3. Its a shame, shes kind of cute.
3
"It's a shame, she's kind of cute."
Marissa Martin
Beth and I take our seats behind the glass, right next to the team’s bench. Our usual spot. I like to be in the action, and there are no better seats to immerse you in the game. Plus, I get to hear my dad yell at the players, which is always fun.
Beth is staring at her phone with a frown.
“Is he giving you a hard time for coming here?” I ask, twisting my mouth. I feel bad that she falls between two stools, being friends with us and dating Luc as. I know it’s not always easy.
She sighs, grabbing her lip balm from her bag. “Yeah, but it’s fine. I’m happy to support both New York teams. He doesn’t get a say in that.”
“I know. But I don’t want you to feel obligated to come because of me or my dad. It’s perfectly normal to support only your boyfriend’s team.” Plus, I’m not exactly going to Sharks games. It would feel weird. Hockey is a lot less interesting without Aaron and my dad as main actors on the ice.
She shakes her blonde hair to give it more volume. “Maybe, but I want to be here. I like the team, and they’ve been so amazing, helping us with the shop and everything. I’ll forever be a Raptors fan.”
“Hey, guys!” Our friend Hayley sits down next to me. She’s wearing her boyfriend Maxime Beaumont’s jersey. “Sorry I’m late.”
I give her a side hug. “Almost missed puck drop.”
She sighs. “I know. I was working on inventory with the girls, and then we went live on Bookstagram. I totally lost track of time.”
Hayley is one of the three co-owners of the No Shelf Control bookstore across the street from our shop. Another reason why I can’t move ou t of Aaron’s place. My book budget is seriously dipping into my finances.
We chat about books for a while, but the players step on the ice, and we stand up, applauding and cheering like the rest of the arena. I glimpse Aaron, playing with his mouthguard as he gets into position, and my heart leaps. Aaron’s hotness level always triples when he’s in full gear.
The puck drops, and I grab my phone, opening the text message app. I love giving Aaron my personal commentary during the game. It makes him laugh and boosts his spirits when they lose. I scroll until I find his nickname, ‘Hotshot,’ and tap on it.
Marissa
Nice save right out of the gate!
Marissa
Um, what was that? Did Kraz forget what team he plays for?
The sound of my dad yelling echoes my thoughts. Krazinski is going to hear about it during intermission.
Marissa
Yes!!! James is on fire! Great goal
The horn blows, and we’re all jumping for joy. James fist-bumps his teammates, then he waves at us, or rather at Beth, but she’s too excited by tha t goal to return it with her famous eye roll.
The game starts again, the crowd roaring louder than ever for our Raptors, but it’s short-lived as Aaron gets a penalty for cross-checking. His expression tightens as he skates toward the box before slamming the door behind him.
Marissa
Really? Five minutes into play, and you’re already in the penalty box!
Aaron’s a little hot-headed, thus his nickname, although there might be another reason. As a defenseman, he spends a lot of his time in the penalty box, but this was unnecessary, and my dad is not happy about it.
Marissa
Ah, my favorite player is back on the ice
Marissa
Love it when you backward skate
Marissa
Penalty box again. What did he do this time? Steal your lunch?
Marissa
Hard hit! I’ll break his face
The first period ends with a one- nothing lead for us, and we fist-bump the guys through the glass as they skate back to the locker rooms. Aaron’s eyes shine as his gaze meets mine, and he offers one of his devastating smiles as he bumps my fist. Thank heavens we’re so close to the ice because I’m two seconds away from melting on the floor.
Aaron Miles
We won the game 4-0, and we get off the ice with big grins on our faces. I grab my energy drink and sit on my stall as Coach gives us his end-of-game speech.
When he’s done, I grab my phone and start scrolling through the sea of texts Marissa sent during the game, always one of my favorite parts. I’m grinning ear to ear, until my eyes land on the last one.
Marissa
I love it when you do that. It’s so cute
Ugh. “Cute” is my least favorite word when it comes from Marissa’s lips.
The locker room suddenly goes quiet, and I look up to see what’s going on. Adler’s face is closed off—a rare occurrence—and he’s standing a f ew inches from Erwin, our new left winger.
“What do you prefer?” Adler growls, throwing him a menacing stare. “A new set of teeth, or a new nose?”
Erwin’s eyes widen. “Sorry. I didn’t know you and Beth were dating. I—”
“Let me tell you how things work around here. Elizabeth is mine.”
Erwin swallows hard. “Honestly, I didn’t know. I thought she was dating a Shark—”
Adler narrows the space between them. “She’s off-limits. End of discussion.”
The rage in Adler’s eyes is no joke, and I blink back in shock. I didn’t know he felt that strongly about her. He’s kind of a flirt, and I assumed it was just fun for him, but there’s clearly something else going on. Unfortunately, I think it might be one-sided. I knew he was my closest teammate, but we have even more in common than I thought.
“Okay.” Erwin nods quickly. “I get it. Well, there’s always Marissa.”
Everyone laughs, and I ball my fists. Adler was way too nice, letting him choose between teeth and nose. I'll break the guy in two if he looks at Marissa the wrong way.
“She’s the coach’s daughter ,” Hawthorne says between fits of laughter. “That makes her off-limits to all of us.”
“If you don’t want the wrath of Coach Martin raining down on you . . .” Beaumont adds, running a hand through his hair. “Didn’t he give you ‘the speech’ when you joined the team?”
“Oh, yeah,” Hawthorne says. “Because, in case you were wondering, he’s serious about it.”
Everyone around the room agrees. I’ve personally never been on the other end of that speech, but I’ve heard Coach give it a few times, the first instance being in middle school.
“It’s a shame,” Erwin says. “She’s kind of cute, but yeah, I got the speech.”
“Plus, she doesn’t date hockey players,” someone else says, but I can’t see who. All I’m seeing is red. Kind of cute? Marissa is not cute. She’s stunning.
“Settle down,” Hawthorne says, always the voice of reason. “Let’s keep girl talk out of the locker room. We won tonight, so let’s focus on that and how we can win the next one.”
Everyone whoops and claps, agreeing with our captain.
“You okay, man?” Adler asks as he sits next to me, his face still red.
“I should be asking you that.” I adjust the cap on my head. “That was intense.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “Yeah. But you look worse than I feel right now.”
I stare at a discarded sock on the floor, then smile at him. “Nah. I was just thinking. Let’s go bike. I’m fine.”
I have to be. Because even Adler has more claim to Beth than I have on Marissa, and that’s saying something .