Page 18 of Rookie Moves

I nod, unable to stop the smile from appearing on my face. “Yeah.”

“Eeep!” She beams, balling her hands into fists before grabbing onto my arm. “If you ever need me to go out, just say the word. We can have a code or something.”

Laughing softly under my breath, I shake my head. “We haven’t talked about what or where yet. Like, we leave for the regionals tomorrow, and we won’t get back until late Sunday night. And we can’t do anything in the hotel because those walls are paper-thin.”

“True.” She purses her lips in thought. “Why don’t you invite him over tonight? I’ve got a late class, then I’m meeting a few of my friends from theatre class at the diner. I could stay out until you give me the signal he’s gone?”

“I don’t want to kick you out so I can figure out when I’m gonna get laid.”

She swats my arm. “You’re not kicking me out; I’m offering. I mean, I can’t hear what you do in your room anyway, and I can always put on noise-canceling headphones, but it might make you feel less nervous if it’s just the two of you there.”

I glance back down at my textbook and idly draw on the Post-it note stuck on the open page. Knowing it’ll only be me and Tyler on our floor will make me feel more at ease, but I don’t think anything will settle it completely.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she says without hesitation.

I offer her a small smile. “You’re awesome, you know that?”

“Yeah, I do, but it’s nice to have the validation.” She grins. “Now, shut up and let me concentrate. Just because your grades don’t matter because you’re going to be making millions soon being a super-hot hockey player doesn’t mean mine don’t.”

I scoff under my breath. She’s right, my grades don’t matter, but it’s still important to me to put in the effort. It’s all part of the college experience I was so desperate to have.

Returning my attention back to my own textbook, we fall into a comfortable silence. I try to refocus on reading about consumer behavior, though my attention is firmly set on Tyler Beckmann.

I manage to study for an hour with Stassie, then head to my economics class before making my way over to the practice facility. With us heading to the regionals tomorrow, we have another video session, a workout, and some light drills. Luckily, I don’t have any more classes today, so it’ll give me the chance to pack.

And maybe ask Tyler to come over so we can figure out how we’re going to make this work.

As usual, I’m the first to arrive at the facility, and now that I don’t need to avoid Tyler in case I burst into flames with embarrassment, I’m back in my normal routine. I make myself a protein shake, grab a premade chicken and rice bowl from the fridge, and a blueberry muffin from the tray. Taking my usual seat in front of the TV, I eat my lunch while watching the highlights from the Vancouver Steelheads game last night. That is, until Tyler walks in and steals my focus. He doesn’t notice me right away, so it gives me the chance to take him in.

Tyler walks with this air of confidence I wish I could possess. It’s so effortless. He has his headphones on, preoccupying his attention as he bobs his head to whatever he’s listening to.

His hair is slightly damp under his backward hat, curling at the ends where it meets the collar of his jacket. He opens the fridge and pulls out a few tubs of fruit before throwing them into the smoothie machine.

I can hear him humming to himself over the whirl of the mixer, and I take a sip of my shake to stop myself from smiling.

Tyler still hasn’t noticed me until he almost reaches the couch, and then his eyes land on me, head jerking a fraction, like he’s clearly surprised to see me sitting there. He drops down onto the couch next to me, places his food and smoothie on the coffee table in front of us, and quickly removes his headphones.

“Hey. What you doing here so early?” He tilts his wrist to look at his watch. “We’ve still got, like, forty minutes.”

My lips twist in a wry smile.

“I usually get here like an hour earlier if I can.” I motion toward my almost empty bowl with my fork. “Saves me some money on food when I can eat here for free and watch some TV.”

He coughs out a laugh. “I’m sure you don’t need to save money.”

“I can’t spend it if I haven’t earned it yet.”

“Truth. Plus, the first few years of your paycheck need to be spent wisely. It’s a good time to look at long-term investment.”

I can’t help the wide grin I flash his way.

“Listen to you being all professional. You going to be my financial advisor or something?”

He gives me a droll look.

“Might as well, seeing as that’s what my future looks like,” he mumbles, ripping his muffin in half and shoving it into his mouth.