Page 93 of Game Misconduct

The majority of the people there were just there to be seen and photographed and try to get an edge over someone else. The fake smiles and the people cozying up to him—probably hoping to either gain clout, score tickets to a Rockets game, or get in with him so they could hopefully be introduced to his mother—was tedious at best.

Now that the heroin chic look was creeping back onto the runways and covers there was never enough food and what was there wasn’t terribly filling. It looked pretty but there were only so many pretty appetizers he could cram into his mouth without looking like a pig. Being a hockey player only went so far there before he started getting side-eyed.

And the conversations were always boring as shit. Leif had found himself imagining Tanner in the crowd and had nearly laughed out loud. He was the opposite of these people, and he would create mayhem in a crowd like this.

They’d love Tanner for his looks, and he’d probably charm them into genuinely liking him—if these people were capable of genuinely likinganyonethat wasn’t directly benefiting them—but he’d also say shocking things.

Imagining it had made Leif smile. Unfortunately, he’d accidentally turned that smile on Sérgio who was also there at the party, and he’d taken it as an opportunity to come over and flirt.

Leif had halfheartedly flirted back, then regretted it when Sérgio suggestively slid a hand along Leif’s upper arm and invited him to the bathroom.

Leif had hesitated and Sérgio had tried to sweeten the deal with an offer of coke. Leif hadnoidea why he’d thought that was something Leif would be interested in but at least half the people here were probably doing coke, amphetamines, or prescription stimulants. Ketamine had been popular lately too, apparently.

Even in the off-season, Leif had never dabbled in anything because he’d always been afraid that he’d either get hooked or get caught. He’d had far too many spiraling thoughts about all the ways that could wreck his hockey career, so he’d steered well clear of it.

Sérgio had been pissy about the rejection and Leif had left shortly after. A shitty end to a shitty week.

Leif hadn’t told Tanner about the research he’d done either.

It was finished. He’d looked through all of the ADHD tips and distilled them into a neat little file that he could send to Tanner.

But he hadn’t sent it and he wasn’t sure why.

It wasn’t that Tanner would make fun of him. He definitely would, but Leif didn’t mind that so much. Maybe part of his worry was that it would make Tanner think his mom had been right about Leif falling for him.

Or maybe it because it would tip his hand and show Tanner how much Leif really didcare. Even if Stephanie Forester didn’t know what she was talking about. Not about Leif falling in love with Tanner anyway.

Either way, he kept putting it off.

“Are you okay?” Tanner asked when they were video chatting later that night.

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” Leif asked.

“I dunno,” Tanner said, squinting at him. “You seem weird. I mean, you’re always weird, but different weird, you know?”

Leif managed a halfhearted smile. “Yeah.”

“Yeah? That’s it?” Tanner demanded. “No clever clapback? No banter? Seriously? Are you sure you’re okay, Princess?”

Leif scratched the back of his neck and said the first thing that came to mind. “It’s just some team stuff going on.”

“What kind of team stuff.”

Leif hesitated. “You won’t say anything to anyone?”

“I will do my best.”

“That’s not very reassuring.”

“I didn’t spill the beans about Nicky to the team! I didalmostslip up when Connor announced it because I forgot you were the one who told me about him so was like ‘oh yeah, I totally knew that was coming’ before I realized I wasn’t supposed to know. But I totally played it off like it was no big deal, you know?” Tanner looked very proud of his subterfuge.

“Sure,” Leif said drily. Hewantedto be annoyed at Tanner but the reading he’d done about ADHD had made him look at things a little differently. Had made him look atTannerdifferently.

Apparently, memory issues were common and so was blurting things out without thinking first, so Leif was trying to understand. He bit his lip rather than tell Tanner there were things he could be doing to help himself.

Because part of the reason Leif kept hesitating was what if he waswrong. Tanner had been tested as a kid, right? So who was Leif to think that he knew better than the experts? And what if Tanner gotmad?

Okay, the likelihood of himstayingmad was small. Tanner just wasn’t a grudge holder. Which actually sort of fit with the idea of himnothaving ADHD because according to what Leif had read, people with ADHD tended to ruminate over things.