Page 45 of Game Changer
“Yeah...”
* * *
Kip watched the game with his parents.
“Not looking too good tonight,” Dad observed.
“No,” Kip agreed. It was a definite understatement. By the third period, Philadelphia had buried the Admirals 6–2.
But Scott had scored one of those goals, and Kip had smiled at the idea that the goal was for him.
“Well,” his mother said, “there’s always the next game.”
“Yeah,” Kip said. The broadcast was showing a lot of close-ups of Scott’s face. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were fierce. When a Philadelphia player skated by him and said something, Scott shot him a look that would turn most men to stone.
“Must be smoothie withdrawal, right?” his father joked.
“Must be.”
The game ended, and Kip watched Scott and his team exit the arena and head back to their dressing room. Scott hit the blade of his stick hard against the wall, just before he disappeared from view of the camera. Kip winced. He’d never seen him look so angry.
“Can’t win ’em all,” his mother said, turning off the television.
“Guess not.” Kip stood and stretched. It had been a long day. “I should go to bed. Work tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, sweetie,” his mom said, and kissed him on the cheek.
Kip knew he wouldn’t hear from Scott tonight. He considered sending him a text, maybe try to cheer him up. All he could think of were unhelpful platitudes, though. And besides, it wasn’t like he really understood how Scott felt right now. Hockey was Scott’s whole life. It was his job to win games, and Kip may not know Scott very well yet, but he knew Scott probably took every team failure personally.
Exhausted but unable to sleep, he lay in bed and stared into the blackness of the room, listening to the bitter February wind blowing outside. He picked up his phone for a moment, staring at it in the dark before setting it back on his nightstand. Eventually his mind quieted down and he was able to drift off.
When the alarm on his phone woke him at five the next morning, he saw a message from Scott, sent at 1:30 a.m.:
I’d give anything to see you right now.
* * *
Kip had a lot of things on his mind at work on Wednesday.
There was the job at the museum that he’d finally applied for. There was the fact that he was going to be getting his tuxedo tailored after work—the tuxedo Scott had given him. The one Kip would be wearing to the Equinox Gala at the end of the month. Surreal.
And then there was Scott’s message from last night. And the Valentine’s Day plans for Friday.
Oh. And the fact that Kip was secretly dating Scott Hunter.
Kip had never smiled so hard in his life as he had when he had seen Scott’s message that morning. It had completely unmoored him, and he’d been floating away, up into the atmosphere, ever since.
In response to Scott’s message, even though it had been sent hours before, Kip had snapped a quick selfie. He hadn’t even fixed himself up; he had still been in bed, hair disheveled and face sleepy. He’d wanted Scott to know he had woken up to the message, and how happy he had been to see it.
(He had to admit, the photo was kind of sexy too.)
Scott had replied just after eight, which Kip saw when he was in the back room at work.
Scott: Wow.
And then,Thank you. I can’t believe I didn’t have a picture of you before.
Kip had written back,I can do better.
