Chapter 27 #2
Josie was right. Showing up was what mattered. And by god, I was going to show up for her.
I hadn’t anticipated parking to be this crazy at Ackles Arena. It took me ten laps around the lot to finally snag a spot. All around me, fans were weighed down with blankets and jackets, headed for the front doors. I was suddenly grateful I snagged a thicker coat before I left my apartment.
I followed the sea of people, earning me a few inquiring looks. I could tell some were trying to place where they saw me while others were openly curious at the tall guy amongst so many women. Although, there were quite a bit of men as well.
With a small line forming at the security gates, I found myself curious who everyone was here for. I leaned forward toward a mom and daughter standing in front of me.
“Who are you guys here to root for?” I found myself asking. I was never the shy type, so going up to random strangers and making conversation didn’t bother me.
The daughter, who looked to be about eleven, turned around with an excited grin. “I’m here to see Emmie James!” The girl practically bounced on her toes as she spoke. “She’s like the greatest skater of all time.”
I grinned at the way she said it. Because hell yeah, that’s my girl.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to get tickets,” her mom explained as her daughter nodded along.
“That’s exciting!”
“What about you?” the daughter asked. From the way both of them looked at me, they clearly didn’t know who I was, which I was grateful for. I could act like a proud boyfriend.
“I’m here for Emmie, too. I’m her boyfriend.”
The daughter's eyes widened, mouth parted. “Boyfriend?”
“Yep. I’m here to watch her win,” I said it proudly.
“That’s really sweet of you to be here for her.” The mom practically awed as the line started moving forward at a faster pace. Before we could be separated to go through security, I turned to the daughter. “I’ll make sure to tell Emmie you came to support her.”
“Tell her my name is Ally and that I love her and that I want to be a figure skater just like her,” she rattled off in one breath. I grinned and gave her a nod.
“I will, Ally.” Damn, my girl has her own fans. I fucking love that.
I gave the duo one last smile before I was ushered through security. I barely stepped through when my name was said.
“Wait, are you Mateo Boone?” I glanced over my shoulder at a security guard who stood there, shock written all over his face. As much as I wanted to get inside, I could take a moment to greet someone.
“I am. Nice to meet you, man.” I extended my hand in greeting.
“Damn, I never thought I’d see you here at an event like this.” The guy shook my hand vigorously. “I’m a huge fan.”
“Thanks for the support.”
“We all know you’ll get us back-to-back wins this season.” He gave me a wide, excited grin, unknowing that his words made my chest constrict.
“Hope we can,” was all I could say. Every comment made about bringing the team back to The Legacy Championship made my skin crawl. The pressure, the expectation to do well this year ate away at me bit by bit. “I better get going but nice to meet you.”
I quickly took my exit, trying to shove all those unwanted feelings down. Today was not the day to deal with that. I scanned my ticket at the tall iron gate that led onto the grounds of the arena.
Once I walked through, I scanned the crowd for Emmie’s best friend, Erin, who was supposed to meet me here. I was happy to have at least one familiar face.
“There you are,” a voice piped up from behind, scaring the shit out of me. I whirled around, hands clenched into fists to find Erin there smirking, hands on her hips, wearing an oversized metal band T-shirt turned dress and a pair of Doc Martins.
“Where the hell did you come from?” I let out a shuddering breath and unclenched my fists.
“Your mom.” Erin proceeded to laugh at her own joke.
“Wow, you should warn people before you unleash such amazing comebacks,” I said.
“And ruin the fun of seeing their reactions? No way.” Erin wore a self-satisfied grin. My own lips twitched as I shook my head. I didn’t know Erin all that well aside from a few things Emmie told me about her. I was hoping today would be a chance to get to know Emmie’s best friend more.
“Glad you showed up today.” While her expression was easy, her tone wasn’t. Her dark brown eyes behind her glasses held a sort of warning I wasn’t able to decipher.
“I don’t say things I don’t plan on following through with.” I looked Erin straight in the face as I said it. I wanted her to know I wasn’t the kind of guy who went back on his word. If Emmie wanted me here, I’d show up. No matter what.
For a person who was five-five she sure knew how to make me squirm under her stare. Finally, she made a little humph noise and looked away.
“Should we go find our seats?” I suggested.
“Yeah, come on.” Erin turned to the left. I followed alongside her, letting her lead us to where we had to go since I’d only ever been here once to watch Wyatt, Trevor, and Bryton play a year ago.
