24 It was a one-time thing
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It was a one-time thing
RILEY
I sat between Brooklyn and Marnie, my hands shoved into my jacket pockets. The cold arena was managing to dim the fire that’d been beneath my skin since Will walked out my front door.
I was trying not to think of him, but that was near impossible when he was ten rows below me on the ice. Even with forty players warming up, I spotted him immediately. He skated without faltering, dancing a puck from left to right.
Tanner was at the far end of the ice, taking shots at goal. Despite being one of the best players in the league, Tanner hadn’t declared for the NHL draft when he was eligible. I knew his reasoning, but that didn’t mean I agreed with it. He still had time to change his mind, there were options. For starters, he could enter the league as an unrestricted agent. But he’d displayed no signs of wanting to go pro after graduation. It was a waste, all that talent.
Brooklyn stretched out her phone in front of us. “Let’s get a selfie for me to send to Edge.”
Edge was Brooklyn’s long-distance boyfriend of five years. They’d been dating in high school but had gone to colleges on different coasts. Brooklyn had received a full ride on a track and field scholarship to Allentown, and Edge was Californian born and incapable of being more than twenty-minutes from the ocean.
I had to give them props for sticking to the whole long-distance set up. It sounded exhausting. Different time zones. Different schedules. Constant FaceTime .
Edge had dialled into our movie and game nights before. While most people used Zoom for business meetings, we used it for Uno competitions. Tanner always won. He was insanely competitive.
Marnie was dating Lucas, Tanner’s best friend and roommate, and also the left d-man for Allentown.
I often suffered serious FOMO being at Phil-U while my closest friends were at Allentown together. Parker was a good consolation, but if I could upend her and my house, I would be at Allentown in a heartbeat.
The music returned to a normal volume and the lights brightened as the warm-up closed off and the players got ready for the game.
Unlike Parker who was in a state of blindness when it came to my past, Marnie and Brooklyn were well versed. When Will’s name and face were cast on the jumbotron as one of the starting Phil-U players, Brooklyn jabbed my ribs.
“He’s aged well.”
Didn’t I already know it.
I anxiously glanced at Phil-U’s bench. The players that weren’t starting were filling it up, making it impossible to see the coaching staff. I let out a sigh of relief.
“How did Tanner bribe you into coming tonight?” Marnie asked, jokingly.
“No bribes. He played the guilt card instead.”
Marnie grimaced. “Have you seen your dad yet?”
“Nope. And let’s keep it that way.”
She tilted her head in affirmation. “I’ll be on the lookout. No exes or dads.”
If only she’d been on the lookout for me earlier today. I still hadn’t fully grasped that I’d slept with Will. But my god, it had been so good. The ache between my thighs was a fiery reminder. It was like no time had passed. The same level of comfort was still there, and there was no awkwardness trying to learn each other’s bodies.
Marnie shifted in her seat to face me. “What was that look?”
Heat crept up my cheeks. “What look?”
“The look you got when I said no exes.”
Stupid psych major. It didn’t help that she’d known me since we were kids. We’d always been at different schools, but we’d trained on the same track and field team my father had managed to get me into. It was elite and prestigious, way more than my mum could afford on her own.
As much as I wanted to pretend what had occurred between Will and me hadn’t happened, I couldn’t. I was about to implode. I needed to share the burden with someone.
“I kind of relapsed today. ”
Brooklyn arched an eyebrow in question. “Relapsed?”
“With Will.”
The look of surprise on each of my friends’ faces was palpable. I got it. I really did. I’d surprised myself too. And I was surprising myself for wanting a repeat. If Will suggested it, I don’t know if I’d have the willpower to say no – no pun intended.
But did that make me pathetic? He’d cheated on me. I should hate him.
“In a mixed-up turn of events, he ended up being one of the athletes who stepped in to help me. Then Parker started dating one of his best friends and we somehow got caught in the crossfire.”
I braced, expecting disapproval from my friends. They’d been the ones I’d spent the summer with after Will and I broke up. They’d seen my emotional downwards spiral, one that only got deeper when mum also began to spiral downwards.
“Are you getting back together?” Marnie pressed.
“God, no. It was a one-time thing.”
“And?” Brooklyn prompted.
I frowned. “And what?”
“How was it?”
My response was nothing more than the reddening of my cheeks because my brain was still too hung up on the two mind-blowing orgasms that I couldn’t answer her question tastefully.
Marnie snickered. “That good, huh?”
I groaned. “Why does the chemistry have to be so good with the guy I hate?”
“Come on, Ri. You don’t hate Will. You never have.”
And I don’t think I ever could. Even when we weren’t together, I was still rooting for him. I kept up with the team’s stats, and I’d watched the entire playoff series from my laptop last year. Seeing him win the Frozen Four with his friends and teammates had constricted my heart. I knew how much that meant to him.
The game countdown begun. The players got into position as puck drop neared. Tanner skated to the centre of the ice, and so did Will. They were facing off. Fantastic.
The official ambled onto the ice, puck gripped in his hand. Once he dropped it, the hyped-up crowd fell silent.
Phil-U easily moved the puck into their offensive zone. Will gained possession, the puck bouncing from his stick to Holloway’s. The crowd gasped as a collective when Tripp took an early shot, and a collective sigh followed when it bounced off the crossbar.
Allentown gained possession and swiftly moved the puck out of their defensive zone. Getting into position, they passed it around, prepping for the right moment, though they were too slow for Phil-U. Will intercepted a pass meant for Tanner, stealing possession from Allentown. He skated back into Phil-U’s offensive zone, dancing the puck with determination. I knew Will’s game. He didn’t miss opportunities like this. Sure enough, the buzzer sounded after he sailed a backhanded shot at Allentown’s goalie.
The poor goalie hadn’t stood a chance.
The crowd went wild, most people jumping to their feet. For a split-second I almost did the same before reminding myself I was sitting among Allentown’s supporters.
Music began playing as the lights of the arena flickered.
Phil-U’s players skated over to Will, celebrating the early score. Only forty-three-seconds in and Will Caufield had already scored a breakaway goal.