Page 95 of What Are the Chances
“That’s crazy,” I told him. “You didn’t even know Hughesy then.”
He dropped his shoulders. “Doesn’t mean I like the idea of her going through that without me.”
I’d made my way through the strawberry layer of my ice cream. I was onto the cookies and cream scoop. It was fucking delicious, and it was definitely helping my mood. No wonder people binged this after a breakup.
Levi rested his forearms on the table. “Riley clearly doesn’t hold this against you if you’ve started things up again.” He fixed me with a serious glare. “Do you want her back?”
“Yeah. But I don’t deserve her.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Will. Yeah you fucked up in the end, but Riley had her faults too. You wouldn’t have accepted her missing the draft party so easily if she hadn’t dodged hockey your entire relationship.”
He was right, but that didn’t make me feel better. I doubt anything would at this point. Except maybe more ice cream.
“Take it from someone with experience royally fucking up a good thing. Apologise. Explain you were a fucking idiot. She’ll hopefully come around.”
I’d given Levi similar advice after Grace learnt of the bet Levi had orchestrated with Ryker Richardson. I’d also vowed to be there for him if she didn’t forgive him. Thankfully Hughesy had. I wasn’t confident I was going to get as lucky with Riley.
“You’re not going to try and talk me out of going there again?”
“Nah,” Levi said, crunching into his cone. “I know a lost argument when I see one.”
Despite everything, I found myself laughing softly. That was as close to a blessing as I was going to get from him.
Whether it was the miracle of ice cream or simply talking it out, I felt immensely lighter when we eventually slipped out of the booth and pulled Ryan and Tripp’s attention from the double date they’d somehow managed to land themselves on.
Hovering by the counter, Levi handed me his keys. “Feel free to warm the car up. I need to get Grace something to go.”
My eyebrows lowered. “I thought she didn’t want dessert.”
“I think her exact words–” Levi attempted an Australian accent that was so bad I couldn’t help but laugh. “Will needs an ice cream more than I do. But if you don’t come back with something sugary, don’t bother coming back at all.”
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
One way to kill my mood
RILEY
Will was avoiding me. That much was clear. Tripp had drip-fed an excuse about Will missing our weekly check-in earlier this week, and now at practice he wouldn’t even look in my direction.
I should’ve let that be the case. Life would be simpler if we went our separate ways. But I couldn’t. And honestly, I didn’t want to live that way again. If things ended, it wouldn’t be because we didn’t have the courage to talk to each other this time.
While I tended to a junior who’d jolted his shoulder, my focus kept drifting to Will. He was back in his head. I could see it in the way he skated. Ryan had completely shut him down today, which wasn’t usually the case. Judging by the way Levi kept skating over to Will and murmuring in his ear, he’d noticed too. My stomach sunk knowing I might be partly at fault for that.
I forced my focus back to the player in front of me when Richard stepped out of the tunnel. Dad hadn’t been lying. Along with inviting me to attend Saturday night’s game, Richard had asked me to join training this afternoon. He had a surprise for the team, one I expect they were about to hate me for.
“Coach Hall is wrapping up training in five minutes. Everything is set.”
The junior nervously glanced at Richard. “For what?”
I lightly tapped his shoulder. “Trust us. Your shoulder is going to love it.”
I followed Richard back into the recovery room, where five ice baths were set up. I felt cold simply looking at them.
To keep things interesting, we’d turned the recovery into a game. One that would hopefully bring out a competitive side in the guys and dim their frustration about the ice baths.
“What is your upcoming schedule looking like?” Richard questioned. “We have a double-header coming up in Colorado. It would be worth your while if you can make it work.” He quickly checked around, ensuring the room was empty. “I’ll be frank, I haven’t extended the offer to the other student physical therapists. There’s a reason I talked Coach Hall into allowing me to bring an extra student on this late in the season.”
Richard stood to his full height, which was at least six-foot. Not as tall as many of the athletes on his team, but enough that he fit in around here.
