Page 10 of What Are The Odds?
“Morning, Grace.”
“Hey.”
Stella sat up straighter, discreetly waggling her eyebrows. She was relentless.
“What topic did your group choose?” I asked her.
She groaned. “Warzone stats.”
“Huh?”
“Call of Duty,” she filled in. “Some nerdy ass game. But apparently there’s full tournaments where players compete and blah blah blah.”
“That sounds–” I searched for the right word. “Interesting.”
“Try boring. Speaking of.” She slipped her bag over her shoulder then stood. “That’s my group. I’ll catch you after class.”
She caught up with two guys. Both were scrawny and short, and wearing ironic t-shirts where the message was totally lost on me. I chuckled under my breath when Stella caught my eye and rolled hers dramatically.
“Would you be free one night this week to watch Australian Rules together?” Levi asked, pulling my attention. “I tried watching a game the other night, and it made absolutely no sense.”
Before I could answer, Ryker appeared at my other side. He was holding two cups of coffee. He held one out for me.
“I guessed your order. How did I go?”
I grimaced, sheepishly. “I don’t drink coffee.”
Levi reached around me, a smug smile playing on his lips. “But I do. Cheers, Richardson.”
After a pause of hesitation, Ryker handed Levi the spare before sitting in the seat Stella had vacated.
“How about Wednesday night?” Levi suggested, stealing my attention back.
I nodded. “Wednesday works.”
Ryker flicked his head in our direction. “What’s Wednesday night?”
“Grace is coming round to watch an AFL game.”
“Yeah?” Ryker powered his laptop. “I’m free. Count me in.”
7. I’m always cold here
Grace.
I waited on the doorstep, hands shoved in my jacket pockets. The address Levi had given was for a large townhouse. There were three cars in the driveway. I’d parked Stella’s on the street. She’d let me borrow it. It had been my first time driving in America. Thankfully the drive between here and campus had been short. I was still trying to wrap my head around driving on the right side of the road. Not to mention sitting on the left side of the car. Everything was backwards here. Just as I raised my hand to knock, the door opened on Levi. He looked surprised to see me. His keys dangled from his fingers. It appeared as though he was heading out.
“Grace.”
“Hey. Is Ryker here yet?”
Levi’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “He text saying he got held up at training.”
“Oh. I didn’t get that message.”
But I’d bet Stella had. We hadn’t crossed paths before I left.
“I assume you didn’t get my message either then,” Levi said. “About meeting a bit later.”
