Page 24 of Running Play (Gods of Campus #1)

Shelby

On Friday afternoon, Letti and I cross the grounds toward the hockey arena.

Three buses line up outside the football stadium, ready to take the players to their away game.

The area is packed with people, the team, support staff, and cheerleaders.

Mixed with the hundreds making their way to the hockey game, many stop to send their support to the football players.

Both teams have games, and the area is bursting with school spirit.

Even through the crowds I find Christian talking with his friends, and standing right beside him is Jasmine.

Dressed in black yoga pants and a Raptor blue crop top, her hair and makeup perfect and ready for the game, flawless .

It pains me to notice how good she and Christian look together; how comfortable they seem.

From the outside looking in, they make the perfect couple.

She talks among his friends with such ease, her bag placed neatly on top of his as they wait to board the bus.

What I’m most green-eyed about is how well she knows Christian—personally, intimately, and better than me.

He asked me out on a date, but is he ready to give her up ?

Those are the thoughts that plague me as we head to the hockey rink.

Letti and I take our seats among the crowd.

It’s my first time watching hockey, and so far, I’m loving it.

The crowd is really involved in the game, the music pumps from the sound system, the lights go off, and a horn erupts every time a team scores.

It’s fast paced and fun to watch. The way these guys fly across the ice, the way they take a hit…

you can’t help but be impressed. The bonus is watching Letti’s face as she watches Travis move effortlessly across the ice, her eyes following him around with such love and admiration.

“Hey, guys, sorry I’m late,” Dani says, throwing herself into the seat next to me.

“Hey,” we both reply.

Dani looks flustered as she places her small backpack on the floor.

“Well, I don’t think Tyler would have got much ice time, but he cemented that fact by getting benched.

I just found out he got into a fight during warm-ups…

blood was shed, and he got escorted off the ice by the assistant coach and told to ‘have a shower and cool the fuck off’.

” She air-quotes. “Christian is going to be pissed when he finds out. Thank God our parents couldn’t make this game, so now he can tell them what happened.

I’m so over being the messenger of doom and gloom. ”

“Shit, that’s no good,” Letti cringes.

“How is he?”

“Oh, he’s angry and blaming everyone but himself, but I have no problem believing he would have started it. Although don’t even try to tell him that or you just get walked away from,” she says in frustration.

“Well, hopefully he does better next week.”

“Not sure it can get much worse,” Dani mumbles.

“What time is Christian’s game?” Letti asks Dani.

“Seven, his bus should be arriving at the venue now,” Dani answers, looking down at her phone.

“Ready for your date with my biggest big brother tomorrow night,” Dani says, nudging me in the shoulder.

I ran into Dani a few days ago after I finished showering and I mentioned our date.

She was so excited, she jumped around and nearly slipped on the wet bathroom floor.

We exchanged numbers and have been texting nearly every day since.

“I guess,” I smile. The unease of seeing him with Jasmine earlier still fresh and intimidating in my mind. “He’s picking me up at seven, so just make sure there are no guys hiding in your room around then.”

“Well, Lucas is picking me up at six thirty for our date. We are going to the movies, so if Christian ends up taking you there, I’m going to need some warning.”

“We are going out for pizza, but if anything changes, call me?”

The horn signals the end of the first period, and we watch the players skate off the ice, leading 1 to 0.

It didn’t get better for the visiting team.

The Raptors hockey team won their first game of the season 3 to 1, with Travis scoring one of those goals.

When his shot hit the back of the net and the horn boomed through the arena , the three of us went crazy, cheering and hugging in celebration.

We were rewarded with a beaming smirk and a wave as he glided by.

My first-ever hockey game, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

It was fun, action packed, but it was even more enjoyable because I knew the players.

Even though I would flinch when one of them got hit or slammed up against the glass.

Will and Kadel played exceptionally, as well as the other players I have met over the weeks.

