Page 108 of Use Me
“I was just talking to Andy about going to a Cubs game. Would you and Rhys want to come?”
I thought for a moment. In the past, I liked baseball more than hockey, but sports had never been my thing before Rhys. “I’ll ask him.”
My dad turned back to Rhys’s father and they starting talking again. Watching them chat was warming my heart. This was what I’d always wanted. I had the guy, my family loved him, I loved him, and we lived together. Even my mother and Claire were having a conversation, both of them laughing. My heart swelled even more.
The Blackhawks each skated out of a darkened tunnel and onto the ice where they skated in front of the net and then to center ice where they stood in a line, facing the goal on the red line. After the national anthem was sung, the game finally started.
The puck was dropped, and the players started to skate, getting into whatever position they needed to get the puck in and try to make a goal. From where we were all the way up in the seats, we could still hear the skates cut across the ice as players stopped, when they checked other players against the boards causing them to rattle, and whenever someone shot the puck.
“Ms. Valor?” I looked up to see a lady in black pants and a Blackhawks polo shirt standing next to me.
“Yes?”
“Each intermission we have games for fans. We were wondering if you’d like to do the one during the second intermission?”
That meant I was going to miss Rhys’s broadcast. I hesitated, but my family and friends all started to shout, “Do it! Do it! Do it!”
“You can win a couple of prizes. Maybe even a new jersey.”
“Do it! Do it! Do it!”
I chuckled, figuring that I could maybe get my own Crawford or Kane or whoever else’s jersey if I actually won. “Okay, sure.”
“Great. I’ll be back around the middle of the second period to get you and take you down to the ice.”
I could see the headline now …
Breaking News: Ashtyn Valor sucks at ice games. She also fell on her ass on the ice.
The period ended, and everyone in our suite moved to the TVs. Andy turned up the volume, and Rhys’s handsome face filled the screen. Watching Rhys do his thing was hot. Not gonna lie. Watching him in his element turned me on each night I caught his show. He owned the camera when he spoke. His intermission show only lasted about twelve minutes because intermission was only fifteen. On Tuesday, when it was the Hawks’ final game, I vowed I wasn’t going to miss a single second of Rhys’s show.
After intermission was over and we returned to watching the game, I became even more nervous. Why couldn’t I get some of the athletic genes that my brothers got? They played sports their entire childhood, but yet I was the one that was going to go down and play some sort of game.Maybe it would be Jenga. I could totally do Jenga. Of course, that wasn’t likely because it needed to be something fast so the Zamboni could do it’s thing before the fifteen minutes was up.
Lost in thought, I didn’t realize it was time. “Ashtyn, are you ready?”
I looked up at her. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Stop being a pansy ass and get out there,” Ethan bellowed as he pointed toward the rink.
I rolled my eyes and stood.
“Good luck,” everyone cooed as I followed the lady.
“I’m Brittany by the way.”
“Nice to meet you.” We made it to an elevator to head down. “What will I be doing exactly?”
“Shooting two pucks into the net.”
“That’s all?”
We stepped into the elevator and Brittany pressed the button. “You need to shoot from the blue line and then from the center red line. There’s a prize for each line.”
“Oh … What can I win?”
“You need to make the goals to find out.”
I chuckled. “It’s like that?”
