Page 15

But then, I didn’t have to do anything, it started back up on its own, making me jolt back in my seat.

The only problem: the steering wheel wouldn’t work, and I was moving slowly but surely straight toward the boards.

“Help me!” I yelled, trying to ram the wheel to the side.

“You’ve got it!” Kappy yelled back. “Turn!”

“It won’t!” I screamed, feeling a shaky panic take over my body.

“Truce?!” he called out.

“Yes, you idiot! Help me! I can’t stop it!” I snapped back.

“Oh, shit!” He didn’t have skates on, but that didn’t stop him. He stepped onto the ice in his tennis shoes and half-ran, half-slid over to me. “Jump down!”

“What?” I shrieked, letting go of the wheel.

“I’ll catch you.” He nodded eagerly. He grasped the handle of the zam so he could slide along with it like some kind of skateboard street-racer.

“I can’t!” I cried.

He scowled. “You always jump into Patrick’s arms, this is the same.”

“No, it’s not!”

“Jump, Piper. Right fucking now,” he demanded furiously.

My limbs were shaking like crazy. “I can’t.”

His eyes were feral-looking as they darted around, taking in the dangerous scene. “You gotta jump. Right fucking now. I’m not joking. On three. One, two…”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I jumped.

He caught me and struggled for a second to regain his balance. “Jesus, Piper! I said on three! You—”

A loud crash erupted behind us, cutting him off.

My hands flew up to my mouth.

“It’s fine,” he croaked out, but his eyes were wide with shock.

The zamboni crashed. It actually bent the boards at a weird angle. A second later, one of the windows fell out from between the metal posts and smashed to the ground, making both of us jump.

We stood there in shocked silence as smoke billowed from the machine.

“Hans is going to kill us,” I whimpered.

“No.” He swallowed hard. “He doesn’t wanna go to prison.”

“Oh my God!” I cried. “What do we do?”

“Run.” He grabbed my hand and started sliding off the ice, practically dragging me.

As soon as we exited the ice, he let go of my wrist, and we bolted—something I knew I’d regret within minutes.

He pulled open a tiny closet and ushered me in. “C’mon, it’s my secret hiding spot.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I squeezed in the small space. A second later, he pushed in next to me and closed the door, drowning us in the dark.

“I can’t see,” I whispered. There was barely enough space for the two of us. We were basically flush against each other. I was tall for my age, but he was one of the few boys who outgrew me, so I was staring at his chest.

“Sorry.” He was breathing hard from running. “I’ve never brought anyone else in here before, didn’t realize how tiny it is.”

Swallowing hard, I nodded. “How long do we have to stay here?” My body was practically shaking from the nervous adrenaline. “I almost died.”

The next thing I knew, his rough hand was touching my jaw. My eyes finally adjusted to the dark, and I could just barely make out his face. “No, I’d never let that happen,” he rasped.

I sucked in a sharp breath, thrown off by this sexy version of him. “H-how long do we have to stay here?” I stammered out.

He licked his lips and stole his hand back. “Until we hear him stop looking for us. ”

“How long does that usually take?”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “Give or take fifteen minutes.”

Breathing out a sigh, I winced as I shifted my weight. My shins had been hurting more and more each day.

Ever observant, his eyes dropped down. “You okay?”

I nodded quickly, keeping my eyes on his muscular chest. For some reason, standing this close to him made my cheeks heat up.

“No, you’re not,” he whispered. “Here, c’mere.” He felt around for a bucket and turned it upside down.

“I can’t see if it’s dirty,” I whispered. I didn’t want to risk ruining my new leggings or walking around with a butt stain the rest of the day.

He quickly sat on the bucket and patted his lap.

“You’re sure?” I asked warily.

He nodded. “I’m sure, Piper.”

Sucking in a deep breath, I sat on top of him and my body finally relaxed. “Th-thank you.” I dropped my head against his shoulder. “This would feel kind of…romantic if it wasn’t for the pain splintering up my legs.”

He paused for a beat. “Sorry I made you run, I wasn’t thinking.” He cleared his throat. “I wish I could take away the pain. I wish it was mine.”

My heart practically beat out of my chest. “You don’t mean that.”

“Yeah, I really do,” he whispered.

I pulled back and studied his earnest face. My thumb traced under his eye, making him suck in a sharp breath. “That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Piper…” His voice sounded strangled. “I really want to kiss you.”

