What Are The Odds?: A college hockey romance. (Phil-U Book 1)

Levi.

Grace barely made it two steps before I found myself calling out her name. I stood up, ignoring the protests of the girl by my side. Had I been planning on going home with her? Yeah. But I couldn’t pass this opportunity up.

“I’ll drive you,” I told Grace.

I reached into my pocket, pulling out my keys. I’d contemplated whether to drink or drive tonight. I was glad I’d chosen the latter. Grace’s eyes moved between me and the girl standing beside me. Damn. I didn’t want this going against me. Had I known Grace was at the party, I would’ve remained solo. But by the time I saw her in the kitchen, the wheels with blondie had been set in motion.

“I was about to head out anyway,” I lied. “And the dorms are on my way home.”

A slight exaggeration, but I was banking on Grace not knowing her way around enough yet to call me out on it.

“Um.” Her forehead furrowed as she thought. “Okay. Sure. But I need to find my friends first.”

I checked my phone. It’d just gone midnight.

“How about I’ll meet you at my car in fifteen?”

Grace nodded before saying farewell to the guys. I couldn’t help but stare at her ass as she climbed the stairs. Her jeans hugged her body perfectly. A body I’d catalogued after spending forty-five minutes staring at during the media photos. When I turned back to the guys, Tripp was frowning.

“What?” I murmured.

His frown deepened. “What are you playing at?”

“Nothing.”

“Hughesy’s a cool girl.”

“I know.”

In the corner of my eye, I noticed the blonde shift, awaiting an explanation. I smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, I, ugh, have an early morning training.”

“No we don’t,” Ryan interjected.

I groaned. Jackass. With a roll of her eyes, the girl stomped off. She likely thought I was blowing her off to hook up with Grace. I guess she wasn’t entirely wrong. Though I sure as hell didn’t plan on making a move tonight. I was starting to realise Grace Hughes was going to be a slow burn. Here’s hoping Ryker didn’t pick up on that. If he came on too strong, he’d blow his shot. For the first time in my life, I was trying to cross the friend zone first.

*

I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets as I waited by the car for Grace. Right on time, she walked out of the party. Alone, to my relief. I’d been worried she’d have a friend or two in tow. Her eyebrows sceptically pulled together when I opened the door for her. Maybe I was laying it on too thick. Once buckled in, I edged my car off the lawn then headed towards the main road. Grace leant forward, cranking the heater.

“Is there a servo between here and my dorm?” she asked.

“What the hell is a servo?”

“Gas station,” she clarified. “I’m snacky and the vending machine in my building has the worst snacks.”

I rumbled a laugh. “I can do snacks.”

On cue, we approached a gas station. Grace slid from the car once I slowed to a stop. I followed her inside. She eagerly headed straight for the confectionary. Pulling her lip between her teeth, she scanned the shelves.

“It’s insane that even chippies are different here.”

“Chippies?”

“Potato chips,” she clarified. “All of yours are thin. Where the hell is the crinkle cut? Only Light & Tangy tastes better when it’s thin.”

It was like she was talking in a foreign language. While she scoured the racks, another idea occurred to me. After locating a sim card, I met her at the checkout. I placed the cardboard packet on the counter.

“And whatever she has there,” I told the cashier.

Grace defiantly shook her head. “I’ve got this.”

“Just add the snacks, Hughesy.”

She narrowed her eyes, her mouth pouting in challenge, before she set her food on the counter. After keying it up, I took the bag from the cashier then guided Grace back to my car. She didn’t waste a beat before ripping into a packet of potato chips. She held them out to me. I took a couple.

“I got you something,” I said. 

She frowned. “You did?”

I reached into the bag. “Here.”

She studied the paper packet. After realising what it was, she tilted her head back and laughed.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“It was two-dollars, Hughesy.”

“Fifteen if we’re including all my snacks.” She popped another potato chip in her mouth. “And hey, what’s with Hughesy?”

I shrugged. “Nicknames are a hockey thing.”

I started the car, waking the heater.

“How long between here and my dorm?” Grace checked.

“About ten minutes.”

Her eyes lit-up. “Do you have Spotify on your phone?”

When I nodded, she held out her hand. Sceptically, I reached into my back pocket before placing my phone in Grace’s palm.

“We should be able to get four songs in,” she said.

The phone light illuminated her excited blue eyes.

“What’s a song that always pumps you up? Not, like, gym pump up. But one that gets you out of a bad mood.”

“Um.” I thought for a beat. “Maybe–”

“No. Don’t tell me. Add it to the queue.”

I took the phone from her, searching the song and adding it to the queue. She snatched the phone back, lip pulled between her teeth once again as she searched for another song.

“Now add a song that reminds you of a good moment.”

That was easier. I knew just the song. Grace connected my phone to the Bluetooth then hit play on the first song. To no surprise, I didn’t recognise it. But I also didn’t hate it. It was called Booster Seat. Grace quietly sung along, moving her head from side to side. She was going to get a shock when my turn came around. The passing streetlights flickered in her wide eyes. She wasn’t lying about being into music. When my song blasted through the speakers, Grace wriggled excitedly.

“Great choice,” she said.

I arched an eyebrow. “You like Kendrick Lamar?”

“How could you not?”

Turns out Grace was a big fan. She knew every word, and she proved that by rapping every lyric to King Kunta. She didn’t miss a beat. By the time she was done, she was well and truly out of breath and my face ached from smiling so hard.

“That was fucking impressive,” I told her.

Laughing, she leant her head against the seat, eyes focussing on the road ahead. I was probably only two minutes from the dorms, so I took a quick detour. If Grace noticed, she didn’t say anything. The next song was another change of pace. General Motors by Verge Collection. Grace’s eyes glossed over as her mind drifted far away from here.

I cleared my throat. “What memory do you associate with this?”

“My parent’s funeral.”

Surprise overtook my expression. I hadn’t been expecting that. I thought we were choosing good memories. I had.

“We were back at my house for the wake. It was getting late, and I was exhausted from putting on a front and having people tell me how amazing my parents were.” She turned to face me, head lazily lolling to the side. “So my brothers and I did a runner. We nabbed three bottles of wine and took them down to the beach. We stayed there for hours. Talking. Drinking. And then sitting silently while we listened to music.” She smiled fondly. “This song was playing when the sun came up. And as much as the funeral had sucked, in that moment, with my brothers beside me, I knew we’d be okay.”

My detour was quicker than I planned. I pulled into the parking lot closest to the dorms. I should’ve done another lap. Shifting the car into park, I left it running.

“How did your parents die?”

“Car accident.”

I couldn’t fathom losing my parents. At the same time would be brutal, too. I was close to my sister, but things sure as hell would feel a lot lonelier if we didn’t have our parents around.

“You can relax, Holloway. This is a good memory for me. It reminds me of two of the best things in my life.”

I craned my head in question.

Grace smiled. “The beach and my brothers.”

“Are you still close with them?”

She nodded. “We talk every day.”

When her song ended and mine began, the shift in tone was awkward. At least for me. Grace furrowed her forehead as she tried to piece together the song.

“Motley Crue?” she questioned, laughing. “This is random.”

“They played Kickstart Your Heart when we won the national title last year,” I explained. “Even over the screams of the crowd and the team, I could hear it clear as day. Whenever I hear it now, I remember that feeling when the buzzer went off and we became champions.”

Grace’s smile was so sincere it was disarming. “That’s an amazing memory, Levi.”

For me, there wasn’t anything better. Hockey was my life. Which is why I couldn’t fuck this up. I needed the football team gone so my guys could focus on their game. Gym fights and petty distractions wouldn’t help us win a championship again.