Page 39 of What Are The Odds?
I smiled appreciatively. I think he was right. I took a large sip, downing half the can in the process. The crowd was getting rowdier, stomping their feet as they shouted abuse at the ice. As they all got to their feet, we were forced to do the same.
“What’s going on?” I asked Ryker.
Asking Stella or Ava would be pointless. They had no idea what was going on either.
“Fight by the looks.”
“Fight?”
“Between Holloway and the other player’s captain.”
“Holloway as in Levi?”
“Yeah.” Ryker pulled me closer, gesturing through the gap in spectators between us. “Look.”
I could just make out Levi and an opposing player dropping their sticks to the ground. I gasped as the opposition player charged at Levi. The other players circled the altercation, not joining in but not stopping it either.
“Is the ref going to do anything?”
“Nah,” Ryker said indifferently. “This is part of the game.”
“They can just fight? They don’t get in trouble?”
Ryker nodded. “Dumb, huh?”
It was scary. Back home, both players would’ve already been fined and reported. You couldn’t just hit someone and get away with it.
“Well this just got interesting,” Ava said, pressing onto her tippytoes. “Levi is bad ass.”
Once Levi got the upper hand and knocked the other guy to the ground, the referees swooped in. Putting an end to it. One skated beside Levi, ushering him off the ice and into a weird box I hadn’t noticed until now.
“He’s been sent to the sin bin,” Ryker explained. “Power play for the other team.”
I wasn’t following. Those terms meant nothing to me.
“Pardon?”
“He’s been sent off,” Ryker translated. “We’re down a player for two minutes.”
“Oh.”
That didn’t sound good. And it wasn’t. The other team scored within the next thirty-seconds.
*
I shifted from foot to foot, watching the locker room as players filtered out. Even with the opposing team scoring a shot in the power play, our earlier three goals held them off and Will's goal in the last minute cemented the win. The other team had showered and cleared out quickly, whereas ours was still celebrating. Loud music was coming from the closed door.
“Are we going to the after party?” Ava asked.
“Why don’t we see what Ryker and the football boys are doing?” Stella suggested.
Both were looking at me to make the executive decision. Before I could, Ryker appeared at my side, gently touching my elbow.
“Have you got a second?”
Ava and Stella shared a mischievous look. I fought to roll my eyes. They couldn’t be any more obvious. Ryker led us to the gap between our friends. It wasn’t overly private, but it was better than letting Stella and Ava overhear.
“About–”
