“And what was the program?”
“Putting a hurt on the Riptides. You know that.”
My stomach twisted a little, but thankfully not enough to make me feel ill. I knew what he meant, and had felt uncomfortable with it initially, but now felt downright scared.
Because I was in love with Zane Hirst.
No longer was it a rivalry that’d spiraled into numerous rounds of hot sex. Even the thrill of being caught didn’t enter into it. It was love, easily the most powerful emotion I’d ever experienced. I wish I hadn’t waited until college to find out how it really felt. Except I understood that you don’t choose when to fall in love. More than that, you can’t choose the object of your affection. If I had, I never would’ve fallen for Zane—or any other Riptide. But was that really true?
“So, you’re saying I was really supposed to hurt the opposing team?” I asked.
“That’s what we talked about, isn’t it?”
Okay, this discussion definitely wasn’t running in the direction I wanted. Time to steer things back on track.
“I guess so,” I said, “but let me ask you something. What if Quinn were a hockey player?”
“You mean my boyfriend Quinn?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“He would never want to play hockey in a million years. He can’t even skate more than ten feet without winding up flat on his ass.”
“That’s not my point, Levi. I’m not talking about him really becoming a hockey player. I’m speakinghypothetically.”
“Hey, you’re pathetic, not me.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I’m just asking you to imagine Quinn being a hockey player in this case, okay?”
He paused and stared off into space. Served me right for trying to have a deep (or even shallow) conversation with a meathead like Levi Dunn. Even still, I felt like he was the only guy on that team that I could relate to.
“You mean, I should just pretend Quinn could last more than two seconds on the ice with college hockey players.”
“That’s not how I would’ve put it, but yeah.”
He touched his index finger to his lips like he was still trying to picture it.
“Okay, now let’s put Quinn on another team,” he said. “And you’re going to be playing his team. Could you check him into the boards with every last ounce of strength in your body?”
“Hmmmm. Yeah, I could check him into the boards, but maybe not every last ounce of strength.”
“Right. It would hurt him. Probably cause an injury, too.”
“That’s because I’m big and strong and he’s so little.”
“I know, but this is hypothetical, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m having a real problem with that.”
“Maybe I should make it simpler for you. No more hypotheticals. What if Quinn really did play for another team.”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t.”
“Hypothetical, remember.”
“But you just said?—”
