“Fun, right?” I clinked my drink against hers, making her beer spill a little.
“Totally,” she deadpanned.
A player in red wound up near the blue line and fired the puck toward the net. Our goalie dropped low, pads flaring wide as the puck smacked against them and ricocheted back into play.
The crowd erupted, and Ramona startled, spilling her beer again. “Jesus.”
I laughed, helping her dab the mess on her jeans. “Relax. That’s gonna happen all night.”
On the ice, the players tangled along the boards right in front of our section. Sticks clacked together while the puck disappeared under a cluster of skates.
Ramona leaned forward. “So what are they doing now?”
“Trying to get the puck.”
“They already had the puck.”
I took a bigger gulp than necessary. The faster I got buzzed, the easier this would get. “Now they’re trying to get it again.”
She turned her head slowly. “You’re incredibly helpful.”
The whistle cut through the noise, and everything stopped.
A player from The Surge peeled away from the group while one of the referees pointed toward the penalty box.
Ramona grabbed my arm. “What does that mean? Is he hurt?”
My gaze flicked to the bench again. Aiden had pushed to his feet, helmet tilted slightly back while he watched the call unfold.
“No clue,” I said.
The player skated toward the penalty box, and the crowd rumbled with a mix of boos and applause that made no sense to me.
Across the rink, Aiden lifted his head. Our eyes met through the chaos of helmets and glass and movement.
He smiled and flashed a wink, and although I was huddled in a sea of people, I knew that was meant for me. It made my toes curl and a cozy warmth settled low in my stomach.
Ramona followed my line of sight and squinted toward the bench. “You’re so fucking obvious, it’s embarrassing.”
I grabbed my drink and took another sip. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’re just sitting here without any idea about anything, aren’t you?”
And she looked so goddamn done with me that I couldn’t help laughing again. Nothing—not even Ramona’s mood—could put a damper on what I was feeling.
Yes, I’d ignored my biggest red flag when it came to dating guys. But no matter how I turned it over and pulled it apart, there was nothing about Aiden I didn’t like. If he were anything but a pro hockey player, he’d have been everything I wanted in a man. It just didn’t make sense to write him off without at least exploring that a little.
Especially when he made me come like no one else.
On the ice, the puck dropped again and the players surged forward in another rush of motion that had the crowd leaning with it.
Ramona made a show of how bored she was, sighing loud enough to get my attention.
“This is going to be a long night,” she muttered.
A laugh slipped out of me as the puck streaked down the rink, and someone in a Surge jersey chased after it with the entire arena roaring around us.
Ramona shifted in her seat and tipped her cup back, finishing the last of her drink while the play moved to the far end of the rink. A cluster of red jerseys crowded the Surge net. Our goalie dropped low and knocked the puck aside with a pad, sending the crowd around us into another wave of noise.
