Page 50 of Zero Pucks Given
During the first period, I found myself scanning the crowd during timeouts. I knew she was working the game, but had no idea if she was selling beer in the crowd or at her concession stand. Either way, I couldfeelher out there, watching me. It was comforting, in a way.
But also distracting.
During a switchover, I caught a glimpse of a blonde woman walking up the stairs in the crowd. It only captured my attention for a split second, but that was enough for my opponent to juke past me and score a breakaway goal. The crowd groaned.
“The hell is going on with you today?” Coach barked at me when I skated back to the bench. “Get your head in the game, Steele. Shake off that rust before the playoffs next week.”
“You’re distracted,” Mason whispered to me on the bench.
“Fuck off,” I replied, though I knew he was right.
25
Josie
Grayson looked distracted out there, his movements just a little bit slower than usual. For a brief moment, right before the other team scored, it even looked like he was glancing up in my direction.
“Cold beer, here!” I shouted while climbing the stairs in the arena.
I wondered if he was off because of our kiss last night. I certainly had been. It didn’t help that the man who had kissed me wasright there, down on the ice, gliding toward the bench to take a breather. His face appeared on the big screen above the ice. He looked pissed off. One of his teammates whispered something to him, and he mouthed the words, “Fuck off.”
I doubted he was distracted because of me. Grayson was a professional athlete. They were famous for being able to tune everything out during a game. He wouldn’t have survived at this level if he allowed something like a kiss to distract him from the sport.
The period was about to end, so I exited the arena and returned to the concession stand in preparation for the intermission between first and second period. As soon as Sharon saw me, she hastily waved me over.
“Boss is gone. We’ve got a few minutes. You promised to fill me inon what happened last night, so spill the tea!”
“I’m not going to tell you,” I replied while pulling out my phone. “I’m going toshowyou.”
I played the raw, unedited video for her. She laughed during the scripted banter at the start, and raised her eyebrow while I applied makeup to Grayson.
“Hey by the way, now that your channel is famous, how about you give me a shout out on your next video?” She asked. “Some of us are still trying to go viral.”
“Keep watching. It’s about to get good.”
“He’s totally into you,” Sharon said, pointing. “See the way he’s looking at you? I consider myself an expert in the male gaze, and right now he’s… OHMYGOD! You’re kissing!”
“Told you it was about to get good.”
“Is the rest of the video… X-rated? Because I don’t know if we have the kind of friendship where I can watch a sex video.”
“All we did is kiss,” I replied.
“That’s a real kiss. Nothing fake about it.”
“I know! That’s the problem,” I replied.
She frowned at me. “Why are you freaking out?”
“Because I don’t actually like this guy! He’s everything I hate. Cocky, self-involved, stubborn, unbending…”
“Sexy, strong, rich,” Sharon added.
“I have to go on two more dates with him,” I said. “And now it’s going to be awkward.”
“Why would it be awkward? If anything, this makes your job easier for the next two dates.”
I pointed at the screen. “You’ll see what makes it awkward in about five seconds…”
