Austin groans immediately. “Don’t say break, man. That means finals are coming, and I don’t want to think about that.”
Ryan laughs, shaking his head. “I thought having a tutor for a girlfriend would help you out.”
Austin tosses him a grin. “Yeah, well…” He pauses, smirk spreading. “Turns out I like doing other stuff with her more than studying.”
Nathan lets out a sharp scoff. “Of course you’d turn it sexual.”
Austin looks over at him, his smirk growing wider. “I was talking about watching movies, Hayes. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
Ryan chuckles, reaching for his drink. “You and Isabella are staying here with your parents, right?” he asks Nathan.
Nathan nods, taking a slow sip from his can before setting it back down on the table. “Yeah. We like being home for the holidays.”
Ryan smiles faintly. “That sounds nice. We usually head to Montreal for a skiing trip.”
Austin scoffs. “Aw, poor guy has to go on vacation for Christmas,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I’ve never even been on a plane.”
I glance over at him. “No shit. Really?”
He shrugs. “We didn’t have a lot of money growing up to go on trips. Everything my mom made went straight into hockey.” His expression softens a little. “It’s why I’m dying to graduate and go pro. I want to pay her back for everything.”
Ryan’s teasing fades. “You’ll get there, man. I know you will.”
Austin smiles back, but then shakes his head and scoffs. “Alright, enough of this love-fest. Where you headed for break?” He turns toward me, and suddenly the other guys do too.
I pause, the question hanging in the air longer than I mean for it to. My fingers tighten around the can. “Staying here.”
Nathan looks over at me, his brows dipping. “You’re not going home?”
I shake my head. “Nah. Don’t really have a home to go back to.”
The room goes quiet, and I kinda wish I had just made up a lie.
Ryan’s voice breaks the silence. “Shit,” he breathes out, shaking his head. “That sucks, man. I’m sorry.”
I force a small grin, trying to shake it off. “It’s chill. Means I get the house to myself and I can finally walk around naked.”
Austin snorts. “Thanks for the visual.”
“I’ll make a calendar just for you,” I shoot back, winking at him.
He laughs, the tension easing a little. “You can always come to mine. My mom would literally cry tears of joy if she got to feed one more person.”
I smile, but I’m already shaking my head. “Appreciate it, man, but I’m good. I’m used to it.”
Nathan’s still looking at me, and I try not to meet his eyes, wanting to avoid this conversation and just move on.
Austin clears his throat, glancing at his phone. “What do we think the girls are doing right now?”
Ryan scoffs. “Talking shit about us, probably.”
That gets a few laughs, and a few minutes later, the guys drift off, grabbing their stuff, heading upstairs. And then it’s just Nathan and me.
We’re both still sat beside each other, keeping our attention on the game even though I want desperately to look at him.
“You really don’t go home for Christmas?” Nathan asks.
My head snaps up, locking my eyes on his. I brushed it off earlier with the guys, but with Nathan, I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to hide behind sarcasm or pretend it doesn’t matter.