Page 82 of What Are The Odds?
As Levi skated away backwards, he flipped Tripp off.
“Keep telling yourself that. Now hit the showers. You stink.”
Levi skated better than I could walk. He made it look so easy, like he was walking on solid ground and not balancing on a slippery surface on two blades. He picked up pace as he glided towards me. Just as I thought he was going to crash through the boards – not a wall like I’d been corrected by Tripp – he broke to an abrupt stop.
“If you’re trying to impress me it’s working.”
Smirking, he raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“You make it look so easy.”
“Wiping the ice with Tripp?”
I laughed. “Skating.”
“Wanna skate with me? You don’t have class for over an hour, right?”
I shook my head too quickly, giving myself away.
“Hughesy.” Levi’s eyebrows pinched together as he studied me. “You can skate, right?”
I grimaced. “Will you think less of me if I say no?”
He dropped his jaw dramatically. “I can’t believe my girlfriend can't skate!”
“I’m Australian,” I reminded him. “I grew up with sand not ice.”
“We’re going to have to change that. That’s a non-negotiable, Hughesy.”
He leant over the boards, going to kiss me. When I pulled back, he frowned.
“You better have a good reason for that.”
“I think I’m getting crook,” I told him.
“Huh?”
“Sick.”
He had a game in two days. I didn’t want to take him down with me. Apparently Levi wasn’t bothered. He tucked a hand behind my neck and pulled me in anyway. Levi didn’t dohellokisses. His were all consuming. He temporarily made me forget how terrible I was feeling, and that I hadn’t spoken to my brothers in days, and that we were one day closer to him fulfilling his dream and me going home. Slowly, I fluttered my eyes open, only to find him studying me.
“You do look pale. I can ask the team doctor to check you over.”
“I’m sure it’s just a cold,” I said dismissively. “What did you want to talk about?”
“We can talk later,” he said. “You should rest.”
The fact he was delaying the conversation made me nervous.
“It’s fine. I’m here now. What’s up?”
He was silent for a moment. “I wanted to see what you were doing for Thanksgiving?”
“Oh, um. Nothing. I was just going to hang around campus.”
“I thought as much.” He leant on the boards. “I know it’s not something you celebrate, but you can’t be alone on Thanksgiving, Hughesy.”
I chuckled. “I can’t?”