“That was so much fun,” I say again as the three of us wait outside the players’ door for Travis and Tyler. When the door opens, I watch as the players file out, Travis leading the way.

“Hey, baby,” Travis says in greeting.

“Nice goal, babe.”

“Thanks, I’m hoping to do some more scoring tonight.”

“Travis,” she replies as she punches him in the arm. He grabs her in a hug, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “So, Shelby, what did you think of your first hockey experience?”

“I loved it!” I beam toward him.

“Better than that boring, dragged-out, stop-start football, isn’t it?” he banters.

I simply laugh at that response, watching the door swing open again.

Tyler, or who I assume is Tyler, heads in our direction, stopping beside Dani.

She gives him a frown, but he ignores it and throws an arm around her shoulders.

He is extremely attractive like the rest of his siblings, same brown hair as Christian, athletic body with a little less muscle, and slightly different facial features.

“Tyler, this is Shelby and Letti,” Dani says, still slightly annoyed.

Tyler pulls his arm from around his sister and shakes our hands. “Nice to meet you.”

My eyes flick between the two of them. “You guys really do look like twins; well, apart from the height difference,” I comment.

Dani looks up at her brother. “Well, that wasn’t always the case. Only in the last two years has he dwarfed me, but I’ve always been the good one and he’s the evil one.” She nudges him in the stomach.

“Whatever,” Tyler says. “I’m the hot one!”

“Well, whichever you are, I hope to see you on the ice next week, without the blood bath,” Travis says, looking at Tyler.

“Thanks, man,” he says. “Sorry again, I fucked up. I have no excuse for it.”

“We all lose our cool from time to time.”

“Always the goon,” Dani eye rolls.

“You ready to go?” Travis asks Letti. “The traffic to your dad’s will be shit.”

“Yeah, I’m ready. You guys want a lift or anything?”

Dani and I share a look and shake our heads. “No, I’m happy to walk. You two go and enjoy a home-cooked meal,” I reply with a smile as they head off in the direction of Travis’s car .

“Well, Tyler, it looks like you have the pleasure of walking me and Shelby back to our dorm.”

“I can do that,” he says, throwing his duffle bag over his shoulder and saying a quick goodbye to everyone.

Walking up the pathway toward the main campus, the sun is starting to set, and the campus grounds are busy. “Shelby has a date with Christian tomorrow night.”

He looks over at me in surprise but seems to relish in the news. “Is that right?”

I nod shyly in response and look into the same-colored eyes as his brother.

“Have you heard from him today?” Dani asks me.

“Yeah,” I reply. “He texted me when he was on the bus. Oh, the game should be starting soon.”

Tyler looks over at us as we walk. “Well, how about we go to the campus sports bar and watch his game?”

Dani beams at that idea. “Sounds great. Shelby, you in?”

“I’m in,” I say, nowhere near ready to head back to my small room. Plus, the opportunity to watch Christian play is one I won’t say no to.

***

Dani and I take a seat at a booth that has a good view of the television, it’s packed with the rest of the campus sharing the same idea.

It’s a sea of silver and blue with students positioned all around the various large televisions.

The game is in the first quarter as Tyler walks over with three Cokes, setting them down and pulling out his phone.

“Selfie time,” Tyler says and slides in next to Dani and pulls us both into a hug as he takes the picture. “Just going to send that to Christian and let him see the hot date I’m on.”

“You’re such a shit stirrer,” Dani says, bringing the straw to her lips and taking a sip.

“That’s not shit stirring. If I wanted to do that, I would have left you out of the photo. Now that,” he points. “Would be shit stirring,” he says with an amused curve of his mouth as he taps away at his phone.

“So, you’re dating my brother?” Tyler asks, taking a swig of his drink and crunching a piece of ice between his teeth.

“They’re not dating, Tyler, just going on a date, but hopefully they start dating,” she says, giving me an encouraging look.

“Hey, can you find out if he has scars on his ass?”

