The Girl In All-Boy Hockey Team

Chapter 5

Austin

I was exhausted.

Even after everything that happened, after that weird tense truce and telling her good night, I still hadn’t fallen asleep right away. I’d lain there listening to her shift and sigh behind me, the tent walls creaking softly with every tiny movement.

She was quiet eventually. Too quite. That was the thing about camping with teammates - usually someone was snoring, someone else mumbling drunk nonsense in their sleep. The silence was so complete I couldn’t help but check once. I half-turned my head and saw her curled on her side, face slack with sleep, hair messy over her forehead.

I let out a slow breath, rolled onto my back, and told myself to forget it.

After that, sleep hit me in heavy waves. I tried not to move much because the tent was cramped, and I didn’t want to wake her. It felt wrong somehow to crowd her more after the night she’d had.

So I stayed on my side. Mostly.

Except somewhere around god-knows-when, I woke up just enough to realize my arm was asleep. I shifted. The ground was hard as hell, and my shoulders were killing me. I tried to roll over, blinking blearily, and got tangled in my own sleeping bag.

I gave up and started scooting slowly across the tent floor to get comfortable on the other side. But apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d moved. My knee bumped something warm and solid. Jane. She was right there. Breathing softly, mouth parted. Mumbling.

I froze, listening. It was almost too quiet to hear, but she was saying something, words slurred and half-lost in sleep.

“—faster on the wing, hold the line—”

Was she seriously dream-coaching herself? I huffed a quiet laugh. Figures.

I tried to move her gently, pressing a hand against her shoulder.

“Hey,” I whispered. “Move over.”

Her response was to shift even closer, like I was a pillow she’d been waiting for. Her hand caught my wrist. Held tight. s**t.

I tested her grip. No dice. Even in sleep she was stubborn as hell. I exhaled. I could’ve woken her, sure. But it was the middle of the night. She was out cold. And if I fought her on it, I’d wake up half the damn camp.

So I settled. Told myself it wasn’t a big deal. Told myself to stop noticing how small her fingers felt around my wrist. Stop noticing the warmth between us. Stop noticing the hair brushing my chin when I turned my head.

I let my eyes close, and I fell asleep.

***

I woke up to a muted gray light leaking through the tent walls. My brain was slow, sticky with sleep. For a second, I didn’t remember where I was.

Then I felt something on my arm. Not just on it - wrapped around it. Tight. I squinted. Jane was still there. Head pillowed on one of my biceps. Hand clamped on my wrist like a vice. Her legs had tangled with mine sometime in the night. She was practically glued to me. I didn’t even dare breathe. My first instinct was to yank my arm back. But she stirred at the faintest movement, tightening her hold. I hissed under my breath.

“Hey,” I muttered.

Nothing.

I tried a little louder.

“Dawson.”

She twitched.

Her eyes cracked open. And I watched, fascinated, as she went from bleary confusion to horror in about two seconds. Her face went red. Not just a little flushed. Full-on, scarlet, sunburn red. I couldn’t help it, I snorted.

“Good morning,” I said dryly.

She tried to scramble back so fast she nearly punched me in the jaw.

“Relax,” I said, catching her elbow before she knocked over the whole tent. “Careful.”

She wrenched her arm away like my touch burned. I grinned wider.

“What?” I teased. “Gonna deny that was your idea?”

“Shut up,” she snapped, voice cracking.

“You literally hugged me all night.”

She made a strangled noise.

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. It was too good. The look on her face was priceless. But I let her go, sitting up and rolling my shoulder to work out the knots. She was still frozen, glaring at her own knees like they’d betrayed her. I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Look,” I sighed, trying to sound more normal. “We should probably… deal with the morning part of this whole circus.”

She blinked at me, startled.

“Your clothes,” I clarified. “You can’t exactly walk out there like this.”

Her eyes went wide again.

“Stay,” I ordered, pushing myself to my feet carefully in the cramped space. “I’ll get them.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but I was already unzipping the tent. Outside, the camp was waking up. People were grumbling, stretching, picking at the embers of last night’s fire. Lucas was rummaging through a pile of gear near Jane’s bag. I nearly swore out loud.

“Hey!” I barked.

He jumped.

“What?”

“Get away from that.”

He blinked at me.

