Page 39 of Fear of Falling

“This place is insane,” Tasha commented as we finally entered the building, following the sea of people.

“It really is.”

The arena felt huge. Everyone's voices echoed off the cement walls, and music played above us. I thought the practice arena was nice—it barely held a candle to the game arena. Made sense why the team had an offsite training building that was a tad bit smaller than this place.

“We’re this way.” Tasha held onto my arm as I followed the signs that directed us to our seats. The lower we descended, the more excited I got that our seats were right up next to the ice. Once again, it made me wonder what kind of strings Wyatt pulled to get them for us.

“Woah,” I murmured, staring at the ice rink in front of us. I was so busy gawking that I hardly noticed as Tasha took my ticket and showed the lady standing there.

“You’re gonna freak out when you see where we are sitting,” Tasha nudged me forward. I had to look away from the sparkling white ice as I followed the steps further down, each step bringing us closer.

When we reached our seats, I had to stop myself from squealing. We were in the frontrow.Literally right in front of the glass. Every time I imagined coming to a game it was always up in the nosebleeds. Never did I dare dream of seats this close.

As we sat down, I noticed there were empty seats on either side of us.

“You’re practically vibrating,” Tasha said, amused. “Am I going to regret coming?” As my best friend, she knew how excited I got when it came to hockey.

Back when we lived together, I would sit in the living room and yell at the screen, cheering the players on and complaining at a bad call. Blame my dad—he taught me everything I knew. It got bad enough that our neighbors complained, and Tasha banned watching games in the apartment.

“No, I’ll be good,” I replied, but the look she gave me told me she didn’t believe a word of it.Ididn't even believe it.

All around us, people filled the seats, the arena getting louder with each passing minute. I could feel the excitement in the air as the puck drop drew nearer. Turning in my seat, I looked around the arena, surprised at how many people were there.

Looks like a packed house tonight.

“Thanks for coming with me. I know hockey isn’t really your thing,” I said, turning back to Tasha with a thankful smile. I knew if I came alone, I’d be sitting here anxious and nervous.

“Of course. Plus, I get to spend the next hour looking at hot men in uniforms.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

“Always a perk.” I mirrored her grin. “Although it's hard to see much under the helmets.”

“Your guy has all his teeth, right?”

Your guy.

I felt my cheeks flush at the words. Wyatt wasn’t my anything. Yet the thought of him as mine caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

“Yes, he has all of his teeth,” I said, rolling my eyes. Though to be fair, hockey players were notorious for missing teeth or needing fake teeth.

Wyatt’s perfect smile came to mind. Even if he had fake teeth, he had one of the best smiles I’d ever seen.

I was busy looking around the arena, Tasha typing away at her phone, when I felt the presence of someone sliding into the seat next to me, an arm hitting mine. I turned to look at the person and was surprised to see a girl my age.

She had the most gorgeous dark brown, curly hair. When she turned to look at me her eyes were probably the prettiest brown I’d ever seen. They made my brown eyes look like dog poop. And don’t get me started on how her dark brown skin glowed beneath the lights.

“I’m so sorry,” She apologized, reaching out to touch the arm she knocked.

“No worries.”

“I was afraid I wouldn’t make it on time. Damn traffic,” She huffed, tucking her hair over her shoulder. She wore the same kind of jersey as me, making me wonder who she was. She looked like she was here alone.

“It took me, like, fifteen minutes to get through security,” I said with a slight smile.

“Don’t even get me started on the security here.” The girl waved her hand around. “Sorry I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Mila,” she said, flashing a bright white smile.

“Hi, I’m Josie. This is my friend Tasha.” I touched Tasha’s arm to get her attention.

“Sorry, work stuff.” Tasha sat her phone in her lap and turned to Mila with a smile. “Nice to meet you!”

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