“Says the guy who just insulted me three times.”
Nothing registered with that kid. You know how I knew? He started walking ahead of me before the sentence had completely left my mouth. The nerve! I sprinted to catch up with him. I had to get the last word. It’s that simple. If I didn’t, Erik would win, and I already felt like the stakes had reached the sky.
“Look,” I said, “I stand by everything I said.”
“Then maybe you’d like to put your money where your mouth is.”
“A bet? On what?”
“We’ve got an exhibition game coming up, don’t we?”
“Against Rochester U, yeah.”
“I’m not changing the way I play this game for you or anyone else. I’m gonna go and play hockey my way. You play your way if you want to. We’ll see who wins that game.”
“Wait, you’re not really betting on us to lose, are you?”
He half-smiled again. “I’m betting on my own play. If I outscore you, I win the bet. If you outscore me, you win.”
“This makes no sense to me.”
“I doubt anything does. Listen, why don’t we just shake on it, so I can get to class?”
“How can I shake on anything? You haven’t told me the wager.”
“Twenty bucks.”
“Twenty bucks? That’s it?”
“We’re college students, Kayden. Nobody’s getting rich until I’m in the NHL.”
“UntilI’min the NHL, pal.”
Maybe Erik thought I was a total dummy, but I noticed what he’d tried to do there.
He stuck his hand out like he had all the confidence in the world that he would whip me in this bet. I shook it because I had all the confidence in the world that he was a wimp and would embarrass himself the moment he played any real competition.
When we shook hands, I noticed his eyes. No, wait, that’s not right. I noticed somethingabouthis eyes that made me pause. At first, I didn’t know what to call it. His eyes were blue, but this was more than just a color. Before the exchange ended, I realized that his blue eyes looked like a field of ice crystals. Yeah, yeah, I know how crazy that sounds. It’s like a novel where the author says a character has “eyes like the ocean” or some shit.
And another thing: his eyes were piercing. They grabbed my attention and held it. I hoped to God I hadn’t stood there staring deeply into them—especially if I could be caught—but I felt like they’d enveloped me.
Finally, Erik said, “Okay, you’re on,” and I snapped to attention like I’d drifted off into a dream.
I couldn’t respond. At first, it felt like a brain freeze, but with everything that’d happened, I couldn’t be sure. I tried moving my lips, wanting to destroy him with some witty remark, but I swore my jaw had been wired shut. And I felt weak, helpless.
Normally, I would’ve worried about looking like a complete idiot, but I’m sure Erik De Ruiter would’ve had no problem pointing that out to me. When he left, I tried to forget the whole thing, like nothing had happened. I mean, what was I doing looking into or even thinking about another guy’s eyes anyway?
5
ERIK
“Ready to be twenty bucks poorer?” I asked Kayden as we prepared to take the ice against the Rochester University Renegades.
“I thought you didn’t want to talk to me.”
“I said I thought it would bebestnot to talk. You know, if you don’t have anything nice to say.”
“Yeah, but you?—”
