Page 20 of Head Over Skates

Maggie nods, looking satisfied. "First things first, we need to do our research. Find out everything we can about Owen's habits and schedule. Look for weaknesses or anything potentially embarrassing we can use against him."

I frown slightly. "We can’t do anything that can be traced back to me."

Maggie waves her hand. "Of course, of course! We'll keep it light and humorous. Just enough to ruffle his feathers.”

I have to laugh at Maggie's sheer enthusiasm for humiliating Owen. Her schemes start out relatively tame, like printing out photos of his face and plastering them all over the arena. But it doesn't take long before she's suggesting full-on breaking and entering into his house to pull pranks.

"As hilarious as that would be, maybe we should start with something a little more legal," I say gently. The last thing we need is to get arrested over this jerk. My thoughts fly to sitting in the cramped office with Owen. How he’d purposefully nudge my knee with his. If he was trying to get a reaction out of me, he succeeded. I think I did a pretty good job at hiding it, though. And then the whole fiasco with the trophy. Yeah, I think we should keep our payback against Owen on the right side of the law.

"Good point," sighs Maggie. "We'll keep the B&E plans on the back burner for now."

The three of us start eagerly tossing around concepts, building on each other's ideas. Soon we've got plans rangingfrom childish, like filling his locker with packing peanuts, to more clever schemes meant to unsettle him, like swapping out his branded water bottles with ones that have insulting labels.

I can't remember the last time I saw Jaime so fired up and determined. A tidal wave of affection for my friends swells inside me.

“Oooh, I know!" Maggie says, sitting up straighter. "Let's mess with his superstitions. All hockey players have them."

Jaime taps her chin thoughtfully. "We could switch out his lucky mouth guard for one that's slightly off."

Uh oh, I think we may have awakened the vengeful beast within her.

"Or mix up the order of his gear in his locker?" I suggest lamely, warming up to the idea.

"Love it!" says Maggie. "Subtle things to throw him off his game."

The ideas start flowing faster. Maggie wants to put baby powder in his lucky socks. Soon we're all giggling at the image of Owen's confusion and annoyance over these minor torments.

"Okay, okay, what else?" I ask between fits of laughter.

Maggie’s eyes light up impishly. "I've got it. Let's make him think his teammates are messing with him instead of us."

"Genius!" I exclaim. "We can pit him against them in some silly feud."

Maggie nods. "I'm envisioning locker room pranks taken to the next level. Honey in his shoes, swapping out his shampoo, jock straps on the ceiling..."

"Ew gross!" Jaime and I shriek in unison, dissolving into renewed laughter.

"We'll have to be sneaky," I say once I catch my breath. "But I think we can pull it off."

Jaime lifts her wine glass again. "To Operation Take Down Owen. Let the games begin!"

I’m surprised by the sudden steel in her voice. Her earlier hurt seems to have vanished, replaced by a look of cool determination.

We clink glasses, scheming smiles on all our faces. A warm feeling rises in my chest. Let him try to threaten me again. I'll be ready. Owen better watch his back—he has no idea what's coming for him.

A knock at the door interrupts our scheming session. I reluctantly set down my wine glass and make my way over, peering through the peephole. Ugh. It's Cody, the obnoxious guy from down the hall. Just my luck.

I plaster a polite smile on my face and open the door a crack. "Oh, hey Cody. What's up?"

He leans against the door frame, giving me an obvious once-over. "Hey there, Emily. I was just on my way out and thought I'd stop by to say hi to my favorite neighbor."

His eyes linger on my bare legs, and I resist the urge to grab a blanket to cover up.

"That's nice of you," I say briskly. "Well, I've got company over so..."

I start to close the door, but Cody wedges his foot in the gap. "Company, huh? Don't be rude, why don't you introduce me?"

Before I can protest, he pushes past me into the apartment. I clench my jaw in irritation. So much for girls' night.

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