Chapter 15 JP – NEVER TOLD HER #2
The three of them were cackling loudly in the empty stadium. The only other people present were stadium employees closing up the concession stands and shops.
Colt moved forward, but Kappy held him back. “Wait back a sec,” he said, a small smile on his face as he watched the girls. “They don't get this that often.”
He was right. While we had fun together in the locker room, at practices, and on bus trips, the girls never really got a break from the seriousness of the figure skating world.
Watching them laugh together loosened something in my chest. Mer, who resembled a fairy with her petite stature, bright blue eyes, and dark brown hair pulled back in a messy bun, was talking animatedly with her hands.
Piper, with her red lipstick and blonde hair, tall enough to be a model and wearing an outfit fit for a runway, had her mouth wide open in surprise.
And Ali, the middle ground between those two, dressed casually in a hoodie and jeans with her dirty blonde hair falling loosely around her shoulders, had her head back laughing.
She was a true beauty, looking carefree and happy, and most importantly, healthy.
Not a cast or ice bag or bandaid in sight. I absolutely loved it.
“So beautiful,” Kappy murmured, staring straight ahead, his eyes filled with lust.
Colt shifted his weight to make eye contact with me. Knowing exactly what he was thinking, I gave him a nod and tried my best to school my face into a grave look.
Colt narrowed his gaze on Kappy. “You better be talking about Piper.”
“Wha—?” Kappy startled, like he just then realized he spoke aloud. He shook his head. “No, I didn’t mean—”
“You’re not talking about Piper?” Colt asked in a harsher voice.
“No,” Kappy said, putting his hands up.
“Then who are you talking about?” I demanded, scowling just as hard as Colt.
All traces of humor dropped from Kappy’s face as he looked between the two of us. He was fully stuck and knew it. If he said Mer, he’d be risking Colt’s wrath. If he said Ali, he’d be in trouble with me. His face turned a ghostly shade of pale. “Guys…”
I was the first to break, covering my face to laugh.
“Oh, fuck off,” Kappy said, shoving me away.
“Why don’t you just admit you like the girl?” Colt asked.
Kappy shook his head. “I have my reasons. Why aren’t you hounding him about Lil Al Pal? It’s not like they’re going out.”
“Because he’s gonna straighten things out with her tonight, right?” Colt gave me a hard look.
“Yeah, I plan to.” I nodded.
“Good man.” Colt slapped me on the back. “Now, if you can’t admit you like Piper, can you at least promise not to argue with her tonight?”
“Ah.” Kappy dropped his head back, a telling grin on his face. “No can do, that’s our love language,” he said before striding toward the girls.
As soon as we reached their section, Colt took the stairs by two to reach Mer’s side of the aisle. “Been looking all over for you three. I called you about five times, baby,” he said, his eyebrows pinching together in concern.
Mer tried her best to keep a straight face, but it was like when a teacher reprimanded best friends in class, and as soon as the girls made eye-contact, they all busted up laughing.
“Baby?” He stared down at her with concern. “Are you okay?”
Kappy mimicked him in a whiny voice. “Baby? Are you okay?” He laughed. “They’re fine. They’re wasted.”
Colt’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Piper stuck her nose in the air. “We’re not wasted, Richard. We were simply over-served.”
“Ha!” Kappy exclaimed, his face brightening with a laugh.
I came up the other side of the aisle closer to Ali and scrubbed a hand over my damp hair, probably making it stick up at a million angles. “Looks like you girls got into the alcohol, eh?”
“I’m eighteen, I’m allowed,” Ali said, but her voice slightly wavered.
My face broke into a grin. “’Course you are.
It’s good to see you, Al. C’mere.” I strode forward to give her a hug.
She popped out of her seat to greet me, but then tripped on a step.
I immediately lunged to catch her around the waist. “There’s my clumsy girl,” I said with a deep chuckle while setting her back on her feet.
Her face fully relaxed after that, and a bubble of happiness started growing in my chest. Looking around our small group, I think the other guys were feeling it too. We were back with our family.
“Well boys, I think it’s time to play a little catch up,” Kappy said with a wicked grin. He shook out his dark wet hair before smoothing it back.
I groaned while pulling a beanie over my damp hair. “Let’s get food first. That new place, Trivoli’s, looked good.”
“We’ve got food at home, guys. We just went to the grocery store yesterday,” Colt argued.
“Ooh, Trivoli’s sounds like a fun place,” Mer said excitedly.
“Yeah?” Colt’s neck snapped down to her. “Yeah, let’s go to Trivoli’s.”
