On Thin Ice: First to Fall Loses

Chapter 2

POV’s Tate

He didn’t even let me finish. “I wouldn’t have had to if you had just been f*****g paying attention.”

I flinched slightly at the harsh words, stepping back. Before I could respond, a new voice caught my attention:

“Oh my God, are you ok?” I looked over to see a strawberry-blonde girl racing over from her car. Her face was etched in worry as she came over to me. “I’m so sorry, I was running late to practice, and I was driving way too fast–”

“It’s fine, Penny.” I turned to look at Philip in shock. What?? No, it is not fine. I almost just got run over.

The girl–Penny–sighed, her tense shoulders loosening as any hint of worry disappeared from her face. She looked back at where the remnants of Philip’s hockey stick sat on the pavement. “I’m so sorry, Philip. I’ll make sure to get you a new one,” she glanced down at the golden watch on her wrist. “Shoot, I’m so late.” She looked back at me. “You’re fine, right? Sorry, I just really need to get to practice.”

Dazed, I nodded, “Yeah, no worries–”

The words barely left my mouth before she was running back to her car. An electric sedan: the reason I hadn’t heard her racing through the parking lot. Well, I’m glad someone got over that whole incident in the nick of time.

I turned back to look at Philip, who was staring at the car as Penny drove off to find a parking spot. She was still speeding.

I rolled my eyes before moving to take off my grey zip-up so I could use it to try to dry Philip’s sweatshirt. “Here, let me–”

“You’ve done enough,” he practically snarled.

My eyes widened as I paused. I looked towards his broken hockey stick. “Listen, I’ll get you a new one. Better yet, I’ll get you two, because you literally saved my life–”

“It’s fine,” he cut me off once more. What was with this guy? I mean, I get being pissed, but at least let me finish my sentence. “Just watch where you’re going next time.”

He didn’t even give me a chance to respond before he was picking up his bag and grabbing the pieces of his hockey stick. I watched, stunned, as he walked off into the parking lot, not even bothering to look back.

What the hell? Why was he being all nice and forgiving to that Penny girl when she was the one going 45 in a parking lot? I mean, yeah, I could’ve been a bit more alert, but still. I let out a long sigh before bending down to pick up my now-empty cup of coffee. What a shame.

My heart was still racing slightly as I chucked the plastic cup into a nearby trash bin and made my way to my car. I sat down, staring blankly into the trees in front of my parking spot. A part of me wondered if my half-awake and barely caffeinated brain had made that whole encounter up, but a glance in my rearview mirror revealed Penny racing towards the glass double doors to the building, skating bag in hand.

God, that was embarrassing.

I never would’ve thought that Philip Crane would be like that. Seeing as I grew up in a household where my dad and brothers all played hockey, and most of my friends in high school and college did too, of course, I knew exactly who Philip was. In the last three years that I’d been a student at Evergreen University, I’d rarely missed a single hockey game, always dragging my roommates, Riley and Lena, along with me. My cousin, Ethan, used to be the Captain of the team, so I’d always been there to support him. Even after he’d broken his collarbone and arm in a skating accident off-season, he had become the assistant coach, so I still tried to show up as much as I could. The work he was doing now was just as important.

I knew that Ethan, Riley, and Philip were all friends, but somehow, I’d never really spoken with him one-on-one before. I’d crossed paths with him a few times over the past few years, but he wasn’t really the social type. Still, I hadn’t expected him to be this aggressive. I mean, on the ice, it made sense. He was the center forward, one of the fastest skaters collegiate hockey had ever seen, with some insane stickhandling skills. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t stare in awe every time he stepped on the ice. The talent he had was something that could only be discovered once in a generation. He would have official League offers lining up for him soon enough. I was surprised he hadn’t signed with a team already. Maybe it was that stellar personality of his.

I was trying to picture Philip scaring off any potential backers for his hockey career with that horrible demeanor of his when I heard a tap on my window. I jolted when I saw Eren’s face pressed against the glass of the passenger window. I unlocked the car door and opened the trunk so that he could put his gear in the back. I listened to the faint thud of his hockey bag settling in the trunk, and I smiled as Eren slid into the seat next to me. His greenish blue eyes were sparkling with excitement, his cheeks still red from the cold of the rink, and his hair wet from the showers.

“How was practice?” I asked as I turned the car on. My phone automatically connected to the Bluetooth, playing Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, the first song in my driving playlist.

Eren side-eyed the screen of my car at the song choice, and I chose to ignore him with a smirk on my lips as I backed out of my parking spot.

“It was pretty good. Thanks for giving me a ride, by the way. I would’ve made Jean and Connie drive me, but they needed to go and finish some project with their group at the library.” Eren rolled his eyes, leaning back.

“It’s totally fine, I had pretty much nothing going on today anyway. Just boring TA stuff left to finish,” I made a right turn out of the parking lot and into the main road. “You would not believe what just happened to me.”