“Rebecca gave me a copy. I’m looking forward to reading it.” Peter tugs a folded paper from under his arm and opens it—the sports and leisure section of the Sarabella Herald Tribune.
A journalist from a national magazine intends to read my work? I think I’m about to float over the ice and become a human drone, covering the game.
“I’m excited for you to read it. Thank you.” I smile my thanks at Rebecca, who gives me a subtle wink.
But then I notice the picture of Luke on the front page. Not the one of him in his gear with his head tilted down and to the side to show only a smidgen of his face. No, this is the full-on larger-than-life headshot of him facing the camera with a smirk on his face that says, ‘I’m fierce, hot, and I know it.’
Luke asked me to keep his faceshielded, so I specifically chose images to keep Luke’s face mostly hidden. The picture staring at me showed everything and was intended for my eyes only. It wasn’t supposed to get uploaded with the others. I thought I removed it from the folder I planned to upload to the paper. I could have sworn?—
Oh, no…that’s the day Payton walked in, and then Luke showed up. I must have forgotten to remove it from the upload…
This was bad…so, so bad. Did they turn the heat on in this room because I feel like I’m about to pass out from heat stroke?
Rebecca says something to Peter about the piece I did on her when she bought the team. Her smile shifts to concern when she looks at me. “Are you okay, Sophie?”
I try to swallow, but all moisture has left my mouth. “I just need some water,” I croak out, then dart over to a large bucket filled with ice and water bottles sitting on the end of the snack table. I press one to my neck before chugging down half the contents.
A touch on my shoulder spins me around.
Mia walks into the press lounge and stops next to me. “Are you okay? I hope you’re not coming down with something. It’s chilly in here.”
Funny…feels like it’s getting hotter by the second. Almost as if I’ve plunged into my own personal inferno. I want to spill the details of my gaff, but I’m still reeling. “Just a little sunburned, I think. I’m fine.”
Her stare says she’s not buying it. “Take it easy tonight.”
I give her as reassuring a smile as I can fake at the moment. Once she wanders over to a seat and sits down, I turn around and pretend to rifle through a basket holding every kind of candy bar imaginable while I try to breathe normally.
I totally blew it. Luke will think I disregarded his request and never trust me again. He’ll go back to thinking I’m one of those reporters who likes to create drama just for the extra exposure. This will change everything between us.
And just when I thought our situationship was moving in the right direction. Somehow, I have to talk to Luke and explain…and hope he believes me.
After reassuring Rebecca that I’m just a little dehydrated, I leave the luxury box and make my way down toward the rink to use one of the camera holes in the plexiglass to take some action shots.
Luke breaks away with the puck just as I’m getting into position, shooting ahead of Jayce and Ethan as the other team scrambles to catch up. I’m on the offensive side to the left of the net, so I have a clear shot of Luke in all his glory. And mine—this is going to be the picture of a lifetime. I can feel it in my gut.
Right as he takes the shot, so do I. The opposing goalie blocks it, but Ethan flies in after Luke and swings his stick in a blur of tangled movement with an opposing player. A double snap rings out as Ethan’s stick snaps in half, and the puck shoots up, smacking the top bar of the net. But then it bounces off the goalie’s shoulder into the net.
A deafening roar fills the place as the crowd cheers and stomps over the Sun Kings, scoring the first goal—also evidence of the team’s growing popularity. But I’m too focused on Luke, who’s skating toward me instead of making a pass by the rest of the team on the players’ bench.
He whips off his helmet and wipes his mouth on his sleeve before lowering his face to the camera hole.
He’s waiting for a kiss…
He wants to kiss me through the camera hole…
As if he’s announcing to the world that I’m his girlfriend and he’s proud to be with me.
My heart does a happy dance in my chest before sinking into the pit of worry in my stomach. Once he finds out about my flub up, he may not want anything to do with me, which would just prove I was right to begin with—I’m a disaster when it comes to boyfriends.
I guess my hesitation was enough to get the crowd involved. Their chant clarifies as it grows louder.
Kiss him! Kiss him! Kiss him!
Even Mia’s jumping up and down in the front of the luxury box above the stands.
If I kiss him, he might wind up madder at me later when he finds out about the picture in the article. But if I don’t, he might think I don’t want something serious with him. And I do, more than anything, I’m realizing. I also don’t want to embarrass him or put a dent in the team’s growing popularity. A kiss can mean a lot these days, it seems.
I shut down my brain, my worries, my overanalyzing, and lean in, offering my puckered lips to this man, who’s not only showing his presence on the ice but in my heart as well.
