Page 65 of The Book Club Boyfriend
But ten minutes into the game, I’m… engaged. Like, fully engaged.
Fifteen minutes in, I’m yelling at the refs like they can actually hear me.
By the second period?
I’m banging on the glass and shouting, “OPEN YOUR EYES, REF, HE GOT TRIPPED!” while Lucy cackles beside me.
“Wow,” she wheezes, passing me another nacho. “I didn’t know you were gonna go full gladiator.”
“I didn’t either,” I pant. “But that was aflagrantfoul and no one seems to care.”
“They never do,” she agrees. “Welcome to hockey.”
I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m standing up half the time. I’m booing like I’ve been doing it for years. I don’tdosports. I don’t yell. I don’t lose composure.
But there I am, completelyuncomposed, screaming at a grown man on skates like I’ve got money riding on it.
And watching Chase is… not what I expected at all.
He skates like he was born with blades on his feet.
He’s not at all the golden retriever he is in real life. On the ice?
He’s… different.
Sharper. Focused. Dangerous, almost.
He crashes into an opposing player, wins the puck, and glides down the ice with all the speed and power of a tsunami.
Lucy elbows me. “Chase looks good tonight.”
I don’t answer.
Mostly because I’m trying not to ogle him like a thirst trap.
And somehow, as if heknows, he looks toward the stands. Not scanning the crowd—looking. Right. At. Me.
His brows raise, the corners of his mouth twitch like he’s trying not to laugh.
Because yeah, I’m on my feet.
Banging on the glass.
Screaming like I’ve lost my mind.
And judging by the glint in his eye?
He’s a little scared.
A little amused.
And maybe—a little turned on?
Chapter Twenty
Hockey Isn’t Stupid (Apparently)
Chase
