Page 100 of What Are the Chances
Once reaching her I hugged her and Brooklyn simultaneously. They were decked out in Allentown gear, with Marnie wearing Lucas’s jersey. Will had never offered me his jersey, which was fair given I’d never watched a game as his girlfriend. But Marnie did look super cute.
“Are you celebrating tonight?” I asked.
“Hell yeah. Any win against Phil-U is worthy of a hangover.” Marnie grimaced. “No offence.”
I chuckled. “None taken. Lucas and Tanner were good tonight. They deserve to let loose.”
Brooklyn’s eyebrows notched up. “So was Will Caufield.”
I mean, I’d obviously noticed. But it made me smug knowing my friends had too. Whether it was the pre-game bang or not, I honestly didn’t know. All I knew was that him playing well made me happy.
Even though Phil-U hadn’t secured the win, there’s nothing he could’ve done more than he had. And I knew that as an experienced hockey-watching-veteran. Despite what he thought, I’d grown up watching the game. I knew way more than he’d ever expect.
Marnie lowered her voice. “It looked like he was having words with Tanner before the first period. Any clue what that was about?”
I simply shrugged. I’d seen the same thing and I had no idea. I was planning on asking Tanner.
On cue my brother walked out of the home team change rooms. He was chatting animatedly to Lucas, clearly ecstatic about the win.
After hugging me in greeting, Lucas held me at arm’s length, his lips thinning as his gaze danced from my Phil-U hockey jacket to my beanie.
“I’ll give you a pass because we won, Riley.”
Lightly punching his arm, I shoved him away before looking at my brother. “Hey.”
Tanner’s half-hearted smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Hi.”
I frowned. “What’s up with you? I thought you’d be grinning from ear to ear about that win.”
Lucas reached for Marnie’s hand. “Babe, let’s wait in the car for Tanner.”
“Um.” Marnie looked confused. “Okay?”
“You too, Brooklyn.”
My stomach sunk at Lucas’s lack of subtlety. Something was up. Something Tanner and Lucas had clearly spoken about before coming out here.
As my friends exchanged bewildered looks with me I merely shrugged, defeated. I had no idea what was going on either.
“We’ll see you tomorrow night, Riley?” Marnie checked.
It was Tanner’s birthday tomorrow. I’d organised to drive up and spend the night at his place in Allentown. Come to think of it, I should’ve just stayed the entire weekend. Driving back tomorrow was going to be déjà vu.
I nodded. “I’ll be back in the afternoon.”
After hugging them both goodbye, they followed Lucas outside. As they left I caught sight of Grace, Parker and a model-like-looking brunette standing at the far end of the concourse. I held up two fingers signalling I wouldn’t be long before turning back to my brother. For reasons unclear to me, he seemed pissed off.
“Did something happen with dad?” I cautiously checked.
“Nope, but speaking of him...”
I braced myself, preparing for whatever bullshit dad was up to now, but what Tanner said instead floored me.
“Does he know you’re hooking up with one of his star players?”
It took me a moment to gather my bearings and answer my brother’s question.
“No.”