“So tell me, who is our biggest competition today?” I asked after a moment of silence.
“There’s a couple that could be contenders to win, but the biggest is probably Keira.” Erin said the name with a sneer, her fuchsia lips pulled back almost into a snarl.
“Who’s Keira?” I remembered Emmie telling me about her a few weeks ago, but I was curious what Erin had to say about her.
Erin flipped a chunk of her braided hair over her shoulder and glanced over at me. “Only the biggest bitch. She tried to trip Emmie during warmups at the Olympics last time. If Emmie hadn’t been close to the boards, she would have fallen.”
“That bitch.” I repeated the sentiment. Anyone who tried to sabotage another athlete was a hard no but trying to sabotage my girl? Fuck no.
“Exactly. She’s the worst, and of course, she’s back to compete.” Erin rolled her eyes.
“Emmie will kick her ass,” I said confidently. While I hadn’t seen Emmie’s routine, I already knew she was going to win.
“Yes, she will.” Before we entered a set of double doors that led into the arena, Erin stopped and turned in my direction, eyebrows drawn in and face serious. “We’re to be a united front when Keira comes out onto the ice. We’re going to boo so loudly she can hear it.”
Yep, it’s official—I liked Erin.
“We’re going to make her regret ever looking at Emmie,” I vowed.
“We’ll go all Tonya Harding on her ass,” Erin said in agreement.
“Uh…maybe not that far,” I amended. The last thing we needed was to hurt the poor woman and end up in the hospital.
“You and Emmie really are alike,” Erin muttered. I chuckled as she stomped past me, her Doc Martins slapping against the concrete floor.
As soon as we stepped inside, the temperature dropped a few degrees. It would get colder the closer we got to the ice. The smell hit me next, a weird mix of freezing air, wet floors, and that unmistakable hockey stink of rubber and sweat. A familiar scent to me.
Erin stayed in front of me, a giant backpack on her shoulders as she dodged and weaved through people as she walked, eyes focused ahead. We passed section after section, following the circle path that wrapped around the whole arena. We were on the ground floor with two others above us.
The music overhead was extremely loud, making it hard to hear anything going on around us, so I kept close to Erin. The arena wasn’t as busy when there was a hockey game going on, but there was a good amount of people here to watch.
Erin looked over her shoulder at me and gestured to section 105. I gave a nod of acknowledgement and followed after her.
“This place is busy,” I said loud enough for her to hear as we stood at the top of the stairs leading down.
“Yeah, they draw in quite a crowd.”
The temperature dipped even more as the two of us made our way down the stairs. When I bought the tickets, I found the one closest to the ice because there was no way I would be in the nosebleeds to watch Emmie skate. I wanted to be front and center.
“Good choice of seats,” Erin remarked as she stopped beside the aisle that was four up from the boards. “We can see the entire rink from here.”
I looked out, surprised to see the tempered glass that was usually up for hockey gone. It made it easier to see the skaters, that's for sure.
I shuffled past a few people already in their seats, apologizing as I went. I winced as my knees banged against the drink holders on the backs of seats. I plopped down in my chair with Erin on my right.
The familiar sound of a Zamboni drew my attention to the ice. The big machine slowly moving across the rink, cleaning and smoothing any sort of blemishes and getting it ready for competition.
Five people stood in front of us against the boards, and directly across the ice were four more. All were seated at a giant table that was filled with monitors and cameras. The judges, I presumed.
“I’m going to go grab a drink before it starts. Want anything?” Erin asked.
I shook my head. “I’m okay, thanks, though.”
She gave me a nod, left her backpack on the seat, and slid out the other side of the aisle. A quick glance at my phone told me the competition didn’t start for another fifteen minutes.
Feeling slightly nervous for some reason, I played around on my phone. I replied to a few messages from the guys, approved a PR opportunity in four weeks from my agent, and sent Emmie one last good luck message.
I had just hit send when I felt a presence beside me. The bright fluorescent lights were suddenly dimmed as a shadow appeared over my phone.
“Erin, did you need me to move?“ I started to say, tilting my head to the side, fully expecting it to be Erin standing there waiting for me to move for her. What I saw wasn’t her. My stomach dropped to my feet. Fuck.
Standing next to me with familiar green eyes narrowed, jaw clenched, and arms crossed…was my coach. And Emmie’s father.