AllFreeNovel
Share Us
An hourand twenty minutes later, I sent a photo to Jonah. Huddled around the Monopoly board, Jim was fake-crying, Mom fake-angry, Felix with his mouth open in shock, and me holding all of the money along with a handful of all of the houses and hotels.
Tyler:Too much turkey, too much chocolate, but I own them all. #ThanksgivingBillionaire #Chocolate #SuckItFam
Then, I waited a moment as we all collected ourselves, and Mom and Jim vanished to make drinks and bring in yet more pie. This time, I took a selfie of me and Felix, who by now was studying the Monopoly rules as if there was a cheat code and sent the image to the Coyotes Group Chat.
Tyler:Loser with a capital L. #Loser #BiggestLoser #IWin
A flurry of messages came back, but it was the response to the family photo I’d sent to Jonah that I looked for first.
Jonah:I love that photo. All good?
Tyler:So much good. So good that it’s the goodest.
Jonah: …
I watched the dots dance, wondering what Jonah had to say that seemed to take forever. It would probably end up being a simple emoji, and then the messages would stop until I got home. Only it wasn’t an emoji at all.
Jonah:I miss you, Tyler.
Jonah:And I wish I was there with you, or that you were here with me.
Wow, that was a loaded message. I stared at it, fending off Felix with one hand as he began to explain how Monopoly actually worked—hey, I never said I played by the rules. I typed out the message I’d been wanting to send since the moment we started messaging.
Tyler:I like you.
Jonah:I like you, too.
Tyler:I mean I like you a lot.
Dancing dots… more dancing dots… and I finally got away from Felix’s revenge tackles by hiding in the bathroom. Dude should know I’m faster than him.
Jonah:I like you a lot, too. A real lot of like.
“I know you’re in there, cheater!” Felix banged on the door. “I’m taking away all your pie!”
Oh. That was war. I sent a quick message back, a simpleX, and pocketed the phone, opened the door, and got hit in the face with a spoonful of Cool Whip.
“You’re dead!” I announced.
And so, the food war began.
ChapterEleven
Jonah
The last gamethe Coyotes played before winter break was against Hershey, at home, and the joint was rocking.
Every seat at the rink was filled, mostly with Coyote backers. There were some boosters from Hershey as well, but the majority of people in the stands were here for the home team. The vibe was upbeat. The team was fired up. Coach had given an amazing pep talk a few minutes ago, calling out his inner Herb Brooks in a big way. Every man in that locker room, including me and I wasn’t even wearing skates, was ready to rumble. Rumble as in play good hockey, not fight. Fighting was not allowed in high school hockey. Players and parents had to sign agreements that forbade violence of any type—on and off the ice—so the punishments for doing so were strict. Like, expulsion or being barred from playing sports to criminal charges. Kind of like what Miles was now possibly facing for hitting me on school grounds.
Also, Coach frowned on using your fists to win a game, though throwing down the gloves was part of the game at higher levels. He liked to say that skill, speed, and smarts won hockey games, not haymakers.
I’d been snapping images like mad throughout the pregame talk, forcing myself to ensure I took pictures of everyone, not just Tyler. It was hard. He was naturally photogenic. Pretty even, and that prettiness played out well in pictures. His cheekbones were supermodel sharp, his eyes bright green with thick lashes, and his lips…
Yeah, I had to stop thinking about his lips. I so wanted to kiss them but wasn’t sure how to go about making a move. I’d kissed a few girls before. Even gone a little further, but I’d never been this attracted to a dude that I could actually, maybe, kiss. Like, sure, I had imagined what it would be like to plant a lip-lock on Jung Kook from BTS, but that was not likely to ever happen. Kissing Tyler though…
Maybe. Someday. If I could ever find the nerve.
“Okay, team, this is a big game,” Shaun was saying as I shook off the smooching fantasies. He thunked around the locker room, ready for battle, his helmet already on. It was hard to see his face well with the full face cage, but you could see his eyes burning with intensity though the grid. “Hershey is tied with us for first. If we can beat them tonight, we go into the break with the lead. Talk about a freaking awesome early gift from Santa!”
