Page 73 of What Are the Chances
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I was sitting at my desk when somebody knocked on my door.
“It’s open,” I called out.
Swinging the door open wide, Levi leant in the doorframe. “What are you doing.”
I gestured to my desk and stack of textbooks on it. “What do you think?”
Levi crossed his arms over his bare chest. “That doesn’t look like loosening the reins to me.”
I snickered. “I didn’t think that applied to schoolwork. Happy to blow this off if you want to call my dad and explain why I’m failing.”
“Good point.”
Levi knew my dad as well as I knew his. That’s what I liked about our friendship. We could always read between the lines with each other.
With that settled I turned my attention back to my textbook. I barely got through one sentence though before Levi interrupted me again.
“I’m bored. Let’s hang out.”
Closing the book, I dramatically spun in my desk chair to face him. “And do what?”
“I don’t know. Get food? Play video games? We haven’t hung out just the two of us for ages.”
“Grace literally left yesterday. Is this what you’re going to be like the whole time she’s gone?”
With an amused smirk, he shrugged. He was right though. While we saw each other a lot, it was usually through hockey or as part of a broader group of people. Not to mention the fact Levi spent every available spare minute with Hughesy.
“I’ll pretend not to be offended by the fact you only want to hang out with me because your girlfriend is out of town.” I reached for my sneakers, pulling them on. “I could eat,” I relented. “What are you in the mood for?”
We ended up at a steakhouse, where Levi ordered enough food to feed an army. I didn’t go light on the starters either. It’d been a long day.
“My dad mentioned your parents are coming down soon,” I said.
Setting down his beer, Levi nodded. “Lana will be here for the weekend too. I said she can stay in the guest room. Hope that’s okay.”
I had no qualms with it. When we’d moved into the five-bedroom house, Levi and I had considered getting a fifth roommate. Though we’d already known Ryan after meeting him at a summer hockey program in high school, and he knew Tripp from juniors. We hadn’t been able to vouch for any other guys on the team and we hadn’t wanted to risk living with a messy prick, or just a prick in general.
“I was going to mention, while we’re interstate for our Colorado clash, Grace and I are going to stay a few extra nights and check out some houses for next year. Wanna stick around with us? We could make a trip of it.”
The Colorado Eagles, who Levi would be playing for next year, were based a couple of hours’ drive away from where we’d grown up. Levi liked the idea of being close to his family, and I knew Rick had already secured his season tickets. I, on the other hand, was happy to be making the trek to Texas. At least then I could easily justify it was the distance keeping my parents away.
CHAPTER FORTY
Any other rules?
WILL
My morning skate was a blur. So was the drive to Riley’s house. I was like a giddy kid who’d been given permission to visit Santa’s warehouse. I was so keyed up there was a chance I would burst.
After rapping on the front door I waited for what felt like three periods. Part of me still believed this was too good to be true, and that Riley wasn’t even inside, or if she was, she wasn’t going to answer.
When the door finally swung open, Riley’s blue eyes met mine. “Hi.”
Her mouth curved into the slightest smile as she stepped to the side and opened the door wider. I walked through without hesitation.
After closing the door behind us, Riley wordlessly headed for the stairs. Once on the landing, I stumbled momentarily when she bypassed her bedroom. She continued towards the door at the far end of the hallway, to the room that had belonged to her mother.
