.”
Coach Brady has been a lot nicer to me this year, but I assumed it was pity after all the shit we’ve been through. She’s still scary as hell, but I’ve noticed she’s not been as quick to pick me apart like she had been previously. It never occurred to me she didn’t want to give Aaron ammunition.
“Okay, so he was talking shit up to Halloween. He spent two weeks glued to my side, I made up with Nate, and I started staying here. It’s nearly Christmas, so what are you missing out.”
Henry sighs, rubbing his jaw with his hand. “Tim, a guy from the team, was at a Titans basketball game and was sitting behind Aaron. Tim didn’t think the two guys he was with were from Maple Hills.”
“All of Aaron’s friends go to UCLA, so he never bothered making friends here,” I explain. “He was supposed to go there with them, but he got accepted here. It’s how we ended up together, we were both pair skaters whose partners didn’t get an offer from UCMH.”
“It might have been them, I don’t know. But Tim could hear him talking about you. He said Ryan ghosted you because he realized you’re just a jersey chaser.”
“Original.” I scoff. “What else?”
Henry’s eyes dart to Nathan, looking for guidance. Out of the corner of my eye I see him give Henry a nod. Henry shuffles on the bed and my palms sting from my nails sinking into them.
“Tim heard him say your parents are broke, so you’re latching onto guys going pro. He called you a slut, said you’d always been one, and you’re trying the same thing with Nate.”
Don’t cry.“Okay. Is there more?”
Henry nods and my heart pounds in my chest. “He said you would trap Nate with a baby. You didn’t have the talent to go all the way in skating, and it’d give you an excuse without having to admit that you’re not good enough. Said that’s probably what Coach Brady did.”
My words get caught in my throat. I don’t even think what I’m feeling is hurt; Aaron has said worse to me himself. It’s the embarrassment. The knowledge these people, Nate’s friends, people who respect him, have had to listen to how I’m this awful person who wants to trap him. “Are we up to last night yet?”
“Last night, he said he was coming to take you home where you belonged. I said you weren’t going anywhere, and he said, ‘So you’re fucking her too?’ I told him to get out, but he carried on.” Henry looks to Nate again, looking uncomfortable.