AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’d you think?”
Since Saturday, it’s been an endless stream of compliments.
I’m genuinely sick of it. But here I am,fishing, because she admitted she was there and I want to know what she thought.
Not of the game or her dad’s coaching.
Of me.
“That was a sloppy penalty you took at the end of the second. Willis almost gave up a power play goal.”
I stare at her, surprised she answered like she knew what I was really asking. I was assuming she’d say that her dad coached well, or she was glad we won.
Itwasa bad penalty that nearly cost Willis his second shutout of the season.
A sloppy play on my part that no one except Coach commented on with a gruff “Watch it, Phillips,” when I returned to the bench after my two minutes in the box were up. Everyone else was too busy congratulating me on my goals.
I usually enjoy it when girls talk hockey to me. Those are always compliments.
This is the second time Rylan has insulted me, and I’m as startled and turned on by it as I was the first time. Maybe I should be annoyed instead, but it’s hot that she knows what she’s talking about. So is her blunt delivery.
“You’re right,” I agree.
Rylan looks surprised.
“So…you a big hockey fan?” I ask.
She snorts. “No.”
“Did you ever play?” I ask.
“For a few years. It wasn’t my thing.”
“That must have been a bummer for Coach K.” I’m teasing Rylan, trying to get her to simplytalkto me, but when her entire body stiffens, I quickly realize I should have kept my mouth shut. “I didn’t mean—”
“To imply that I’m a disappointment to my dad?”
“Yeah. That.” I shift my weight between my feet. “I was projecting, I guess.”
Her forehead creases, and I wish I could shove the words back into my mouth. Rewind the last minute of our conversation and not mention either of our fathers.
“He’s super proud of you,” I tell her. “Was bragging about how smart you were in between telling me to make sure I don’t fuck this tutoring thing up.”
Rylan looks incredulous and a little disbelieving. That her dad actually said that or that I’m…trying to make her feel better, I guess?
I get feeling like your father considers you a disappointment, and I know that’s not the kind of man Coach Keller is.
I’m sure he’s as proud of his math-loving daughter as he’d be of a hockey-playing son.
“Hi! What can I get for you?”
I’ve been so wrapped up in Rylan, I’ve barely noticed the line moving. Suddenly, there’s no one between Rylan and the blonde working the register.
The blonde who’s talking to Rylan…but looking at me.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and scroll through my messages, avoiding eye contact while Rylan orders an iced coffee. Surprising, considering the temperature out and how she’s looked cold almost every time I’ve seen her.
She was practically shivering on the front porch Friday night. If I’d been wearing a jacket, I would have offered it to her, if only to feel like less of a sleazeball for spending most of our conversation trying to figure out if she was wearing a bra under her black top or not.
