Page 20 of Off Sides
“Time to get up.” I’ve got a shit-eating grin on my face when I pat his shoulder.
He looks up at me, glaring. “You’re an asshole.”
Joey barks out a laugh as he changes into workout clothes, and I jump down.
“Yeah, I really am.”
Bryce grumbles something about dickhead seniors, but he gets up to go take a piss. Joey lifts an eyebrow at me, smirking as he finishes getting dressed, and I shoot him a wink.
The bathroom door opens, and Bryce quickly gets changed, then we head down to the gym.
We get warmed up and move to the leg machines as the door opens and two guys come in, a redhead with longer hair and one with brown hair and a backward ball cap. Is it a hockey thing to have longer hair?
They come to stand in front of Joey, and I take my earbud out so I can listen to what’s going on. I’m a nosey bastard.
The one with the hat on crosses his arms, and a muscle in his jaw jumps.
“Have you seen Carmichael?” Oh, he’s pissed.
Joey looks between them, then stops his workout.
“No, why?”
“We can’t find the dumbass and he’s—” Hat Guy looks at Redhead, and he shrugs a little. “He’s not doing well.”
“We need to find P Dawg,” Redhead says, and I try to hide my snort, but since Joey glances at me, I know I failed. “But we don’t know Denver well enough to drive around and look for him.”
I stand from the machine I’m using. “I can help.”
Everyone turns to look at me. “I’ve lived here for a few years. I know how to get around the city. Any idea about what type of thing this guy would be doing?”
“Self-destruction,” Hat Guy says and Redhead nods.
“Since when is Carmichael self-destructive? Dude is crazy about working out, his diet, and sleep. He won’t even eat pizza.” Joey stands up, looking at his teammates. The two share another look, and I’m starting to put some pieces together.
“Bad breakup or something?” I offer, watching them closely. Redhead pales a bit and bounces on his toes.
Hat Guy straightens his shoulders but shakes his head. “It’s…complicated.”
“You don’t mind?” Joey asks me. This is Captain Carpenter, not my Joey, making sure everyone is okay.
“Yeah, I don’t mind. If your guy is in trouble, I’m happy to help if I can.” I shrug and look back at the duo. “Let me get changed, give me, like, ten minutes.”
Hat Guy holds his hand out for me to shake. “I’m Paul,” he says before pointing at his buddy. “That’s Brendon.”
“Nick.” I shake his hand and duck out of the gym.
Once I’m changed, Paul and Brendon meet me at the curb in front of the dorms already in a blue Corolla. Now I see why Joey didn’t volunteer to come with us, there’s no way 5 of us are fitting in this car if we find their guy.
I climb in the back, and Paul heads to the exit.
“Okay, tell me about your guy. What kind of shit is he likely to get into? Bars? Strippers? Drugs?”
“My best guess is he literally ran somewhere, but he’s been gone for hours, so the likelihood of him being injured is pretty high,” Paul says and leaves the university campus to head toward downtown. “If he’s high or drunk, I’m going to beat his ass.”
“What’s the deal? Why are you babysitting him?”
Brendon looks at Paul for a minute before turning to search out the window.