Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 28

Thwack! The puck flew far away. Despite the goalie’s desperate dive, the puck went straight into the net. Ashley lightly high-fived Bill, who had passed him the puck. Just then, the whistle blew, signaling a short break.

“Phew.”

Bill gulped down water straight from the bottle, wiped his lips, and asked,

“But seriously, what’s going on with you? Are you going to break up with Ariel?”

“What are you talking about?”

Ashley, who had also emptied more than half of his water bottle in one go, replied. Breathing a little faster, Bill continued.

“They say you haven’t been answering her calls or meeting her.”

“I told you, I was busy.”

“That’s just an excuse. Come on, are you going to tell us such an obvious lie? We all know.”

Bill looked around as if to say, “Right?” Other guys nodded here and there.

“It’s true, when you lose interest, you start contacting them less.”

“It’s weird that you didn’t meet every day, even though there was no practice and it was vacation.”

“It’s a sign of a breakup.”

“Tell us honestly, did you really get someone else?”

Everyone’s attention was focused on Ashley. Ashley frowned, clearly showing his disgust.

“No, and I’m not tired of Ariel either.”

“You might not dislike them, but you can still like someone else,” someone interjected. Bill pointed out,

“Dude, people call that two-timing.”

“Ooh,” came the jeers and applause from around them. But Ashley himself couldn’t laugh. He couldn’t understand why they were saying such things. He wasn’t cheating, nor had he gotten another girlfriend. His feelings for Ariel hadn’t changed much from before. She was still pretty, kind, and they got along well.

But what is this uneasy feeling?

“…Damn it.”

He cursed roughly and drank all the remaining water. Seeing Ashley throw the empty plastic bottle into the trash can, the other guys exchanged glances and looked at each other.

“Um, hey, did you buy the tickets?”

It was Bill who spoke, scratching his nose.

“No, not yet.”

At Ashley’s reply, Bill said as if he had been waiting.

“They say they printed fewer tickets this year. If you go late, there might not be any left.”

“Yeah, how about you go to the cafeteria right after practice?”

Another guy quickly chimed in. The guy next to him lightly chided him.

“The cafeteria would have closed long ago, you idiot.”

“No, they’re open late these days? I went yesterday after practice, and they were just closing then.”

The cafeteria usually closes around the same time classes end. Staying open this late was only for special events or certain seasons. Anyway, stopping by after practice didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Alright, thanks.”

As Ashley thanked them, the coach blew the whistle again. It was the signal that the break was over. As he was about to go back onto the rink, Bill grabbed him from behind.

“Ashley.”

At the rare, formal use of his name, Ashley frowned and turned to him. Bill placed a hand on his shoulder and said,

“I’m not kidding, really. Ariel is very anxious.”

He spoke seriously, his face devoid of his usual humor. Ashley looked at him for a moment, then simply turned his head. He went to join the others who had already taken their positions, and when he stopped at his spot, the practice game began.

Bill’s words had some validity. That made Ashley even more uncomfortable.

I should just buy the tickets quickly.

Ashley thought as he chased the puck. For now, there was nothing else he could do. If he went to the homecoming party, dated every weekend, and spent time with Ariel like before, she would feel better.

And it would be better to keep my distance from Koi for a while.

It was true that he had neglected Ariel, so it was right to focus on her. But then, he clearly wouldn’t have time to spend with Koi.

Like before.

Before he knew Koi, that was his normal routine. And now, he was going back to that.

…I’m not really keeping my distance.

Ashley belatedly corrected his thought. He was just treating him like any other friend. Anyway, he saw Koi every day in class, so there was no need to see him separately. Koi would be busy with his part-time job anyway.

Ashley slammed the puck that flew towards him and hastily chased after it. Why am I thinking about Koi right now? It’s weird. He pushed away an approaching opponent with his body and cursed.

Why does my thought process lead to having to distance myself from Koi to spend time with Ariel? It’s strange that I even thought of Koi in the first place.

I really shouldn’t meet that guy.

He chose to ignore the reason rather than find it. Everything would be fine. He had just been briefly excited after meeting a new friend he got along with. It was time to stop now.

Ashley believed that.

Of course, that was assuming things went according to plan.

“Oh.”

As soon as practice ended, Ashley headed to the cafeteria and froze the moment his eyes met with a classmate who was busily moving inside. The classmate, who had just turned his head after putting away newly arrived items, also widened his eyes.

“Ash!”

At the cheerful voice calling out to him, Ashley reluctantly replied,

“…Koi.”

He put down the items he was organizing and quickly approached Ashley. Ashley stood still, simply watching Koi approach. Koi, who had come right up to him, finally stopped and looked up at Ashley.

“How did you get here? Why, do you need something?”

“Uh, uh.”

Ashley stammered, caught off guard by the unexpected situation. Koi, oblivious to his reaction, continued in a bright voice.

“Practice is over, right? What about dinner? I have some bread bought, wanna eat?”

Listening to his excited chatter, his mind became complicated. Of all times, to run into him right after deciding not to meet Koi for a while.

He could have turned around and left, but Ashley didn’t.

I just came to buy tickets.

He gave himself absolution. He couldn’t understand why he felt so uneasy in the first place. Weren’t Koi and he just close friends?

No, if Koi were a girl, everyone would have been suspicious.

Ashley had been that close to Koi. He even thought it was fortunate. If Koi had really been a girl.

…Then I would have.

“Here!”

Suddenly, a bread was thrust in front of his eyes, snapping him out of his thoughts. He blinked and looked down, and Koi was offering him bread.

“I tore the bag open to eat it myself, but I haven’t touched it yet.”

As he listened, an unpleasantly sour smell reached his nose. Of course. It was bought through a store that sold expired goods cheaply.

“…Isn’t this spoiled?”

Ashley asked suspiciously.

“Huh?”

Koi, checking the bread in confusion, his eyes quickly widened. His hasty action of hiding the bread bag behind his back was unusual. Ashley narrowed his eyes and looked down at him. Under his suspicious gaze, Koi stammered, sweating profusely behind his back.

“Uh, well, this, I mean.”

“Give it to me.”

Ashley reached out his arm. Koi hastily turned to avoid him, but it was impossible for Koi to avoid Ashley’s attack in the first place. He was, after all, the captain of the high school ice hockey championship team. Koi did his best, but the bag was snatched away from him too easily.

“Ah!”

The moment he turned, Ashley, who had easily snatched the bag with his other hand, pressed down on Koi’s head, pushing him away as Koi desperately flailed his arms. Ignoring Koi’s frantic struggles, Ashley lifted the bread in the plastic bag to his eye level and examined it, then frowned.

“It’s moldy.”

“Huh? Really?”

Koi stopped flailing and widened his eyes. Ashley removed the hand that was pressing down on his head and instead held the bread bag up to his eye level, showing it to him. Just as Ashley said, black mold spots had appeared on one side of the salad bread with sauce on it.

“…It really is.”

Koi admitted in a dejected voice.

“I’m sorry, I almost put you in danger.”

“I’m sorry,” Koi apologized again, and Ashley said with a frown,

“It’s more of a problem that you almost got sick. What would you have done if you’d just eaten it? Didn’t you notice the smell right away?”

“Uh, uh-huh…”

Koi was speechless, only blinking his eyes.

“I didn’t think it would have gone bad already.”

As he finally recalled something to say and made an excuse, Ashley immediately threw it into the trash can.

“Be more careful next time.”