Chapter 3
I ’m staring at the ice, munching on popcorn, mulling over Tripp. The crowd around us is excited, the energy electric and ready to watch their team play. Summer got up to the concession stand again to get another beer when hers spilled from trashed fans. It’s been a couple of days since I last spoke with Tripp. I had hoped that I would have figured it out by now. All the options lead down a path of unpredictability, misery, and potential once in a lifetime pleasure. Summer scores me a last-minute ticket from Duke, seating us in the front row. I’ve been to a handful of Ravenwood hockey games and I never had seats like this. There is chaos around me and somehow I can tune it out as I continue my internal debate.
Summer returns with her drink and another person behind her, a girl. She is beaming at me as she plots herself next to me. Summer is happy, glowing, madly in love, and I can’t help but feel a little jealous. Here I am thinking of entering a friend with benefits situation with the campus golden boy that had unspoken terms and conditions. Reflecting on his dating history, which is pretty well known, I haven’t heard of Tripp in a relationship or even a situation-ship. This was some unknown territory, likely a rare opportunity before he ended up becoming a famous hockey player.
Summer appears in front of me, her eyes glowing with excitement. “Z. I want you to meet our new photographer for the paper!” The girl she dragged over is beautiful, with olive skin and thick, wavy brown hair. She looked more like she belongs in front of the camera than behind it.
“Elena Vidal.” She sticks her hand out with a bright smile.
“Zoey Elliot, but you can call me Z.” She has a firm handshake, and she acts like she was raised to not half ass anything.
“So, Summer tells me you are the go-to girl for math tutoring,” Elena says.
“Yup. I can tutor for all math.”
“Good, because I’m ready to dump money. I already can see my math grades tanking this semester,” she says. We continue to chat and I find her hilarious. Elena just transferred at the beginning of the semester from L.A. Her personality and confidence remind me of myself before Eddie.
“We should go to a show sometime. I can score us some tickets at Jade’s Oasis when I’m shooting promos for them.” Elena nods happily.
“Hell yes. I’m always down for shows.”
“Well, I gotta go back,” Elena says as announcements roll in. “Nice to finally meet you, Z!”
Elena bounces off happily as we wave goodbye.
“Have you chatted with Tripp?” Summer asks as she pilfers a handful of my popcorn.
“No.” I move the popcorn out of reach of her greed.
“Didn’t you tell me a few months ago to get dicked down or something to that effect?” Summer laughs.
“So?” My fingers flick popcorn at her.
“Take your own advice,” she says. “Tripp isn’t at all that bad. What I gather from Duke is that he is more than he lets on and a great friend.”
“I don’t think that matters. I think it’s a get-it-out-of-your-system kind of thing.”
“Is he in your system?”
My lack of reply is the answer she needs.
“You’re not ready for a relationship and have no interest in dating. Neither is Tripp, so why not?” she asks.
The crowd suddenly roars around us as the Ravenwood Ravens hockey team gets on the ice. It’s not hard to spot Tripp immediately. His smile is wide and he waves at the fans. Summer quiets as she spots Duke. Ever since they got together, it’s like they have been connected telepathically. His eyes seem to find her among the thousands of people around us.
Summer smiles, peace settling on her features, softening her as a million little things exchange between them despite the distance and silence. Here I am, a little voyeur, wondering if it will ever be me.
“Tripp is eating this up,” Summer says suddenly, turning to me.
“Of course he is.” It sounds mocking, but I’m grinning at the energy that he has on the ice. Excitement fills his face, like he was born for this. It was like the look he had that night.
It was a mystery why Tripp thought he didn’t live up to his reputation that night. My brain tries to understand his perspective, but it only shows how oblivious he was to how amazing I felt that night. He didn’t know it was what I needed to realize I’ll be okay.
The game starts with an explosion of ice and quick movements. It’s intense and fascinating. There’s no doubt how well they work together. Tripp wasn’t wrong about how amazing he is on the ice. He earned his bragging rights in that respect. I had always thought Tripp was an ego, making it all about him. Surprisingly, he’s an excellent team player. He passes to his teammates even though he could have made the shot, sharing the goals. Duke is brutal on the ice, his take downs hard, and I flinch with each contact.
The goalie is Adam, my mind realizes. He seems to struggle the most, his timing costing points. Adam Florence is usually a quiet guy outside of the ice. It’s strange to see the notoriously quiet, awkward man come alive and get pissed on the ice. Tonight, he is the one starting most of the fights. Here he is a different person, almost asking for a beat down.
“He’s not doing so well.” Summer leans in. People boo as a player from the opposing team gets another goal. One of the Ravenwood defense men got a good punch in on the opposing team, earning time in the penalty box.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Apparently, something happened between him and his girlfriend.” Summer says.
“The high-school sweetheart?” If memory serves correctly, I remember he had a girlfriend he had been with forever. Through bits and pieces of conversation, we know she is a beauty pageant winner in North Carolina. Adam is always seen glued to the phone, chatting with her because they both attend different colleges. Many of the girls here admired his commitment but hate he wasn’t available.
The game continues, and we are ahead. The puck flies toward Adam from a coordinated attack. My fingers dig into the seat, wondering if it’s going to make it in. His reflexes have to be the stuff of mutants. He blocks it with a leg, but it goes flying and the trajectory is toward Elena. Her camera is through the small hole in the Plexiglas.
The puck hits the lens with a sickening crack and I see Elena go down.
“Oh shit!” My body tenses and I flinch.
Summer looks over at her, and Elena is on the ground. People are quietly trying to spot her.
The camera on the screen turns to her spot from my angle. I can see she is picking up the pieces of her lens. When she realizes the video is on her, she pops up, smiles awkwardly as she stands, giving a thumbs up to the camera, showing proof of life. The crowd roars. Relief is shown on the player’s faces.
Then it’s intermission. Duke skates past Summer, sending her a wink before heading down to the locker room. At the moment, the Ravens are behind by three points. This doesn’t outright discourage the crowd, but tension vibrates through the stands.
I glance down at my phone, debating if I should get another snack. The line looks long already.
“Z?!” Tripp is knocking on the glass. His green eyes are wide, almost electrified. His hair is a mess when he takes off his helmet. He is sweaty and still unfairly handsome.
Waving awkwardly, he continues to grin widely like a lunatic. The girls around us turn to me, their eyes flicker a bit of hostility and envy.
“Oh hey, fancy seeing you here,” I say.
“If I’d know you’d come to the game, I would have decked you out.” Tripp eyes me up and down at my lack of Ravenwood sports gear, then replies with a sly smile, “You still look good.”
I ignore his comment. “I didn’t know I was coming to the game. Summer got me a last-minute ticket.”
“Tripp,” the coach calls from behind. Tripp moves down. Summer has disappeared and I decide to snag more snacks as the line finds a lull.
“Z,” Tripp calls again as he continues to delay his journey back toward the locker rooms. “You should go to the Hockey House on Saturday for the post game party.”
“Celebrate? Or is this going to be a pity party?” I can’t help but to tease him. My heart leaps at the way his eyes glint with challenge and amusement.
“Will you go if we win?” he asks.
“There will be a higher probability if that is the case.”
“Then it’s done. I’ll catch us up and when we win, you go. No take backsies.” He is grinning even as his coach is shouting at him again.
“Deal, Montgomery.”