He held up the two tickets and smiled as we walked toward one another. “Thanks for coming,” he said, the low vibration in his voice flowing over me.

I smiled, both because I was glad to see him and to hide my antsiness. I hadn’t seen Hunter in person all week and I had to admit I missed the charge I got from being around him. “Thanks for inviting me.”

He handed me my ticket and I took it from him, careful to avoid brushing against his hand, knowing the effect a gentle brushing could have on the both of us. Then I thanked him graciously. “So have you been to a hockey game before?” he asked.

“Nope,” I responded casually.

“Ever seen a game on TV?”

I shook my head. “But I know the basics: sticks, pucks, and touchdowns right?”

He lost his composure and laughed heartily. “I think you’re mixing hockey with football, Lorrie. Hockey has goals and football has touchdowns.”

“Oh, my bad,” I replied, laughing along with him. I kind of felt silly for mixing up the two sports, but after the time we spent in Neverland teasing one another and joking around, I knew Hunter wasn’t making fun of me mean-spiritedly.

He wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. “You’re so adorable, Lorrie. But ya know, I’m surprised to hear you’re a hockey virgin. You’ve just made tonight’s game all the better. I’m looking forward to breaking you in.”

I chuckled, amused by the flirtatious suggestion. Knowing Hunter’s reputation, my guard was already up, allowing me to let the suggestion easily roll off my shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, alright Hunter,” I said sarcastically. “Unfortunately, I’m not much of a sports girl, so I’m not sure how much ‘breaking in’ is going to happen.”

“We’ll see about that.” He grinned wickedly making my belly flutter in the way that it often did when I was around him. “But you’re really not a sports girl? Given your throwing arm, I thought you would’ve been.”

“Well, my dad and I would toss a baseball around when I was kid. I wasn’t really good or anything, especially with accuracy—as you might have noticed. But I could throw it hard.” I blew hot air on my knuckle and polished it on my sweatshirt. “Broke a few windows in my time.”

I smiled and he chuckled. “And an amusement park booth. I’m impressed—you’re quite destructive. Yet you’ve never seen hockey on TV?”

“I guess I’m more of a doer than a watcher. I think it’s more fun that way, but I have watched a few basketball games, so it’s not like I’m against watching sports. I mean, I’m certainly excited about seeing this hockey game.”

He grinned. “I get it, you’re more hands-on. I dig that. So you’re not afraid of chipping a nail?”

I looked at my nails with amusement. “I guess I’ve always just kept them short . . . Never really thought about growing them out, figured it’d be annoying.”

He chuckled. “Well I haven’t grown mine out either. Glad to see we’re on the same page. Anyway, you’re in for a treat. I’ll teach you the rules and you’ll be a fan by the end of the game. C’mon let’s get our seats.”

Hunter insisted on getting nachos first, and by the time we got our food there were only fifteen minutes to go before game time according to the giant scoreboard on the wall. He explained the basic rules of the game as we made our way down the steps to our seats: there were three periods of twenty minutes apiece, and the players were trying to score goals by shooting the puck past the goalie into the net. The second part I already knew, which made me feel good. How complicated could hockey really be?

We were almost to our seats when we were approached by two short brunettes with red ribbons in their ponytails and the letters “AH” painted on each cheek. They were wearing matching white and red school t-shirts advertising the hockey season. “Hi Hunter! We’re so happy to run into you!” one of them squeaked. The other one beamed at him.

“Hi Catelyn,” Hunter said coolly.

Her skin was tanned golden despite the winter season, and her teeth were unnaturally white. “What are you doing after the game?” she asked, tossing her head to one side.

He shrugged. “Not sure, this and that. By the way, this is my friend Lorrie.”

“Hi,” I said semi-awkwardly, putting my hand up to give a small wave.

Catelyn glanced at me briefly before turning back to Hunter. Catelyn’s friend didn’t even acknowledge me, instead she preferred keeping her attention on Hunter while flitting her hair. “Well, let us know when you’re done . . . you know—” Catelyn looked at her friend who silently nodded back to her then Catelyn turned back to Hunter. “We can both come with you, wherever you’re going. Maybe your place or our place. We’ll come with you, anywhere you like.” The way she looked and smiled at him was more than suggestive.

I blushed as I rolled my eyes and looked at Hunter to gauge his reaction. He gave me a quick glance but his expression was impassive. “Cool,” he said evenly to them.

Both girls giggled. “Call whenever. We’ll be up if you are.” She winked and her friend nodded before they both bounced up the stairs.

Was that what I thought it was? Daniela had told me Hunter was a player but it hadn’t occurred to me that I’d be seeing what that meant up close. I suddenly started feeling nauseous.

Hunter and I were silent the rest of the way down to our seats. When we finally got there, I was surprised to see the seats were in the front row, right behind the glass. The school’s marching band was in the next section over with their trombones, trumpets, and drums. As we took our seats, I thought: this is going to be loud.

“So does that happen to you a lot?” I asked, more than a little curious.

“Does what?”

“Those girls were offering to have a threesome with you, weren’t they?” I asked, never thinking that I’d ever be asking that question to anybody in my life.

He chuckled and looked at the ice for a second. “Probably, yeah.”

“Does that happen a lot?”

He considered. “No, not a lot.”

I raised a brow. “. . . So you’ve had a threesome before?”

“I know you’re curious Lorrie, but unfortunately I don’t kiss and tell,” he said, zipping his lips with his fingers.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. If you hear anything about me like that, it didn’t come from me. I can’t control what other people say but I keep things like that to myself.”

I recalled him protecting me by lying to Gary about how we met. He did seem to keep things to himself. Still, I had my doubts about whether he was telling the truth. Weren’t guys always bragging about their sex lives? Plus, the idea of him even considering a threesome with Catelyn and her friend grossed me out. But the nausea I felt wasn’t jealousy, I told myself; Hunter and I were just friends. And being friends gave me a unique opportunity to pick his male brain.

“So are you going to call those girls?”

He shook his head casually. “Nah, probably not. Not really in the mood.”

His response somehow made me feel relieved. “Ah I see.” I looked at the all the people trickling into the rink and taking their seats. Some were in large groups, some were by themselves, and a lot seemed like couples. I dimly wondered if people saw Hunter and me together and thought that we were a couple.