Page 82 of Stealing for Keeps
“She definitely has team spirit.”
“Oh yeah. She’s been this hyped since warm-ups.” Vaughn is holding a bucket of popcorn and extends it toward Rowan and me.
“No thanks.” I shake my head.
Rowan takes it and proceeds to toss big handfuls in his mouth.
“I can’t believe Brandon doesn’t say something to her about it.” Vaughn gives his head a shake. “I think I’d have to break up with a girl if she screamed at me the entire game. I get enough of that from my dad.”
“I don’t think he minds.” Rowan juts his chin to the ice. Brandon skates by and waves at Andie, and even through the cage of his helmet, I can tell he’s grinning.
“Ah, she’s not hurting anybody. Let her cheer on her boyfriend.” Maybe it’s not my personal preference to have my girlfriend screaming nonstop from the sideline, but there’s no question she’s here to support him.
“When did you become such a romantic?” Rowan elbows me.
It’s then that I spot Claire and Lacey making their way over to us. Lacey leads the charge. I’m initially too distracted by Claire and her short black skirt, long blond hair—down and curled—and those full, shiny lips to notice anything else. But as the world comes back into focus, I realize Vaughn has gone tense beside me.
Have he and Claire talked? She hasn’t mentioned it if so.
“Hello, ladies,” Rowan says, smiling at them both.
“You want to sit here?” Lacey points to the row in front of us as she turns to Claire.
I’ve gone back to staring, so when Claire looks to me, I’m sure I have a goofy grin on my face.
“Sure,” she says. Her gaze briefly drifts to Vaughn, but she doesn’t smile or say anything to him. He remains stiff next to me.
The girls settle in, not directly in front of us but to the right, where if I turn my head to look at Rowan, I can’t miss her. They’re taking off their coats and watching the ice.
“Yo, Lacey.” Rowan tosses a single piece of popcorn at her. “Are you gonna join the one-woman hockey cheer team with your friend?”
Lacey picks the popcorn off her sleeve and tosses it into her mouth before saying, “I never cheer without my uniform. It’s like Superman without his cape.” Her lips curve up into a pleased smile. “Besides, they have their own cheerleading squad.”
Just then, the hockey cheerleaders skate onto the ice. I spot Jenn among the small group and smile at her. Then I glance down at Claire, wondering what she looked like on the ice. I bet she was incredible.
There are only a handful of cheerleaders, but they yell and get the crowd fired up. They’re no competition for Andie though.
Lacey claps as they exit the ice. Then we all fall quiet, watching the game for a few intense moments as the Frost Lake team gets the puck and takes a lot of shots on goal. Their goalie isn’t letting anything through, and eventually, the puck heads in the opposite direction.
At some point, I must start staring at Claire again instead of the game, because it catches me by surprise when Rowan nudges me with his knee.
“Yeah,” I say, blinking a few times and giving him my attention. “What’s up?”
He laughs quietly. “Nothing, Disco. Nothing at all.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Claire
“It’s so sweet,” Lacey says as Andie recounts how Austin asked her if we could come by theater rehearsal. It’s intermission, which is the only reason Andie’s talking to us. She’s very focused on the game any time Brandon is on the ice.
“It was. He even helped me move some of the bulky set pieces. It usually takes, like, three of us. You think I can recruit him every day?”
I laugh and shake my head. “Probably not.”
“He asked me if he could bring you to cheerleading practice, but I told him absolutely not,” Lacey says, grinning at me.
“What?” Andie shrieks in surprise. “Why not?”
