But now? Oh, he knew exactly who was the U.S. Cupcake Frosting Champion. Samantha Sadok, his high school crush, the girl who tutored him to pull up his math grade so he could stay on the school's hockey team.
He liked Samantha because she actually encouraged him and cheered him on when he got math problems right. She didn't see him as a dumb jock like other students and his own teacher saw him.
And she would bring cupcakes with her every time. Chocolate with cinnamon frosting. Vanilla with sprinkles. A cupcake she called Lemon Delight. Always something new and different, always amazing, and she always smelled like whatever delicious ingredients she had used to make them.
She was standing in front of him along with some other people that he really didn't care about, and he was waiting to hear her voice again.
"My name is Samantha Sadok and I am the U.S. Cupcake Frosting Champion."
Yeah, this was a good idea.
Fletcher watched as the contestants sat down and waited while the other celebrities on the panel with him started asking questions.
"Contestant number two, how did you learn to frost cupcakes so fast?"
Who cared? He wasn't even listening to the answer because he knew who the real champion was up there. He hadn't talked to her in years -- at least a decade? His mom told him a year or so ago that there was a class reunion or something, but he didn't go because he was playing hockey. He also didn't want to see most of those people. Samantha would've been a highlight for him though.
He wondered if she even remembered him. She had to, right? She was his tutor for math. And yes, Samantha was just his tutor. She was doing it as a favor because their moms were friends. But she never treated him like a charity case or like he was stupid. She actually thought he was smart enough to learn the stuff.
"Contestant number one, what is your favorite flavor of icing to make?"
"Um, I like going with the basic vanilla. It's a great base for designs."
Boring.
"Same question, number two," said the television star on the panel.
"Bourbon maple. I like my frosting a little boozy."
There was no way Samantha was making boozy cupcakes in high school, although maybe she did now?
"And number three."
"I make a lemon-infused frosting that I call Lemon Delight."
Fletcher couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling up in a smile. Yep, that was Samantha. And yes, he loved her Lemon Delight. And no, that wasn't a euphemism for sex. She kept her tutoring sessions strictly professional. Understandable of course, but there were definitely times when Fletcher wished he could do something more than math with his high school tutor back in the day.
"Fletcher Keris, hockey star for the California Sunbursts. Do you have any questions?"
Fletcher was pulled out of his walk down memory lane by the host of the show. Right, he was a panelist on this thing, wasn't he?
"Contestant number one, what was your favorite subject in high school?"
The woman gave him a quirky look as if she was an actress who hadn't prepared an answer for that.
"Uh, home economics because I would get to try new recipes during class."
Fletcher turned to Samantha, trying hard and probably failing to hide the teasing smile on his face. "Same question, contestant three."
"Math."
She said it with determination while staring him down. Oh, yeah. She remembered her time with him just as he remembered his time with her.
"Why math?"
Samantha gave him a small scowl as if she didn't like talking to him on national television like this. But then she sat up a little straighter and took a deep breath.
"It helped me learn recipes, especially when dealing with fractions."
