“Yes sir,” Liam calls out, turning around and pointing a finger. “I’m gonna place fifty dollars on a bet.”
Owen slows down, coming to a halt beside him. “What’s the bet?”
“That Ty’s looking so happy because of Vivian.” He then stares at me, like he’s trying to find a needle in a haystack, squinting his eyes and studying my features.
“That’s so weird,” I say, shoving past him and laughing him off, or at least attempting to. “Stop.”
Owen shakes his head. “Nah, that’s not it.”
“Willing to put your money where your mouth is?” Liam shoots back.
“You bet I am.” Owen points to Liam, taking the bet, before he looks at me and taps his stick. “Well, is he right?”
I should deny it. Honestly, I fully intend to. Then Liam keeps staring at me with this stupidly smug expression like he already knows the answer, and something about the combination of summer skate exhaustion and these idiots being impossible to escape finally cracks my self-preservation clean in half.
I exhale sharply through my nose. “We kissed.”
“You are kidding me!” Owen yells loud enough that Campbell immediately blows his whistle from across the ice.
“What now?” Campbell shouts.
Before either one of these two dum dums can answer, I butt in. “He lost a bet, no big.”
“No,” Owen charges on, grinning, “you kissed…”
“OWEN,” I bark as Campbell goes back to focusing on a drill with Nathan, while Liam stares at me like I just admitted to committing tax fraud.
“You kissed Vivian,” he repeats slowly. “Dude, I’ve known her forever and it feels like you kissed my sister.”
“Well, it’s not your sister.”
“Good thing,” Liam chuckles. “Probably a good time for me to remind all of you that Lucy is off limits.”
Owen points at me dramatically. “See what you did? You’ve made him mad now.”
I shake my head, pushing off toward the boards “You guys are unbelievable.”
“But was it a good kiss?” Owen asks, staying on my right side as I move.
“Owen, I’m going to?—”
There’s movement on my left, Liam joining us. “That’s a yes.”
“That is not what I said.”
Liam and Owen both crack up. “You didn’t have to.”
They aren’t wrong. I can still remember exactly how she looked standing in that alley, and the way she kissed me like she was trying not to and failing anyway.
Judging by the grin spreading across Liam’s face, apparently my expression gives away way more than I think it does.
“I knew it,” Liam says as he throws his hand in the air for a high-five from anyone. “Owen, I’ll take that fifty bucks right after practice, thank you very much. I also accept food and beverage in lieu of monetary prizes.”
Owen winces dramatically. “I hate this for me specifically.”
“Good,” I mutter.
Campbell blows the whistle again. “Enough social hour. Battle drill. McCade, Snyder, line up.”