Ali giggled at their interaction, making me smile as well.
“All right, I’m on liability duty,” I announced, grabbing Ali around the waist before heading down the stairs.
She giggled into the crook of my neck the rest of the way down, making me feel about ten feet tall.
As soon as I set her down on the concrete ground, I stepped back to look her up and down. “Damn, I missed you, Al.”
Her eyes turned a little teary as she gripped the lapels of my peacoat. “I missed you,” she squeezed out, making me genuinely smile for the first time in what felt like months. “Great game. That was fun to watch. I’m so proud of you, JP.”
And for the first time since I started playing in juniors, I felt proud of myself too.
________
After dinner and hopping around the city to a couple different dive bars, we ended up in a dark club with low ceilings, a dance floor, and strobe lights.
After dancing around to a few songs, Ali and Piper went to the bathroom, leaving Kappy and I with the lovebirds.
Mer and Colt couldn’t take their eyes off each other.
They were practically joined at the hip on the dance floor.
No matter what song the DJ played, they just slowly swayed together, their faces animated while they took turns whispering to each other.
Without the girls to dance with, Kappy and I ended up backing up to the wall.
“How’s Al Pal doing?” Kappy asked, taking a sip of his beer.
I studied him for a beat. “She’s good. Why?”
Kappy shrugged. “She just seems a little on edge. I tried to fish for some info, but I didn’t want to push too hard. Could be nothing.”
I rubbed my jaw. All night, I kept telling myself I was studying her too closely, reading into her actions a little too much. But deep down, I noticed it too. She seemed skittish, unsure of herself. A troubling thought twisted my stomach: Maybe I was making her nervous?
Kappy nudged my shoulder. “She’s probably just nervous about being in a bar. She's the youngest, this is all new for her.”
When the girls exited the bathroom, Ali made a beeline toward us while Piper moved to the bar.
Kappy’s eyes followed her, a confused look on his face.
“Piper said she needed to rest her legs,” Ali yelled over the loud music. Piper was still recovering from an injury she had a few months ago. “She doesn’t want to stop us from dancing though, she said she’d wait at the bar for a bit.”
Kappy looked caught in indecision. We resumed dancing, but Kappy’s eyes were constantly drawn back to Piper at the bar.
During the next song, a commotion erupted by the bar. Kappy was moving in a flash, storming through the crowd to get to Piper.
Colt and I made eye contact. He gently pushed Mer toward me while he took off after Kappy.
“Wait, Colt,” Mer yelled. She moved to chase after him, but the whole place seemed to be stampeding toward the bar. I quickly tugged her back from the fray. Her wild eyes went to my face, giving me a look of betrayal.
“It’s okay, they’ll handle it,” I whispered.
I watched as multiple bouncers dressed in black tugged the fight apart. Kappy, Colt, and two other older guys were all led in different directions out of the bar. That meant everyone was accounted for except…
“Did you guys see Piper?” I asked Mer and Ali, but it was stupid to ask considering they were both way shorter than me. I swore under my breath as I craned my neck to look for her blonde hair. Panic erupted in my chest. “Piper?” I called out, searching in every direction.
“That’s her!” Ali yelled.
My neck whipped around to see Piper bolting to the back door to exit the club. My heart immediately settled back into a more normal rhythm, but we had to get outside to make sure everyone was okay.
“Stay close,” I told the girls. Ali grabbed hold of my belt loop and grabbed Mer’s hand, and I led the way through the packed, sticky club to the exit.
As soon as we exited the bar, the frigid air felt like relief. I sucked in a deep breath feeling like I could fully breathe for the first time in hours. Snow was lightly falling around us, but I didn’t even miss my jacket—probably because of all the alcohol we consumed.
Mer ran in a very un-straight line toward Colt. He caught her before she fell off the sidewalk and immediately hoisted her up over his shoulder to carry her toward our billet house.
Under a nearby streetlamp, Piper and Kappy looked like they were having an intense conversation.
“Wow, that was a crazy end to the night, eh?” Ali asked beside me through chattering teeth.
I immediately tugged her closer and rubbed my hands up and down her arms. “Yeah, it really was,” I said with a chuckle. “What do you wanna do now?”
“Oh, um…” She looked around the empty sidewalks. “I don’t know. Is our night over?” she asked quietly while her body trembled from the cold.
I shrugged. “Do you want it to be?”
“Me?” she squeaked in surprise.
I looked down at her strangely. “Yeah, you,” I said with a laugh.
She bit her lip in thought. “I don’t really want to go to bed yet, but I am hungry and cold.”