Page 33 of Zero Pucks Given
“The Surge are paying you fiftymilliondollars,” I reminded him. “That kind of cash would fix everything wrong in my life right now.”
His brow furrowed with thought. “You looked up how much I make?”
“I was curious,” I quickly said, maybe a little too defensively.
Grayson scratched at his thin beard. “Money solves a lot of problems, sure. But only up to a point. After all your bills are covered, and maybe some world travel and retirement if you’re lucky, you get diminishing returns. Yeah, the Surge signed me to a fifty million dollar contract. But my quality of life would be the same if it was onlyfivemillion.”
I looked over at the man in surprise. Was he actually opening up to me? There was no insult, no biting comment to go along with his words. Just a brief, genuine insight to who he was.
“Want to know something crazy? I’m actually having a good time,” I admitted. “This is the first time I’ve gotten to enjoy a Spurs game rather than slinging beer to annoying fans.”
“It helps that we’re courtside,” Grayson said with a flicker of a smile.
“True that.”
The arena of fans suddenly laughed. I craned my neck to stare up at the screen above the court—they were doing the Kiss Cam. The couple on the screen must have been siblings, or just friends, because they both shook their head at the camera. The view switched to an older couple, who immediately turned to each other and shared a quick kiss, which drew a lot of cheers.
“Uh oh,” Grayson said.
“What?” I asked right as the camera changed once more.
The couple on the screen wasus.
Grayson Steel
Surge Captain
&
Josie Harper
Contest Winner
The crowd cheered at the sight of us. Well, they were cheering for Grayson at least.
We glanced at each other reluctantly.
“Let’s get it over with so they can move on to another couple,” Grayson said.
“Fine,” I agreed.
We both hesitated a moment, then leaned in for a quick peck on the lips. It was even more tame than the older couple before us.
The crowd immediately let us know they disapproved with a chorus of boos. The noise was a lot louder here on the floor compared to up in the stands—it felt like the entire arena was furious with us.
“If you think this is bad,” Grayson said, “you should see how they react if you miss an easy goal.”
I spotted the camera guy on the other side of the court and flashed a smile and a thumbs-up. But the jumbotron didn’t switch camera views. It stayed on us while the arena booed.
“I don’t think they’re going to stop,” Grayson muttered.
“I don’t want to make out with you.”
“Same boat,” Grayson said. “But Bob did say we need to be believable tonight.”
“Then you should’ve kissed me like you meant it the first time—”
Without warning, Grayson slid his palm along the side of my neck, squeezed a handful of my hair, and kissed me.