“What?” I ask, my brows knitting together as I almost choke on my drink and search for an explanation to that question.

Dani and Tyler share a look, the only way twins can. It’s a look of mischief, and you just know they have looked that way at each other thousands of times before.

“You can tell her,” Dani gestures with her hand held up in the air. “I don’t want to be responsible when Christian finds out you told her this story.”

Tyler rubs his hands together, a look of glee on his face. “Oh, I don’t care. I can handle Christian.”

“Ha!” Dani scoffs in disagreement. “Yeah, right.”

Tyler scrunches his face in irritation. “Anyway, when we were little, and before Mom and Dad renovated the house, the kitchen had this old stove that had coil-top burners. Do you know the ones?”

I nod my head thinking back to the one my nanna still has.

“So, I think Christian was about nine when he went into the kitchen to talk to Mom. He jumped up to sit on the stove, which unbeknownst to him, Mom had just turned off. Anyway, long story short, Mom had to drive Christian to the hospital with his ass sticking up in the air.”

Dani and Tyler burst out laughing, reliving the memory.

Dani sucks in a breath, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

“Our booster seats took up the whole back seat of Mom’s tiny car, and Christian couldn’t sit so he had to stick his bum kinda up in the air.

Mom was mortified; people were beeping their horns at her and probably wondering why this mother was allowing her child to moon passing cars.

Tyler and I sat in the back laughing our heads off.

” Dani wipes at her face. “Do you remember the guy who gave us the bird, and we didn’t know what it meant?

So, you were flipping Mom off, asking her what it meant? ”

“Yes,” he laughs.

Dani laughs some more. “Poor Mom was so flustered, with Christian in agony, cars honking at her, and Tyler flipping her off. ”

Tyler’s face flushes red as he looks back at me. “Anyway, just check if Christian still has those circle marks on his butt,” he snorts.

“Oh! And remember the next morning at breakfast? Christian had to stand at the kitchen bench to eat his cereal, and we kept laughing at him from the dining table. Dad kept yelling at us,” Dani adds.

“Yes,” he nods, sniffling as he reaches for his Coke. “Ahh, good times. Good times.”

It’s not long before our table is full. It seems the Stone siblings are also popular. I’ve met new people and even added more friends to my Instagram account. But, most importantly, I got to learn more about Christian and his siblings, making me even more excited about tomorrow night.

As we continued to watch the game, Christian took a big hit in the third quarter, and he didn’t play the remainder of the game, but the Raptors won 38 to 24.

The time ran out on the clock, and I got to see a close-up shot of the team celebrating.

Christian looked happy as he hugged and high fived his teammates.

I am actually going on a date with him, the very hot, very talented, Christian Stone.

The camera then changes views to the crowd and the Raptor cheerleaders as they jump up and down, clapping at their win, and my stomach sinks all over again at the reminder of her. Damn it.

After the game was over, the crowd stuck around.

Most of the students at the table were freshman like us, and it was good to hear I had things in common with our college experiences.

It’s reassuring to know that it’s not just the international students who get lost around campus.

I look over to see Tyler laughing at his phone.

Seeing me watching him, he passes me his phone.

I look at the photo of the three of us that he took. I read the text underneath the photo.

Tyler: Just out on a date.

Christian: Keep your hands to yourself.

Tyler: Of course. Big hit in the third. How’s the ribs?

Christian: Fucking sore. How did u guys do?

Tyler: We won 3 to 1, but I didn’t get ice time.

Christian: Next game. Make sure the girls get home safe.

Tyler: Good game, bro. Will do.

Looking back at him, I glow, I can’t help it as I hand his phone back to him.

“He’s a bit jealous, I see. Afraid the better-looking brother is sniffing around his territory.”

I just laugh because the sibling rivalry is clearly evident between them.

“This is going to be fun,” Tyler continues as he must realize he can rile his brother up with just a photo.