“I was just—”

“I’ll handle it,” I snapped, shoving past him and yanking Jane’s duffel away from his hands.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Chill, man.”

I didn’t bother answering. I just turned on my heel and stomped back to the tent, shoving the zipper open with more force than necessary. I tossed the duffel inside.

“Here,” I said, voice tight. “Your stuff.”

She stared at it like I’d thrown her a live grenade.

“Get dressed,” I added, turning my back firmly. I sat down at the tent entrance, blocking the view with my broad shoulders.

I heard her fumbling.

Cursing under her breath.

She was still pink when she mumbled, “Thanks.”

I didn’t turn around.

“Don’t mention it,” I said. “Part of the deal.”

There was a beat of silence behind me. I let my smirk show where she couldn’t see it.

“Gotta keep your secret, right?”

She didn’t answer. But I heard the quiet exhale. And that was enough.

After that, the morning didn’t stay quiet for long.

If anything, the campsite was even louder than last night, with half-empty coffee mugs balanced on logs and guys shoving each other awake with cackling laughter. Sleeping bags were getting rolled in crooked, tents collapsing onto whoever was trying to pack them up.

Lucas, of course, decided he needed an audience. He dragged an old metal chair over from the fire pit and stomped up onto it like he was on stage.

“Alright, listen up!” he yelled, voice cracking with fake authority.

A couple of guys booed. Andre chucked an empty plastic cup at him, which Lucas dodged dramatically. He raised his arms higher.

“I said shut it! Because we have important business.”

That got a round of snickers. I kept my head down, cinching my sleeping bag tight and avoiding eye contact with anyone. But I couldn’t ignore the way the noise gathered, everyone looking over at Lucas like he was about to announce the next round of beers.

Lucas scanned the camp like a general surveying his troops.

“Today,” he declared, “we’re going to the air-raid shelter.”

A few guys whooped immediately. Someone let out a dramatic ooooh like a ghost. Lucas pointed a finger around the circle, grin wide and vicious.

“Yeah, that’s right. Full length. All the way in and out. No flashlights.”

“Man, it’s daylight,” someone jeered.

Lucas ignored him.

“Whoever won’t come is a scared little girl.”

That got the reaction he wanted.

So everyone gathered at the edge of the woods where the old air-raid shelter gaped like a broken mouth on the hill. It was early but already muggy, the damp air making every sound carry. The guys were jostling and laughing, shoving each other around like it was all a big joke. But I noticed Jane right away. She was at the front of the group, shoulders stiff, head low. Trying too hard to act normal.

I squinted. Was she… shivering? The air wasn’t that cold.

Ah.

Fear.

I smirked. Couldn’t help it.

She was actually spooked by this busted concrete tunnel.

We started moving inside, the darkness swallowing the group two by two. The walls were damp, covered in moss and graffiti. Every step crunched on old leaves and gravel. Someone let out a loud fake moan, and the sound bounced around in the hollow space.

Jane jumped.

I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing. But the longer I watched her, the clearer it was. She was fighting to keep moving. The guys around us started to hush, spooking themselves with every little drip of water or gust of wind down the tunnel. I drifted closer, leaning in to her ear.

“Hey,” I whispered. “Scared of the dark?”

She flinched so hard she smacked my arm.

“Shut up,” she hissed.

I grinned. Too easy.

I was just opening my mouth to tease her again, really lay it on thick, when Lucas barreled in out of nowhere.

“Boo!”

Jane yelped, actually yelped, and spun like she was going to bolt. But she didn’t get far. Her hand shot out and grabbed the first thing she found - which was my sleeve. She latched on like a lifeline, fingers twisting in the fabric, eyes wide and wild. For half a second we just stared at each other in the dim light.

And then I lost it. I barked out a laugh that bounced off the walls.

“Holy s**t, Dawson,” I wheezed. “You’re actually terrified.”

Her face went scarlet.

“Let go,” she muttered, voice cracking.

But she didn’t.

Lucas was dying laughing behind us.

“Oh my god, you two are adorable,” he howled.

Jane made a strangled noise in her throat.

I smirked down at her.

“Relax,” I said, voice low so only she’d hear. “Stick with me. I’ll keep the monsters off you.”

She made a rude noise but didn’t let go.

And that was fine by me.