ɢᴜʏ ɢᴇʀᴍᴀɪɴᴇ
𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐏. 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 crap. Holy crap. That's all that repeated through my mind as Bombay led us into the North Star private practice. Holy crap.
"This is so cool," I whispered to myself.
I glanced around the whole stadium. I had never seen the seats empty like this. The sound of a whistle echoed around the large arena. And then Maeve Williams came into my line of vision, and I swear, she looked like a kid in a candy store. Her eyes were wide as she looked to where Adam pointed. She slightly bit down on her lip, most likely to prevent a squeal of excitement from escaping.
I hated that I was staring at her. I hated how the stadium lights made her light brown hair look like honey. I hated that her freckles hid behind the blush that crept onto her face as Mike Modano approached us. I hated that I even noticed those things about her.
"Gordon Bombay, right?" Modano asked.
He wasn't as tall as I thought he'd be, but Coach Bombay knew him so that was cool enough.
"You remember me?" Coach questioned.
"Of course, from Pee-Wees," Modano nodded, turning to Basil McRae. "This guy used to rule in Pee-Wees."
"I heard you were a farmer."
Connie nudged my shoulder, her eyebrows slightly creased together. "Don't tell me Basil McRae is making you blush."
"What?"
"Your cheeks are pink," She teased. "You're practically drooling."
"Oh."
"Unless you're not looking at him."
Just crap.
"What?"
"You say 'what' too much," She criticized. "But I get it, Maeve is rather fascinating. I wonder if her teeth are naturally that straight..."
I didn't think I was blushing, but if I was, it was certainly, positively, absolutely not over Maeve Williams.
☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆∵☆
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 to my side for the rest of the night. She held my hand while we skated around the rink and while we watched the game. With her, I felt...safe. Safe in the way that I knew neither of us would do anything interesting or bold enough to change us. Everything felt assured and secured into place.
I looked to my side when I heard Goldberg and Averman screaming uncontrollably. They both started to jump around while I failed to understand what they were rambling on about. Goldberg pointed at the screen above the ice, and there we were. It read "Welcome, Gordon Bombay & The Ducks!"
I cupped my hands around my mouth to cheer. Needless to say, I was beginning to understand Goldberg and Averman's excitement.
Until I wasn't.
Chris McGill and Aidan Larson stood just down the aisle from us and had their eyes locked on Maeve and Adam. It was a few seconds before Adam caught their gaze and instantly shrunk in his seat. I saw him mumble something to Williams and her eyebrows came together in confusion.
Then, she did the most Maeve Williams thing possible. She flipped them off. Adam tried to pry her hand down but she frowned in his direction. She laughed when the two Hawks rolled their eyes and returned to their section. Adam sighed and held three of his fingers to her wrist.
If I hadn't known Williams forever I would've thought she didn't care. If I hadn't hated her maybe I would've flipped them off too. If I had blinked, I would've missed the quick flash of pain traveling through her eyes.
If I wished things were different maybe they would be.
