Page 38 of What Are The Odds?
When we returned for the second period, we nailed an early shot. We picked off another one during the next power play, giving us a three-nil lead going into the third period. I would love nothing more than to shut them out. And it was looking more likely. We were on tonight. Things felt fucking good. As I was heading off the ice for the final break, the kiss cam started. My heart slowed when Ryker’s smug face appeared on the screen, and it literally stopped when it panned so Grace was included. The crowd went nuts. Ryker’s face was a popular one on and off campus. People pulled their phones from their pockets, angling them to record the jumbotron. This was guaranteed to go viral on the campus socials. Anything Ryker did generally did. I knew the deal, because it was the same for me too. A random video taken of me winking in class last year had been the punch line of memes and innuendos for weeks. If only they’d known I’d been winking at Will because he’d turned up to class with a coffee for me. Pretty fucking boring compared to the elaborate spins some memes had going.
“Anytime now, Cap,” came a voice from behind me.
I was blocking the tunnel, but I made no effort to move. Grace sunk in her seat, hiding behind her hands. Between the gaps in her fingers, I could see the blush climbing her neck and spreading across her cheeks. Smiling, Ryker pivoted so he was facing her. He moved her hands from her face before saying something close to her ear. Partly grimacing and partly laughing, Grace shrugged as if it to saywhynot. And then they kissed.
20. I’ll maybe see you later
Grace.
Ryker Richardson had just very publicly kissed me. That was taking a while to sink in. I turned back to the ice, uncontrollably blushing. Even as the camera transitioned to a different couple, and their kiss garnered a new wave of catcalls, my red cheeks didn’t fade.
“You all good, Grace?” Ryker asked, his dimple deepening as he grinned at me.
I opened my mouth then closed it quickly. My brain was scattered. No thoughts were forming at all.
“I’m not sure whether to take your loss of words as a good thing or not,” he teased.
I nervously chuckled. While the camera had been hovering in front of us, Ryker had pressed his lips to my ear and whispered, ‘I’m game if you are’.
I’d shrugged, mainly because I thought it would’ve been a harmless peck, not the type of kiss where he cupped my face, and danced his tongue with mine, and tangled his fingers in my hair. He clearly had a hell of a lot more confidence than me. With still red cheeks, I looked at Ava and Stella. Stella mouthed the wordhotwhile Ava stared at me, jaw gaping. I guess it kind of was. Ryker certainly knew what he was doing. It had been a good kiss, I mean, in terms of how kisses ought to be. It had just taken me by surprise. After a short break, the teams returned to the ice. The camera was on Levi as he skated into position. I clapped along with the crowd as the referee signalled for the game to continue. Ice hockey hadn’t been what I expected. It was fast. And rough. And super exhilarating. How they travelled from one end to the other, changing direction and stopping abruptly, all the while passing the puck seamlessly to one another, blew my mind. It was a fun sport to watch. And something I would watch again. My brothers would love it as well. The atmosphere in the arena was electric. It’d gone through the roof when Levi got the first goal. It may have happened too quickly for me to keep up, but I’d kept my eyes fixed on the screens as they replayed it over and over.
Ryker leaned in to be heard over the crowd. “You’ll have to come to one of my games.”
I parted my lips to answer, but a collective gasp when one of our players was slammed into the wall drew my attention. I let out a sigh of relief upon seeing it wasn’t Levi. He was skating the puck towards our goal. He narrowed in on the net, Will and another player flanked on either side of him. He fired off the shot. I held my breath. The crowd groaned once more when the puck bounced off the post and into the possession of the other team.
“Jesus, Holloway,” a middle-aged man in front of me grumbled. “You never miss those.”
I kind of hated that ice hockey players wore helmets. They needed to, obviously, given how nuts the game was. But I missed seeing their expressions.
“We’re going to get a drink,” Ryker shouted over the crowd. “I’ll be right back.”
The moment he was gone, Stella clapped her hand in my face.
“What the hell, Grace?” she tsked. “You’ve been here for just over a month and already you’re living out the American fantasy?”
“Huh?”
“Kissing the hot quarterback. Come on. Please tell me you were as into that as Ryker was.”
My blush returned. “It was just a joke for the cameras.”
Ava shook her head. “I don’t think so, Grace. That looked like something else to me.”
“What was it like?” Stella pressed, eyebrows wiggling. “How he tangled his hands in your hair was, like, fire.”
“Um. Good.”
“Um. Good?”she parroted. “I’m disappointed in you, Grace.”
“What did she do now?” Ryker asked, falling back into the seat next to me.
This blush wasn’t going away anytime soon. He passed me two drinks.
“For Ava and Stella.”
Ava chirped excitedly before snatching the cold drinks from my hands. It was sweet he’d bought my friends something.
“And one for you,” he announced, passing another over. “You looked like you might need it."
