71 Hyped me the fuck up
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
Hyped me the fuck up
WILL
I had my AirPods in, blocking out the chaos. I was full of excited energy and couldn’t wait to translate that out there.
I sat in front of my stall, bouncing my knees. I was geared up and ready to go. Around me others were still getting their gear in place, but I was set. I was eager to hit the ice.
Levi leant forward, securing his skates. It was only when he glared at me that I realised he’d said something.
I slipped out my headphones. “Sorry. What did you say?”
“I asked if you were ready.”
“Always. Are you?”
“You know it.” He grinned. “Hughesy is here. I’ve got to put a show on for her.”
I chuckled. “Uh-huh.”
“She’s sitting with Lana and Riley.”
That shook me. “Riley’s here?”
Levi looked surprised. “You still haven’t spoken to her?”
I was planning to. I’d intended to call her when I left the arena yesterday afternoon, but my phone had died. By the time I’d arrived home, the guys had been ordering dinner and I’d ended up watching an NHL game with them on the couch. Today had been a write off because I knew she was in classes all day, and before I knew it the guys were lining up by my truck this afternoon to head out for our pre-game feed .
Things had changed though now I knew she was watching. It made me feel jittery. In a good way.
I faced Levi. “Can I ask you something?”
He nodded.
“When Grace went back to Australia, for those two games when you thought you were over, how did you get through them? How did you stay out of your own head?”
“I didn’t,” he simply answered as though it was obvious and totally acceptable. “Can I point something out now?”
I half-heartedly nodded. He was going to whether I gave him permission or not.
“When you and Riley broke up in freshman year, it didn’t affect your game.”
“Because the season was over.”
He shook his head. “Nah. The way I see it, Riley isn’t the reason you’ve been in your head this year. And I don’t buy that sleeping with her is what made you play better.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “You got stiff after New Year’s Eve. Around the same time Grace came back.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you trying to say I was in my head because you and Hughesy got back together?”
“No, well, kind of.”
“Ditch the subtlety and get to the point, Holloway,” Tripp murmured from my other side.
“Fine.” Levi squared his shoulders. “You play better when you have a life off the ice. And I reckon seeing Grace and me reminded you of things, or more importantly, someone you didn’t have anymore.” Levi leaned back, shrugging with a satisfied grin. “ That’s what messed with your head. That’s why you played shit.”
You could always count on Holloway and his unwavering honesty. In a roundabout way though, I agreed with what he was saying. I’d come to that conclusion myself. Maybe not the whole part that aligned to him and Hughesy, but I guess I couldn’t deny the coincidental timing.
Perhaps seeing him and Grace had snapped something inside of me. Or maybe I’d been a ticking timebomb for a while. Either way, I knew what he was getting at.
“Are you going to sort things out with Riley?” Tripp asked.
“You bet. The moment after we get this win.”
Levi cheerfully slapped my shoulder. “That’s fucking right. ”
Our gazes snapped up when one of the social media girls came to stand in front of me. If she’d filmed a second of that conversation, I was sure as hell going to make sure she deleted it.
“Caufield?”
“Yeah?”
“Riley Dover just messaged me. She, ugh, said she’s here if you need anything.”
Was that Riley’s way of trying to hold up her end of the bargain? While I was definitely eager to get her naked again, I wasn’t going to sleep with her before the game. Levi was right. That had just been an excuse. And if I wanted to make things right between us, I could start by making sure she knew that.
“Ugh, thanks.”
The social media girl nodded curtly before heading back the way she’d come. Before the guys could ask me what that was about, Coach appeared, all prepped for his pregame hype up.
The atmosphere in the room was lively. We were on our home turf. The arena was full. We were getting this win. There were no two ways about it.
After Coach wrapped up his speech, Levi leaned into me as we headed for the tunnel. “How fucked up that he’s going to be your future father-in-law.”
Levi might’ve been jumping the gun, but I hoped he was on the right track. Putting up with Coach for the rest of my life was unnerving, but if Riley was the trade-off, I was willing to do it.
“Seriously fucked up,” I agreed.
“You should start calling him dad,” Ryan added.
I hadn’t realised he’d been listening as well. My friends didn’t give a fuck about boundaries.
I’d looped the guys in on all the revelations from the night I missed the game. Not that I’d needed to. This past week, Coach had started referring to Riley as his daughter and someone had then connected the dots that Tanner was his son. It certainly wasn’t a secret anymore. I hoped Riley was okay with that.
“Are you going to go easy on Holbeck now you’re boning his sister?”
I snickered. “Not a fucking chance.”
We waited in the tunnel while the familiar pregame music began and the crowd roared to life. It had the same effect it always did – it hyped me the fuck up.