Page 87 of Sidelined Love

To stop myself from dwelling on it too much, I tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear, feeling slightly self-conscious because I had to wear my hair down due to the baseball cap on my head.

Jade grips my arm and I can feel every bit of her excitement although she's trying to keep it under wraps. “Are you doing okay?”

“I'm surviving.” Thankfully, no one is paying attention to me, which is the exact thing I wanted.

“Okay, let's find our seats.”

As we navigate through the sea of red and white jerseys and other merchandise, I can't help but feel like an impostor with Asher's last name stretched across my back. It's like wearing a disguise, and part of me wonders if it's overly dramatic for me to do this. But I'll take the sliver of confidence it is giving me.

Jade finds our seats near the ice, courtesy of Wilder, giving us an up-close view of the action. The sound of hockey sticks clinking and pucks slamming against the boards fills the arena as the Crestwood Red Wolves wrap up their warm-up before taking on the West Haven Stallions. It doesn't take me long to find Levi, and once I do, I can't take my eyes off him.

While I know nothing about hockey, the best way I can describe Levi is that he looks to be a force of nature on ice. There is a power in the way he moves, and I'm able to notice it even before a second of the official game is played.

Then, almost like he can sense that someone is staring at him, Levi's gaze flicks up to the stands and locks onto mine. I soon learn that my heart rate isn't at its maximum speed because it picks up speed again. He breaks into his signature smirk until his eyes catch on to Asher's number written across my jersey instead of his. I swear I see a flash of something like annoyance cross his features before he turns back to the game. I'm left wondering if he really recognized me or if it is wishful thinking on my part.

The blare of the starting buzzer snatches away the quiet moment. The crowd erupts as both teams take their positions on the ice. Jade leans over, her words barely audible over the cheers. “I think he saw you! And did you see that look?”

“Yeah, I saw it,” I mutter, trying to maintain any sense of decorum because I'm completely flustered. The look he gave me afterward is one that he's given me several times before. It haunts my dreams because it means he's about to fuck me into another dimension. If I continue to focus on that look, there's noway I'm going to be able to pay attention to this game without thinking about running onto the ice and letting him have me anyway he wants.

What has he turned me into?

With a shaky breath, I brush the thought away as the game begins.

If I thought the arena was alive before the match officially started, it's absolutely on fire now, that being ironic since we are at an ice rink. I take in the action on the ice and am impressed by the agility of the players. My attention, however, is repeatedly drawn to Levi as he maneuvers past defenders with ease. His skill as a player blows me away and helps paint an even bigger picture of the man I've come to know.

The period breaks are a chance for everyone to breathe, including me. I never realized how intense hockey could be, nor did I expect to be so invested. Jade’s animated commentary fills in gaps in my knowledge, and I'm grateful for her enthusiasm and for her being here.

As the final period approaches, I'm more tense than I've been in forever. We are deadlocked with the Stallions, and I don't know which way this is going to go. To say I'm nervous is an understatement.

Despite my initial reluctance to even attend, my voice joins everyone else's in the arena shouting encouragement and chanting, “Let's go Red Wolves!”

When the final buzzer sounds, it’s a narrow win for Crestwood, and the arena explodes into cheers. Levi’s face is flushed but the happiness and excitement is obvious as he raises his stick to the fans. My heart does somersaults as pride swells so fiercely within me. He's done it. The team has done it.

When we grab our things and start weaving through the crowd, Jade nudges me with her shoulder. “Come on, let's go congratulate them!”

“Is that something we can do?”

Jade gives me a big grin. “Of course!”

We make our way down toward the locker rooms where family and friends are already gathered. It takes a bit, but soon, Levi emerges, his hair damp and his eyes scanning the crowd until they settle on me. A mixture of emotions plays across his face that I can't quite figure out.

Ignoring the sea of people around him, he makes a beeline toward where I’m standing with Jade. I swallow hard and I'm even more nervous about what he might say than when I walked into the arena.

“Hey,” Levi says when he reaches me. I can hear the exhaustion in his voice. “Jade, do you mind if I talk to Hailey alone for a moment? Wilder is looking for you and he was behind me last I saw.”

“I'll go find him. Congrats on the win,” Jade says.

“Thanks,” Levi responds before turning his attention back to me.

“Hey, yourself,” I reply once Jade is out of earshot, trying to ignore how his damp hair makes him look even more attractive. How is this even possible? I clear my throat and say, “You were great out there.”

He flashes me a grin that could stop my heart if it wanted to. “Thanks, Rook.” His eyes flicker down to the jersey I’m wearing, and his smile lessens. He leans toward me and says, “I don't want to see you wearing his number again.”

Normally, someone saying that to me would have pissed me off. How dare he tell me what to do? But the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice, meant only for me, makes me want him more. “I was trying to be incognito. You know people are looking at us, probably talking trash about us.”

“You're doing pretty well with the attention we're getting right now. To me, it makes sense for us to make this more public.I want people to know you're mine. Cause seeing you in anything but my jersey is making me see red and not in a good way.”

I almost make a joke about him seeing red and the jerseys also being the same color, but now isn't the time. Because everything about this shows me how serious Levi is about all of this.

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