Page 23 of What are the Risks
Last I heard, Grace was still gone and he was sulking around campus like a heartbroken zombie.
I felt like an ass. Truly. Grace was nice, and sure as hell didn’t deserve to be some kind of wager. Even at the time, I knew the betwas shady. But I’d been desperate to stop my guys from getting into arguments with the hockey team.
That’s why Holloway and I had made the dumb bet to begin with. It’d been our immature way of separating the hockey and football teams by having one move out of the athlete’s gym.
Despite Levi having clearly won, he’d never forced my boys to clear out. So long as they kept their noses out of the hockey team’s business, it could stay that way.
“Summer Spritz is a puck bunny,” Pat chimed in. “She’d drop Murray quicker than her panties if Holloway gave her attention.”
A puck bunny was a not so polite term for a girl who actively went after hockey players. It was crass... but itdidsum Summer up. She’d tried her hand at me in the past, but I’d always known Holloway was where her sights were set.
“Didn’t Murray’s last girlfriend cheat on him with Ryan Murphy?” Kyler asked.
“Sure did,” I mumbled, thinking back on the night Murray had found his girlfriend on her knees in a locked stall with Ryan – another night Levi and I had needed to diffuse a situation before it escalated.
I’d consider Ryan to be the hockey team’s equivalent of Evan. While Evan was blonde and Ryan had brown hair, they each gave off Ken-doll vibes, and they’d both slept with more girls than I expect either could tally up.
I couldn’t stand Ryan. Just like I’m sure the hockey team had nothing great to say about Evan.
Eventually we slowly filed into the film room. With the screens already loaded up, Coach glared at everyone as they took their seats, like he’d been waiting all day. His fault the showers had taken longer than normal with that sweat sesh.
Taking a spot in the front row, I rested my workbook on my lap. It was full of all the plays I had to memorise. I gave this workbook more attention than I gave all my other schoolwork combined.
People often thought all a quarterback needed to do was know how to throw a ball well. I wish it was that easy.
Every week I was up against a different team, with their own plays, strategies and strengths. Each of them defended differently too. To counteract that, I needed to be prepared for everything.
Even as a young kid, I’d known how important academics were when it came to football. I couldn’t do my job if I didn’t keep my mind sharp.
If I was having an off day, it carried across to the whole team. Our game depended on me having my shit together. There wasn’t another player on the field who could pick up my slack. The only option was getting benched and the backup QB filling in, and that wasn’t something I allowed to happen often.
It was a lot of pressure. Some days I thrived off it, and other days it was heavy. But no matter what, I was grateful for it. I loved this game.
Coach had us trapped inside for almost two hours, going over video by video, time and time again. By the time he called it, my eyes were hazy and I was one more game tape away from a headache.
As I followed my teammates out of the room, I checked my phone and pulled up my last message from Ruby. It was a picture of her dressed in her nursing scrubs and glasses, pulling a sad face.
She’d sent it after I told her my parents couldn’t make it to my Senior Night tomorrow. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it had put a damper on my mood. Most of my friends had family flying in.
Ryker: How was work? Have you got time to FT tonight?
The message quickly changed fromdeliveredtoread. Ruby didn’t immediately start typing back though, which was strange for her. She texted faster than she talked – fast as fuck.
As Evan shouldered open the door, an icy breeze hit me. The summer heat was a very distant memory now.
“Who are you texting?” Brady asked.
“Ruby. I was asking if she could–”
“If I could what, Wheels?”
Stumped, I glanced up. I mustn’t have recovered yet from that conditioning practice, because I was certain I’d just heard Ruby. Though sure enough, when a figure pushed off from the railing outside of the Athletes’ Centre, my eyes locked on my best friend.
“Rubz?”
She shoved her hands into her coat pockets, shrugging like it was no big deal. “In the flesh.”
Pushing past my friends, I strode towards her, partly worried she’d vanish if I took too long. She’d told me she couldn’t make my Senior Night. I had no clue what had changed – but I was glad it had.