A calmness came over me then, which was shocking because I thought when the time finally came for my first kiss, I’d be nervous. But this was Richard. This had been a long time coming. I’d been waiting for this.

I held his eyes. “That was the bet, wasn’t it?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, yeah, it was.”

My thumb ghosted over his lips, making a slight groan rip from his throat.

“Piper,” he said in a low voice.

I gently kissed the corner of his mouth, and that’s all it took for him to snap. He kissed me back quickly, deeply .

His strong hands trailed up my body. One hand stayed on my waist while the other went up to my jaw.

Without breaking the kiss, I took the opportunity to explore him. My hands went up his shirt, and I finally touched all the muscles I’d been watching him work on in the gym all these years.

“Fuck, Piper,” he groaned, then his mouth was moving down my neck, making me gasp. An electric current stirred to life inside me, making me want more. I could feel his smile against my skin, I wondered if he was feeling the same thing.

My hand went into his hair, and I directed him back to my mouth.

I’m not sure how long we were in there, but then my phone loudly buzzed in my pocket, making both of us pull back.

My coaches were surely looking for me, but I didn’t want to walk away from him.

“Piper!” Mer’s voice called out in the hallway.

Both of us froze, waiting for her to throw the door open.

Kappy, still looking dazed, scratched his head.

I worried my bottom lip. “Don’t… um…” I swallowed hard. “Don’t tell anyone.” I didn’t want him blurting to Colt about our kiss before I told Mer, and part of me was nervous to say anything because I didn’t want to disrupt the friend group. “I don’t want it to change anything, ya know?”

His dazed eyes bounced around my face. “If that’s what you want.”

Nodding quickly, I gave him a little grin.

“I’ll leave… uh…. a couple minutes after you,” he whispered, sounding dazed. He held his fist over his mouth. “Damn.”

Giggling at his response, I reluctantly stood. I pulled my zip-up straight and smoothed my hands over my hair. “How do I look?”

“Fucking perfect,” he breathed out.

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t contain my grin as I grabbed the door handle to leave.

“Wait,” he whispered, standing up behind me.

“Huh?”

His hand smoothed across my jaw to hold the base of my neck. “One more,” he whispered right before his lips collided with mine.

I wondered if he could feel the way my heart was practically bursting out of my chest.

I wondered if he could feel my smile the way I could feel his.

But then his mouth was ripped away .

Brightness cascaded around us, making me squint.

“Richard Charles Kappers the Third!” Teresa screamed up at her son. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

His full name rang in my ears.

Oh no.

Richard’s cheeks pinked up. “It’s fine, Mom, we weren’t—”

“No! You stop talking!” she yelled at her son. “You’re in a closet! With a girl! ” She shoved at his chest. “With this specific girl!” She flung an arm toward me.

Oh. My. God.

I wanted to disappear on the spot. This was so fucking awkward. Maybe the most awkward moment of my life. His mom must’ve hated me.

With a look of pure anger on her red face, she grabbed him by the ear and started pulling him away, down the locker room hallway.

“Ow! Mom!” he yelled. “We were only kissing! I swear, Mom! Ow! Stop!”

“I am not going to be a grandmother before I turn fifty, do you hear me?” she shouted at her son.

I covered my face. “He’s telling the truth!” I yelled weakly.

My phone buzzed again, making me jump.

Closing my eyes, I rested my forehead against the cold door. I needed to somehow shove Richard and this amazing, but unfortunate, situation into a little box in my brain and get back on the ice.

________

I couldn’t wait to finish practice that day. I needed to find Richard and make sure he wasn’t in too much trouble. As embarrassing as it’d be, I’d explain to his mom that we were only kissing if he needed me to.

But while making my way up to the workout room, I overheard some of the hockey guys, and I immediately recognized his voice.

“Of course it was me,” he said with a laugh. “You even have to ask?”

“You did it again?” an incredulous voice asked.

“Practice makes perfect, doesn’t it?” he joked.

“Shit!” They all laughed. “You crashed it this time though. Did Hans beat your ass?”

Okay, so they were talking about the zam incident.

“He didn’t do it alone,” another boy added. “It wasn’t all his fault. You did it with that girl, that ice dancer, Piper, right?”

My chest tightened.

“No,” Richard snapped.

A little sigh of relief punched out of me.

“So, she wasn’t in the closet with you?” another guy snickered.

