Perfect Obsession

Chapter 2 || So, What Did I Miss?

𝐑 𝐎 𝐒 𝐀 𝐋 𝐈 𝐄 ' 𝐒   𝐏 𝐎 𝐕

𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫...

I'm going to kill Cara.

Another bad date to add to Cara's matchmaking portfolio, and to my continuous list of bad dates. I really need to stop agreeing to let her set me up on blind dates.

Blades grind against the freshly cleaned ice. Flakes of it shooting off their sharpened blades as the players skate around the rink. The taped hockey sticks hit against the ice and the sound of the puck sliding across and shooting into the back of the net fills my ears.

The arena winces as players get smashed up against the Plexiglas, while others support the violence by shouting and banging on it. Colorful team jerseys decorate the arena seats that are full to the brim, mostly red and white, to support the Boston University Terriers. Ice hockey, being the main sport at BU, it overcrowds American football by a significant margin.

Wrapping my leather jacket tighter around my body, the unwelcome ice-cold air that surrounds the arena brushes against my body. My outfit does very little to protect me from the biting temperature that comes with sitting in the ice hockey arena. Something my "date" should have warned me about when he picked me up. Then again, his attention remains on anything other than me since the start of the night.

Turning my head to the side where he sits, his attention is purely focused on the rink. I jump as he shouts next to my ear as the Terriers score and the popcorn flies out of his hand, going everywhere, including over my lap. From the start until now, the date has been a disaster.

Honking the horn loudly at the bottom of the apartment building was how I had to find out he arrived. He blasted music all the way to the arena, so loud we couldn't even have a conversation. So all I know about him is what Cara told me. Oh, and he also called me the wrong name a few times...which is a red flag right there. I think he's forgotten I'm even here.

The only thing that could make this worse is running into Roman after the game.

Focusing on the game, the crowd goes wild at the point just scored by Roman, and the players rile up the crowd by banging on the Plexiglas before hugging and tapping each other on the helmets. Roman glides around the ice before fist bumping the team who sit on the benches. As the rest of the game plays out, nothing changes. Ben continues to focus on the game without acknowledging me. Having to watch Roman skate around only adds to my bad mood.

Once the game finishes, I tap Ben on the shoulder. "I'm going to head to the bathroom real quick."

He nods his head without even looking at me as he waves to a group of guys a few rows down. Sighing, I make my way down the stands and round a few corners before walking into the bathroom. Leaning against the sinks, I take in my state in the mirror. My flushed rosy cheeks are a consequence of the chilly building, and my clothes feel frozen to my body. Taking out my phone, I call Cara.

"Cara Wilson, matchmaker extraordinaire speaking."

"Well, matchmaker extraordinaire, I think your powers are broken." I pick at my nails as I hold my phone up to my ear.

"What happened?"

I throw my free hand up into the air. "What didn't happen? You heard the honking when he arrived. He blasted music in the car, so I couldn't start a conversation with him. We're at a hockey game, which I didn't know, so I'm freezing with what I'm wearing. He's barely spoken any words to me tonight."

"Yikes. He always seemed so sweet in class." Cara ponders how her judge of character was off.

"I'm still picking popcorn kernels out of my hair," I mutter as I pull a piece out and throw it into the bin.