Falling Forward ✔

Chapter Twenty-One - Reece

"COME ON REF, CALL SOMETHING!" Kaila bellows as Russo gets tripped by a Kalamazoo player's stick.

The game continues. Russo finds his feet and surges back into the fray. The puck travels over the ice faster than I can quite figure out where and why. Kaila tried to explain the rules to me, but I honestly tuned out. Doesn't seem to matter, though. I could watch this sport all day without knowing any of the nuances to it.

Kaila whoops for Spencer as he shoulder-checks a Kalamazoo leftwing and nabs control of the puck. He's not as slippery or agile as Bas, but I can't imagine being faced with that mass barreling toward me at close to 35 miles per hour.

I guess I should say I could never tire of watching Bas on the ice. He's as tough as he is graceful, swerving checks with languid acrobatics and deking shots on the goal left and right. Even when he gets plastered against the plexi right in front of me, I find myself jumping to my feet right next to Kaila and bellowing, "That was such bullshit!"

Kaila grins over at me. "Look who's getting into the game."

I roll my eyes, can't quite hide the smile. "It's kind of exciting."

A long drawl of 'ooo' from the crowd turns us back to the rink. Spencer is flattened on the ice, jaw tight in a grimace. A Kalamazoo player – Debroski – is lead off the ice by the ref and placed in the penalty box. Numbers flash on the jumbotron followed by the announcement "two minutes for hooking".

Kaila and I stand on our tip-toes as Spencer's teammates surround him. He grits his teeth, struggles to his feet. I notice his left knee gives out, dropping him awkwardly back to the ice. Bas, positioned beside him, looks grim. Without pretense, he slings the bigger man's arm over his shoulder and supports him as they skate toward the team box.

"Oh God, Spence!" My best friend presses her fingers to her lips, watching the team doc rush at him on the bench.

"I'm sure he's fine," I declare with confidence I don't feel. "Probably just twisted something."

I hope that's all it is. The tight set of Bas's jaw suggests otherwise, though.

The rest of the game passes in a blur. I learn the term "hat trick" when Bas scores the third and final goal in the third period. Everyone takes off their caps and toboggans and tosses them over the Plexiglass and into the rink, including Kaila.

Cincinnati wins with a score of 3-2.

**

Back at our hotel, Kaila pulls me aside as we step through the front doors. Her brows are pinched and she's chewed her thumbnails down to the quick.

"Can we switch rooms or something?"

"Huh?"

Kaila rolls her eyes, "C'mon Reecie. Like you and Bas in a room and me and Spence in another?" She clarifies with hand gestures.

"That's fine, I guess." I hug my arms tighter, nervous and fluttery at the notion of sleeping in the same room as Bas, with a bed beneath us. It's always just been the couch, and he consistently took me home each night. "I'll get my stuff later, yeah?"

Kaila smiles, throws her arms around my neck. "Yay!"

I nod into her shoulder, then, because I can't help my meddling, "Did you know Spencer has a kid?"

The abrupt way Kaila pulls back, surprise on her features, answers my question before she does. "I didn't know you knew." She responds as we meander toward the lounge area, two comfy chairs in our sight.

I didn't until today. "Are you okay with it?" I question.

Kaila shrugs, "Yeah, why not? It's not like I really have a say. I like Spencer. That's what matters."