Page 80 of Fall Wherever They May

River has been stepping into a more vital marketing role here recently.

“It was a joint effort,” she yells back, “That was all for you, and it wasCal’s idea.” She laughs. “He said you would love it.”

I bet he did. She rambles on excitedly, not realizing Cal’s intentions or his fucked-up type of foreplay, but I do. Holy shit.

I force my focus back in front of me. Pictures of each player are projected below onto the ice as they are announced and skate to the center of the arena. This is the last game, and if we win this, we make it into the playoffs.

Once the introductions are made, the starters line up to face off while the other players skate to the bench. The puck drops. Our opponent wins the faceoff. Their center passes the puck back to a winger. Carter is on him in a millisecond and plucks the puck from him, then makes a long pass to Cal. Cal passes to Aiden. Aiden passes it back to Cal. He passes to Carter, who shoots it right between the goalie’s legs and into the goal.

Carter skates past us, blows River a kiss, pats his heart, and points to her.

“Oh my God.” A girl in front of us squeals to her friend, “Did you see that?”

River rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t for you, fucking puck bunny,” she mumbles under her breath.

I rear my head back. “What the—? River! What has gotten into you?” I frown.

River has never been the possessive and jealous type. I have a sneaking suspicion that something is going on between those two. She’s never kept secrets from me. “You gotta give me something,” I say over the roaring crowd and eye her curiously.

She bursts out, “We almost kissed. Okay? God, I can’t hold it in any longer." She huffs a sigh. “Actually, I almost kissed him.” River palms her forehead. “God, he’s just so . . . urgh . . . so persistent . . . and . . . and . . . and”

“And hot?” I finish for her.

“Yes, and hot . . .” She trails off, waving her hand around, unable to form a coherent sentence.“I mean, look at him: with his sexy-ass dimples and his hot-as-sin body—”

“Okaaaay. How about we talk about this when we don’t have networks, gossip rags, and fans milling around the facility?”

“Can we just not? I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It almost happened, but it didn’t, and it willneverhappen again. We can just forget I even said anything.” A blonde lock falls into her face. She huffs a breath of air, blowing the hair from her eyes. If she thinks I’m going to drop this, she’s wrong; dead wrong.

I’m reeling even though Cal called it a long time ago. We made a bet, and that six-month mark is quickly approaching. Instead of concentrating on the game, my eyes are trained on Cal, both on and off the ice. His skates slice through the ice in graceful movements. He’s hypnotizing.

Even though we gained an easy goal within seconds, the other team has held us off the rest of the time. The game is minutes away from being over; we’re only up by one point. Cal skates up the center. One of the opponents tries to check him, but he ducks away, passing the puck to Trevor.

As Cal passes, another guy slashes the stick across Cal’s stomach. It looks like an accident, as if the guy was just trying to reach for the puck. A penalty is called, and we go into a power play. We’re only minutes away from victory. If they can hold them off from scoring for just three more minutes, we’ll have it in the bag.

Our guys move into umbrella formation, and Cal faces off again in the circle. Sticks clash as he pushes the puck to the left side to Aiden. For the next couple of minutes, the puck passes back and forth between us and the opposing team. The damn thing is moving so fast, my eyes can’t stay trained on who has possession until it comes over to our side against the boards directly in front of us. Trevor and another guy are fighting for the puck against the boards, their sticks clacking as they tangle with each other. Everything happens so fast. Carter comes in to assist and checks the other player. The guy shoves Carter. Carter rears back his fist. River stands to leave. Carter suddenly drops his fist and backs away with his hands up. River sits back down.

“Um. Can anyone fill me in on what’s going on?”

River shrugs. “He asked me why I wouldn’t give him a chance.” She points to the ice, “I told him that was why.”

A frown pulls at my brows. “River, that’s not fair. He’s not Jax. Just because he’s what you would consider to be violent on the ice doesn’t mean he is like that when he is off the ice. Fighting is part of the game. You know he would never hurt you, right?”

She stands and looks down at me. “Of course, I know that . . . because I’ll never give him the chance to.” I watch her as she climbs the stairs.

Just as those words fly from her mouth, the game ends and the buzzer sounds. Our fans go nuts, screaming and jumping up and down. We’re in the playoffs, and everyone is losing their shit.I can’t even enjoy the celebration because I’ve just upset my best friend.

We all stand up and make our way toward the locker room entrance to wait for the players to emerge. They usually head to the gym for a postgame workout. With this win under our belt and playoff games on the horizon, I’m sure Luke will release all the guys so they can celebrate. While we wait, Ichat with our fans and sign autographs. It isn’t long until Luke appears from the locker room.

“Katherine?” Luke says to Mom, and her attention is immediately drawn from the conversation she’s having to him.

“Excuse me,” she says to the lady and takes the few steps in his direction. “Luke, it’s so good to see you again.”

Luke gives my mom a hug. “It’s good to see you too.”

Uh, what? Wait! Hold the damn phone! They have only met a couple of times, and now they are familiar enough to hug each other? I mean, my mom is a hugger, but Luke? My head volleys back and forth between them as they stare at each other, and an awkward silence lingers in the air.

I break the tension I feel coming off them in waves. “Good game tonight, Coach.”

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