Page 34 of No Rhyme or Roughing
“We have a plan.” Sort of. Right now, it was just upload the edited video to social media and hope it went viral. Basically, we needed a lot of luck.
Sam fell silent, and I hoped that meant we were done talking.
No such luck.
“I remember you, you know.” Her voice was smallamid the arena’s noise. “We never met in person, but you used to call Ryder.”
I covered my face with my hands, embarrassment burning through me. She was right. After he left for school, I’d called him weekly, desperate for him and Teddy to return and break me out of the nightmare of living alone with divorcing parents.
Sam continued, “When we first started dating, I wondered who had him so wrapped around her finger that he’d answer his phone in the middle of dates. He’d told me he had a brother but not any sisters.”
“I’m not his sister.” I ran a hand through my hair, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees and watch Teddy streak toward the net. “I was just a sad and lonely kid.”
Sometimes, I still felt that way.
“You’re not a kid anymore.” She paused. “Does Ryder see that?”
I thought of the tension between us, the almost-more. He couldn’t bring himself to see me as anyone other than Teddy’s little sister. “No.”
“Hm.” She pressed her lips together, saying nothing else.
The buzzer sounded, ending the period. I needed to escape her and her questions.
Shai made her way down our aisle, so I jumped up and hurried toward her, grabbing her furry arm and pulling her up the steps and onto the concourse. Her dog-tongue bumped my shoulder, but she didn’t remove her head until we were safely inside the bathroom.
“What’s wrong?” she asked once free of the costume head.
“Nothing.” I splashed water on my face. “I don’t know.” Could it be hot inside an ice rink?
“I know what you need.” She moved closer, arms outstretched.
I ducked away. “What are you doing?”
“Everyone loves golden retriever snuggles. Don’t be a baby. Come here.” She yanked me against her soft chest, and I laughed as her arms closed around me, caging me in.
I wasn’t sure how to act with a friend. So, I just stood there and let her small arms keep me from freaking out.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RYDER
Our normally chatty group was silent on the way to the dressing room. We were down two to nothing, but that wasn’t the giant elephant sucking all the oxygen out of the place.
I collapsed onto the bench in front of my locker, feeling zero regrets. None. It didn’t matter if my team never spoke to me again—though that would fucking suck—or if I was banned from ever stepping foot on another rink.
I’d done what I had to as captain to save this team. I’d trusted her. Moments before my embarrassing collision with the boards, I’d seen the grin on her face, the shine in her eyes. For me. She was proud of me.
Even if Sam had been standing right there, even if I’d made the biggest ass of myself, I knew what I wanted now.
I wanted Sydney.
This was so fucked.
In my head, she was no longer that little kid. Thank God. I barely saw any hint of that person inside her now. Instead, she was new, confident, and so damn beautiful it made my head spin.
Someone shoved my shoulder, and I knew who it was before he spoke.
“What the fuck was that, Ry?” Teddy dropped onto the bench beside me. “And why didn’t you invite me to join?”
