Chapter 10 #2
“You sound very confident for someone wearing a fake ’fro and beard.”
Grace looked at me as if to say challenge accepted. Before I could intervene, she was shouting at a group of partygoers passing on the sidewalk behind me.
“Do any of you want to sleep with me?”
Their chatter died down, and one of the guys, in a pirate costume, squinted in Grace’s direction. He took a step into the yard, and I had to stop myself from blocking his path like an overprotective boyfriend.
“Hey, you’re Bob Ross,” he said with a laugh.
“I am. Would you fuck me? Even with the wig and the beard?”
The guy looked her up and down from head to toe and nodded his head. “Definitely.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I said, placing myself between the stranger and Grace.
She was still on the ground where she’d fallen, legs extended and arms on either side of her body.
I didn’t miss the triumphant gleam in her eyes.
Shaking my head in half amusement, half disappointment, I reached down and picked up her phone just as the screen lit up.
Grace made a noise of disapproval as I read the name flashing across the front and answered the call.
“Hello, Caroline,” I answered.
“Grace, is that you?”
“Do I sound like Grace?”
A sigh of relief met my ears. “Thank God you found her, Sebastian. We’ve been looking for over thirty minutes.”
“Yes, thank God I found her and not some perv with bad intentions. Why the hell is she out here alone?”
“We were heading to the bar and then suddenly she was gone. No one saw her leave.”
“She’s on her ass in someone’s yard,” I said as I searched for the nearest street sigh. “We’re on the corner of Brentwood and Lloyd.”
“I’ll be there in, like, five minutes. Don’t leave her.”
I hung up the phone and turned back to Grace.
She was fully lying down now, her back pressed into a pile of fallen leaves as her eyes searched the sky.
Without overthinking the absurdity of the situation, I lay down beside her and looked up.
Trimont didn’t have much light pollution, so there were hundreds of stars visible overhead.
“Why’d you run off?” I asked.
She turned to look at me, and I slowly mirrored her movement.
If October was cursed, then November had to be an alternate reality.
There was no other explanation for how I’d found myself here, on the ground, mere inches away from Grace.
It would have been so easy to lean over and kiss her.
We were already more than halfway there, our eyes level, lips closer to touching than ever before.
“I didn’t run off,” she said. “I stopped walking.”
Maybe it was because she was drunk and probably wouldn’t remember tonight, or maybe it was because I was tired of fighting, but I let go of my feelings for a moment. At least for tonight, Grace and I could be more than sparring partners. I could be concerned, not angry.
“You’re smart enough to know that you shouldn’t wander off by yourself in the dark.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“You can’t even walk.”
“I can walk!”
Perhaps we were destined to bicker—no matter how we felt about each other or what state of mind we were in.
“Then stand up and show me.”
“I like it down here, though.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’m ridiculous? You’re the one who’s out on Halloween without a costume.”
I bit back a smile. “How do you know I’m not dressed up as someone specific?”
Grace considered my words, her eyes roaming back and forth along my body.
“Oh, I see now,” she said. “Can’t believe it took me so long. I’ve seen plenty of arrogant athletes around here, but there’s no mistaking the captain of the men’s hockey team. He’s handsome, but he doesn’t like to share.”
It didn’t matter that she was insulting me, not when she called me handsome in the process. This time, I didn’t hold back my smile.
“Well, this is strange.”
Caroline Hart, or should I say Hannah Montana, appeared above us in a flurry of sequins. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips, and she was gazing down at us like we each had two heads. With a sigh, I pushed myself off the ground, and together we helped Grace to her unsteady feet.
“Get her home safe this time,” I instructed. “When she wakes up in the morning and asks what happened, feel free to tell her she said I was handsome and that she wants me.”
Caroline’s eyebrow rose in speculation. “That last part can’t be true.”
She was right, but I couldn’t deny that a part of me wished it was. It would be comforting to know that Grace wanted me like I wanted her, even if we still loathed each other. I’d feel less crazy knowing I wasn’t alone in my madness.
“Maybe not. But it’d be funny if she believed it.”
>> > <<
We spent the rest of the weekend lazing around, watching TV, and eating copious amounts of junk food.
It was the only way to survive a hangover.
When Monday rolled around, the whole team spent hours after practice exploring DuLane Arena and all it had to offer.
The training center was perfectly crafted for anything a hockey player needed, with all the newest weight and cardio machines, a wide-open space for dry skills training, and a recovery room equipped with large tubs for ice baths.
It was superior to McKinley Rink in every way.
By the time our first shared practice with the men’s team came around, I was anxious to get it over with. Would Sebastian treat me with cold indifference, or would he tease me relentlessly for how foolishly I’d acted over the weekend? I wasn’t sure which would be worse.
“All right, folks, I want to make one thing clear. When we’re all on this ice together, we’re one team. I don’t care what you got between your legs. What matters is that everyone is a Raven, and Ravens are family. Got that?”
Coach Dawson’s formidable voice echoed throughout the arena. The rink felt impossibly cramped with two full teams forming a circle together surrounding the coaching staff. Even after two days of exploring the facility, I was still amazed by DuLane.
“Boys, you call her Coach or Coach Riley. She’s owed your respect,” he said, gesturing to a stern-faced Riley.
Coach Riley studied the men’s team, her shoulders back and chin held high. She exuded the same strength and confidence as Coach Dawson. I had no doubt the men would come to respect her.
“Show them how it’s done, ladies,” she said.
I found myself looking for Sebastian amongst the group.
I hadn’t stopped thinking about him since Halloween night, and the more I turned over the memory in my head, the more bewildered I felt about his behavior.
Maybe Sebastian was actually trying to be civil.
Or maybe (most likely) he was going to hold the whole thing over my head.
Only time would tell. Now that we were on the ice together, I was sure to find out.