“No, she wasn’t.”

“Oh, we thought—”

“No.” He laughed. “You’re talking about the tall one with the long blonde ponytail, right?” he asked, like he didn’t even know me. “She’s a viper, that one. Full of venom.” He scoffed. “No way would I be caught dead touching that one.”

My heart splatted to the floor. I tried to tell myself he was only saying that to protect me, to make it sound like I wasn’t involved in the zam crash, but the conversation kept going.

“Ah right, we’re forgetting Kappy’s not a one-woman kinda guy,” another teammate added.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever happened with you and Annie?”

“Ohh! That’s right! Annie!”

Annie? As in a fellow ice dancer? As in Ali’s sister? As in one of my competitors?

My ears rang.

My vision filled with red.

A shaky rage flooded my system.

And for the second time in my life, I wanted to punch Richard Charles Kappers the Third square in the face.

I should’ve retreated back to the locker room to avoid him.

I should’ve strategized more.

But my rage won out.

Storming up the stairs to the workout room, I walked straight through the group of hockey boys crowding the entrance.

Richard’s neck whipped around to see me. His mouth dropped open, but he remained speechless.

Grinding my back teeth, I stormed past him and threw open the workout room door.

“Piper, wait!” he called out. He burst into the room behind me. He dropped his voice to a whisper. “You said the kiss didn’t change anything. ”

I spun on him. I could see his teammates in the clear glass behind us, all snickering. “It changed everything. ” My lip trembled for a second, before I forced myself to mask up.

His hands flew to his head and he looked around like he was lost. “What?” he spit out. “You’re the one who… who…”

I stormed away before he could see my tears, and I forced myself to completely ignore his pleas for me to come back.

It was amazing, really, how this day started off as a dream and ended as a stupid nightmare.

It left me wondering when I let him have so much control over my days. I knew that was a dangerous thing—letting anyone else dictate your mood. I decided right then and there that I was done giving him any sort of power over me.

_________

The next day, I avoided him as long as I could, but he finally cornered me when I was walking on the treadmill.

He stood on the machine next to me. “I’m sorry. Truce?”

I shrugged, refusing to look at him. “What are you sorry for?”

“I thought…I mean…” He raked a hand over his messy hair.

“I didn’t want people to connect you to the zam crash.

And I didn’t understand what you meant in the closet.

I thought you meant, like, it was just a kiss, we’re not anything.

If I knew you wanted a…” He trailed off and looked around before whispering, “If I knew you wanted a relationship, then I wouldn’t have…

” He let out a frustrated noise. “Please look at me, Piper.”

I punched the treadmill to stop. My hands flew to my hips as I turned to him. “Then you wouldn’t have what?” I demanded.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Wouldn’t have what?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

His mouth gaped open, but no words came out.

“Doesn’t matter anyway.” I hopped off the treadmill and breezed away from him.

“Well, can we have a do-over?” I felt him trailing behind me. “Please,” he whispered.

As much as I wanted that, I knew it’d be a bad idea. Besides, I already made my decision. I couldn’t go back on what I’d already done. “Why? I’m filled with venom, aren’t I?” I asked casually. I spun around to face him and stared straight at his sternum. “Cody asked me out,” I blurted out.

His face went slack. “What? Fitzy?”

I trained my face to remain neutral, giving nothing away. “Yes, Cody Fitzgerald. He’s asked me out a couple times. I finally told him yes.”

“But…” His face scrunched in disgust. “He’s my teammate.”

I shrugged as if saying , not my problem .

“And he’s a dick.” He tugged at his hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Piper.”

“You didn’t,” I said simply before strutting off.

_________

Cody Fitzgerald was, in fact, a dick. We lasted a month before he bragged to his team that I gave him a blow job in locker room number six during a zam between periods of their game.

In actuality, I was a virgin who’d never even laid eyes on a dick, but I was not about to admit any of that to Kappy.

I only found out about Cody’s bragging because of Mer, who found out through Colt. When I went to break it off with Cody, he mysteriously had a black eye. I never asked how or why he got it, but in the back of my mind, I knew who was responsible.

After that, Kappy and I eventually slid back into calling each other names and poking fun at each other, but it was a little different because I learned his tell.

He’d get this little gleam in his eye, as if saying, c’mon, play along with me , and I’d roll my eyes and struggle to stop smirking at him.