Page 20 of Furious
I need to warn Heather to stay away from the Gamma president. I don’t want my friend to get involved with him. Judging Dave based on his brother’s behavior wouldn’t be fair if he hadn’t helped Cal organize that illegal race later tonight. But I can’t say anything now in front of the sheriff. Besides, I’m not supposed to know that Cal is Dave’s older brother. I need to think about what I can say. Maybe if Dave hooked up with someone else tonight, I could convince her that he wasn’t boyfriend material. Or even better, I could suggest someone better for her. Someone nicer, like the Cove Knights goalie Tucker Prescott.
The referee calls the two teams for the first face off and our attention is turned to the action on the ice.
The Cove Knights win the first face off. Luke Harper, our team captain, passes the puck to a tall winger, wearing the number six on his jersey.
Jamie Hart goes on a breakaway skating faster than UCLA’s defense, managing to take the puck right in front of the opponents’ goalie. His slapshot flies right into the upper corner of the net, right past the goalie’s glove.
The entire arena, except the small section occupied by the UCLA fans, stands up. Heather and I hug each other, jumping up and down. The first period ends with the Star Cove Knights scoring two goals, nil for UCLA.
Heather and I escort Mrs. Pullin to the restroom during the break. When we return, I spot a familiar blond head next to the sheriff.
“Ares.” I smile. “You made it.”
“Yeah, I just clocked off.” He says, pointing to his uniform. “I thought I’d catch the last two periods before I go home to get some sleep. Three a.m. comes pretty fast.”
Sheriff Pullin nods, a sympathetic look on his face. “Yeah, I remember those twelve hour patrol shifts. If I’m being honest, I don’t think my body could take them these days. It’s good that you’re young. But if you didn’t want to miss the first game of the season, you could have said so, son. I would have given you permission to clock off earlier.”
I know what Ares is going to say before he speaks.
“Thank you, sir. But I’d rather just work my shifts. Everyone knows you and my father are close. I don’t want to give my colleagues any reason to think that buys me a more favorable treatment.”
The sheriff slaps him on the back. “Well said. I’m proud of you, Ares. But at least when we’re off duty, you could call me Kirk, like you’ve always done.”
“Yes sir. I mean, Kirk.” My stepbrother agrees.
He stands up to allow us to slide back into our seats, but moves down the row to allow Mrs. Pullin to sit next to her husband.
“Heather, you go ahead.” He then offers, letting me and Heather go in next. “Let me sit at the end of the row, so I can sneak out as soon as the game is over.”
That means that I’m sitting between Heather and Ares.
“What did I miss?” he asks me. “Did Chance or Lev get any ice time?”
I shake my head. “No, not yet. But we’re winning two-zero.”
“That’s cool. Depending on how the next period goes, Coach Harrison might decide to give his first and second line a rest and put Chance and Lev in.”
His prediction proves correct and midway through the third period, our coach calls back Hart, Harper and Miller with Lev, Chance and another player I recognize from last week’s secret race, Winston Warren.
“This is so exciting,” I beam. “How cool would it be if one of them scored?”
When Ares’s pinky finger brushes against mine during the game, at first I think it’s accidental. But it happens a few times and eventually he sits angling himself so that Heather can’t see our hands as he links our pinky fingers together.
My heart is racing in my chest the entire time. It’s a heady combination between seeing Chance and Lev skating against UCLA, and the way Ares is touching me in front of pretty much the entire town.
Ares isn’t the only one who gets to predict something about tonight’s game.
One of my wishes comes true when Lev steals the puck from one of the UCLA defensemen and gives Chance the perfect assist.
When my stepbrother finds the five hole between the goalie’s legs, we jump, shouting his name with the rest of the Cove Knights fans.
“Did you see that? That’s awesome.” Ares hugs me, and we jump up and down in celebration.
We aren’t the only ones hugging to celebrate our team’s fifth goal of the night, so nothing looks amiss. The butterflies in the pit of my stomach, however, are fluttering their wings as if Ares had kissed me in public.
The game ends in a five-nil shutout for the Cove Knights, and our spirits are high when we say goodbye to Ares and to Heather’s parents and go to wait for the guys to come out of the locker room.
LEV
