What Are The Chances (Phil-U #2)

25 What a sore fucking loser

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

What a sore fucking loser

WILL

As was the usual case with Allentown, the game had gone to overtime. Three-minutes in, I was jumping the boards for my second shift. Levi was right beside me, pure determination on his face. We were tied at two. The next shot belonged to us.

By all means I should’ve been gassed by this point in the game, but I was still full of energy. I received a pass from Tripp, who immediately headed to our bench. I skated backwards, wasting time with the puck while Ryan jumped the boards and got into position. We’d practiced this play more than I’d encountered Tripp naked, which was a shit ton .

Skating the puck through the neutral zone, I left it for Levi to pick up. He moved it into our offensive zone, just past the blue line. I skated deeper, passing Tanner Holbeck who’d been on my ass all game. The guy had it out for me. Fuck knows why.

I generally left all the heckling for guys like Tripp who thrived off getting a rise out of other people, but tonight I hadn’t had a choice. Tanner had been breathing down my neck from the moment the puck dropped. It’d worked in my favour initially, when he’d been too focussed on where I was than to realise a pass was headed his way. My breakaway goal had been a great confidence boost in the first period. But now we needed to finish Allentown off.

Levi gained distance, closing in on the goal. Just like Coach had given us orders to shut Tanner down, the Allentown coach would have given similar orders about Levi. As he charged for the net, two Allentown defenders closed in on him, giving Ryan and me some breathing space.

Without even looking in my direction, Levi sailed the puck to me, where I was positioned to the right of the goal. Tanner was expecting the pass. He pressed in on me, so I snapped it to Ryan before Tanner could blink. It was a play we’d practiced, a play we’d perfected, and a play that had just paid off.

I almost didn’t hear the buzzer over the loud crowd. Ryan’s shot had hit the mark. He threw his gloved hands up in victory.

A grin reserved for perfect plays like that stretched across my face. Fuck yeah. The relief of winning the game was unbeatable. As I headed for Ryan and Levi to celebrate, Tanner blocked my way. He bumped me as I passed, hitting the spot that I’d spent weeks trying to get better. I clutched my shoulder.

“What the fuck is your problem, man?” I asked through gritted teeth.

He ignored me and headed for his bench. What a sore fucking loser.

After shaking the pain off I reached Ryan and Levi, throwing my arms around them. Tanner Holbeck wasn’t going to shit on my good mood. It was here to stay.

*

Apparently it wasn’t.

My post-game high evaporated when I stepped out of the locker room. Riley was standing in front of the visitor entrance with Brooklyn and Marnie, two of her close friends, and she was wearing an Allen-fucking-town beanie.

I was stunned for two reasons. One, because orange and green did not look good on Riley. And two, because she was at a hockey game. She hadn’t come to any of my games. Not one. Yet here she was now, smiling and laughing with her friends like this was a regular occurrence.

Last I knew, Marnie was dating Lucas Spelling, Allentown’s best defenceman. So, what? Riley could show up for her friend’s boyfriend’s game, but never mine? The fuck?

Confirming my suspicions, Lucas stepped out of the locker room and walked straight to Marnie. Pouting, she pressed onto her toes and kissed him. I’ll bet his ego was bruised. Allentown hated losing to us as much as I hated losing to them.

“Hey, man,” Levi said, appearing at my side. “Are you ready to–”

His question died off after following my line of sight.

Tanner Holbeck edged out of the visitor locker room, freshly showered and looking deflated. Riley separated herself from her friends and made her way over to him. He softened at the sight of her before draping his arm over her shoulder and kissing her forehead.

What. The. Fuck.

“Seriously,” Levi agreed.

Shit. I must’ve said that out loud.

Riley was too caught up in Tanner fucking Holbeck to notice me watching her. Was she dating Holbeck? She sure hadn’t been acting like it earlier when I had my head between her legs.

“Should we get out of here before he sees us?” Tanner suggested, looking anxious.

Riley nodded eagerly. “Parker’s staying at a friend’s place tonight. We have the house to ourselves.”

Smiling, Tanner called out to his friends who then fell into step behind him and Riley.

Did it bother me that Riley was dating Tanner Holbeck?

Did it bother me that she’d come to his game when she’d never come to one of mine?

Did it bother me that they had the house to themselves tonight?

Hell fucking yes to all of the above.