Chapter 3
The Official™ Wolves Bet Book
Bet #5:
Whatever the fuck Pet does when he's not playing hockey (aka why the fuck Pet moved to Atherton)
Callan - Pet got in trouble with the law in Rutherford
Mack - Pet has a secret mistress in Atherton
Whitaker - Pet really likes the food in Atherton
Donovan - Pet lost a bet with Davenport
Quinn - hasn't asked yet (come on Rookie!
You can do it!
-Mack)
Sloan - Pet fell in love with Atherton and is enjoying the city (really Sloan?
Jenna - Pet moved for love (barf -Mack)
Current betting pot: 55$
The Word Document worked really well.
Brady could hardly believe the first evening out for drinks after the game.
The bet only got brought up once.
Once!
And it was only to tease Quinn into finally making up his mind.
Brady felt like he was walking on cloud nine.
Maybe things had finally turned around.
And then Quinn finally worked up the courage to ask Pet.
Quinn - Pet goes to his cottage (come on Rookie!
-Mack Atherton love, man!
-Sloan)
Jenna - Pet moved for love (barf -Mack really?
This is your wife, Mackman!
-Whitaker)
Current betting pot: 65$
Brady felt the notification buzz in his pocket as he walked into practice.
He had dismissed the document notification, expecting just another silly comment left by Mack or one of the boys.
Why they were deciding to leave comments on a word document instead of just texting, or god forbid talking, to each other was beyond him.
It did make him smile though.
Not that he'd tell them that.
He had considered it unimportant until he had met Mack's eyes when he'd walked into the locker room to change for practice.
Mack was practically staring him down, still seated in front of his locker, pulling up one of his socks for what seemed to be an endless amount of time.
He wouldn't look away from Brady, yet he didn't verbally say anything.
"Mornin'.
Everything ok, Mackman?" Brady slowed down in front of him.
"Yeah, yeah." Mack answered, but his eyes told a different story.
They were pleading and a bit freaked out.
Brady waited for more but Mack just shook his head, as if to say, not here.
Not now.
But when Brady looked up, he was met with the same look after look from every Atherton player.
It was then he noticed how quiet the usual chatty locker room was.
It seemed like every Wolves player was looking at Brady, begging him to get it.
Whatever group psychosis they had all apparently subscribed to before practice was begging Brady to just get it.
To join in.
Only Quinn and Petanov seemed normal.
Well, normal for them.
Quinn was struggling into his practice gear, hastily, like he wanted to be anywhere but this locker room.
He wouldn't meet Brady's eyes.
Petanov grinned at him, headphones still in as he shimmed and danced his way through his morning routine.
For now, he seemed oblivious to the rising tension around him.
"What the fuck is going on?" Brady breathed out, trying to keep quieter than Pet's music as he sat down and felt his body go through the motions of beginning to pull out his gear.
"Check the word doc." Came a barely audible reply from Whitaker next to him.
Slowly, as if not wanting to spook the wild animal that was Viktor Petanov, Brady pulled his phone back out and quickly pulled up the word document.
In the few seconds it took it to load, he raised a confused eyebrow at Mack, who was still pulling at his socks across the room, only to get a stuttered nod no in reply.
At a first glance, Brady didn't even notice anything had changed.
The document looked basically the same, the betting pot hadn't increased.
Only when he started reading the individual responses again did he see it.
Quinn - Pet goes to his cottage
What the fuck?
Brady's head shot up towards their newest Rookie, but he refused to meet Brady's eyes.
His phone buzzed in his hands, this time a private message from Mack.
The kid finally asked.
He said that's what Pet fucking told him.
A cottage?
We couldn't get more out of him before Pet showed up.
Wtf?
Brady could tell he was being obvious, with his panicked looks across the room, but what was he supposed to do?
Had Pet really given the kid an actual answer?
Not the usual round of bullshit that he gave everyone else?
Brady knew Pet liked Quinn best.
But a cottage?
How the fuck did Viktor Petanov know about the Valesian phenomenon that was a summer cottage?
Why did Pet have one?
And what the fuck did that have to do with Atherton?
"Why the fuck are you all being weird?" Pet's teasing tone tore Brady out of his racing thoughts.
"Weird?
Us.
No. Never!" He quickly tried to back peddle, similar excuses coming from those on the team least intimidated by Petanov.
Pet had just laughed it off.
"Yes.
This team is weird.
It's ok.
Just don't let it affect practice."
Weak replies had come to that and Brady had a short minute to hope that was that, and that Pet would head to the ice already, given that he and Quinn were the only ones fully dressed, but their captain wasn't letting them off so easily.
Pet was quick to turn into a mother hen, shifting around the locker room to help startled player after startled player to slip into their practice jerseys, lace up their skates, and strap on their helmets.
One by one, he herded them out, together, onto the ice, never giving them a moment alone.
Never giving any of them a moment to talk.
To process what that new clue meant.
Viktor Petanov had a cottage, here.
At least, near Atherton.
Why here?
And why had they never been invited?
Mack - Pet has a secret mistress in Atherton (a secret mistress with a cottage?
-Mack no. -Callan)
-Mack holy fuck kid -Whitaker KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS -Mack)
Sloan - Pet fell in love with Atherton (really Sloan?
Current betting pot: 70$
Their next big clue came in a game against Rosemont of all teams.