Page 62 of Ice Bet

“And how do you even know what a quadruple axel is?”I tried adjusting the pads on my shoulders after Aasher pulled his practice jersey over my head.

His attention shifted, and I was half tempted to place my hand on his jaw and turn his face to mine like he always did to me, but there were too many eyes.

“Did you…research figure skating terms?”

“So what if I did?”

A tiny smile fell to my mouth.

Aasher rolled his eyes before stalking over to another locker and grabbing some more gear.

I continued to grin all the way to the rink, because it was kind of cute how dedicated he was, but as soon as the skates were dangling in my peripheral, my lips fell, and if there wasn’t a mammoth-sized hockey player blocking the exit, I may have turned around and pretended to be sick to get out of this.

“I hear someone needs a goalie.”

Emory, the best goalie in the NCAA—something my father bragged about—was standing behind me, blocking my only plan of escape. A petite girl popped out from behind him and began pulling her blonde hair up into a pony. I vaguely remembered her from the party.

“And an extra player for the girls team!”

Emory rolled his shoulders and glared at her. “She wouldn’t stay put.”

She walked toward me while talking to him. “It was the perfect excuse to leave dinner with our parents.”

“Hey! We haven’t officially met. I’m Taytum.” She smiled at me. “Are you ready to put these guys in their place?”

Her arm wrapped around mine, and she pulled me on light feet. Sutton dipped her head in between Taytum and me and whispered, “I’m not good on the ice. Just a fair warning.”

I snorted because, truthfully, I wasn’t sure I was either. Not anymore.

“Look at them, already planning and scheming together.” Ford scoffed.

All four guys stood there, and their smiles danced with mirth. They each had on their knee pads and skates and were holding out a pair for us to take. Sutton took her pair from Emory because Taytum walked right past her brother as if he didn’t exist. Taytum took hers from Ford, and I had no choice but to take mine from Aasher because he pushed me to sit and began lacing them up for me.

“I kind of hate you right now,” I said between tight teeth, hoping he could see the irritation through the overly big mask on my face. “I’m not ready.”

He didn’t even look up. “You are ready, and you don’t hate me.” My ankle jerked when he tied my skates even tighter. “You know this will be good for you.”

I sighed, and he glanced up, showing off his smooth features and sincerity. “I’m gonna win our bet, and I’m gonna cheer you on from the stands when you’re back in action.” He winked, and my stomach flipped.

“Listen up.” Ford was on the ice, skating circles swiftly and without any difficulty. “This is totally going against our pregame rituals.”

“Here we go,” Taytum mumbled, stepping onto the ice. It took her a few seconds, but she was skating around just as swiftly as Ford. “Yourstupidpregame rituals.”

Berkley climbed on next, right after Sutton. “It’s in our DNA. We’re hockey players.”

Emory shook his head like he didn’t agree. He had on more gear than the rest of us, but that made sense because pucks were usually flying at his face. Being a goalie was tough, but it suited him. He was the rugged one of the team, and I knew for a fact that he had a temper, because my dad had to clean up several of his “messes.”

“Here’s what I propose.” Ford said.

“A bet?” I snarked, unable to help myself. “Should I call the rest of the team? We all know how they like to make silly ice bets.” I smirked as I threw the dig out into the open space, and truthfully, I had no idea who was aware of the bet and who wasn’t, but if they were, they now had an inkling that I knew.

Aasher growled from behind me and put his hands on my hips, shoving me onto the ice. “Knock it off.”

“Wait, what? An ice bet?” Taytum asked, halting her skating.

Her voice faded when I felt the ice under my skates. A taste of familiarity stained the back of my tongue, and I felt the cold seep into my blood. “Breathe, Riley.” Aasher’s voice came from close by, and his skates appeared in my vision. I waited for him to put his hand on my chin and tip my face to his like usual, but he didn’t touch me.

“Eyes on me.”

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