“What in the world are you wearing?” My mom’s shrill voice startled me so much that I almost tripped on the bottom step. After I regained my balance, I turned and looked upstairs. She was peering over the railing, dressed in a cocktail dress with her hair and makeup perfectly done, and diamonds dripping from her ears, neck, and wrist. She looked like the perfect trophy wife while I was dressed for warmth and comfort since I was headed to the rink to watch Corby play—something she didn’t need to know.
Tugging on the bottom of my sweater, I pointed at the logo embroidered on the right upper chest area. “I’ll be on school property, so I have to be in Black Mountain Academy approved clothes.”
“I will never understand how a school that costs so much has the worst taste in uniforms.” She tapped her finger against the face of the Rolex wrapped around her wrist. “You’d better hurry. I need Edwin to drive me to the charity gala in thirty minutes. Your father is still in the office and will be meeting me at the event.”
I would have loved to point out that there wouldn’t be any need to rush if she’d let me get my license, but arguing with her never accomplished anything. At least I only had a couple more months to go, and I had the perfect excuse to get out of here before she asked where I was going. Since Emily and Sarah caught the flu bug going around school, neither of them could pick me up. I didn’t want to miss Corby’s game, and I had been hoping my mother would be too busy to pay attention to what I was doing, like usual. “I’m ready to go, so he’ll be back in a jiffy.”
I hurried out the door before she could say anything else and practically dived in the car. “Drive it like you stole it,” I teased.
“No need to worry, Miss Cushing. I’ll be back in plenty of time to get your mother to her event,” Edwin reassured me with a smile.
“Phew!” I slumped against the back of my seat. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“I’m just doing my job,” he disagreed as he drove like the pro he was.
When we arrived at the rink, I squinted up at the building. “If you can figure out how to avoid telling my mom where you dropped me off, I’d appreciate it.”
“Your mother rarely speaks to me, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
I flashed him an apologetic smile before I climbed out of the car. My mom could be such a witch, but I was lucky her attitude worked in my favor tonight. I knew she was going to find out about Corby eventually, but I wanted our reprieve to last as long as possible. The closer I was to my eighteenth birthday—and freedom from being under my mom’s thumb—the better. She was used to me giving in to whatever she wanted, but that wasn’t going to happen when it came to my relationship with Corby. I planned to fight for him as hard as he went against the other team when he was on the ice.
When I walked into the rink, I headed straight for the stands and grabbed the same seat I’d used for each of their home games over the past two weeks. Corby hadn’t exaggerated how superstitious hockey players were. I’d almost sat somewhere else last weekend, but half the guys had yelled while pointing at where they wanted me to go. Sarah and Emily had giggled their butts off and teased me about being the Cougars mascot. All the jokes had been worth it when Corby scored another hat trick and pointed at me after each goal.
It was weird being at the rink by myself, but a bunch of the other people in the stands smiled and greeted me as I sat down. Everyone knew who Corby was since he’d quickly become the star of the team. Even if people didn’t see us together after every game, it was impossible to miss my connection to him with how he acknowledged me whenever he scored—something that happened again two times tonight.
It didn’t take long before I forgot about being alone at the game as I cheered the Cougars on with everyone else around me. After watching four games, I felt as though I was getting a hang of how the game was played and was finally able to follow what was happening, which was a good thing since I didn’t have Sarah around to explain it all. I was proud of myself as I screamed, clapped, and stomped my way through yet another victory for the Cougars.
My throat was a little hoarse by the time the game was over, so I grabbed a hot chocolate from the snack area while I waited for Corby to come out of the locker room. He was always one of the first guys to finish getting cleaned up, and I expected he would move even faster tonight since he knew I was on my own. His protectiveness wasn’t something I was used to, but it was so sweet. So I wasn’t surprised in the slightest when he came striding toward me as I was just finishing the last of my drink.
“Congratulations on another great game.” I rubbed my cheek against his broad chest when he wrapped his arms around me.
He brushed his lips against the top of my head before ending the hug. “It’s starting to look like we can’t lose when my good luck charm is cheering me on in the stands.”
“You’re turning me into a true fan already. I think I’m starting to understand how hockey works.” I pulled my mittens off and rubbed my hands together to warm them up. “About halfway through the game, some of the rules started to click in my brain.”
Corby’s blue eyes gleamed with happiness as he grinned down at me. “Nice. Which rules did you figure out?”
“The frosting one, for sure.” When his brow wrinkled, I bit my bottom lip and wondered if I’d gotten it wrong. “You know, the rule where you can’t hit the puck past the red line all the way at the end on the other team’s side of the rink?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “That’s icing, babe. Not frosting.”
“Oops,” I giggled, my cheeks heating over my mistake. “So you ice the puck and frost cupcakes?”
“You’re the only person I know who would put it that way, but yeah.” Any embarrassment I felt was wiped away when he cupped my cheeks and tilted my head back. My breath caught in my chest as he lowered his head, and my eyes drifted shut when his mouth touched mine. My lips parted on a gasp, and he took full advantage by sweeping his tongue inside to tangle with mine. I clung to his arms while he kissed me until my head was spinning. Before Corby pulled away, he nibbled on my lower lip and groaned deep in his throat when I trembled in response.
I was so going to bake a batch of cupcakes tomorrow in honor of our first kiss. And not the gluten-free kind that my mother would approve of, either. I needed to commemorate this moment, and cupcakes with tons of frosting were my new favorite dessert.
10
Corby
I didn’t feel great about hitching a ride with Emme for a college visit, but she’d been damn insistent on planning this trip when she found out I hadn’t been to my top pick’s campus during a random conversation in the cafeteria at lunch. When she’d threatened to go without me on my first bye weekend from games, I’d finally caved. No way in hell did I want to spend my only free time in months away from Emme while she wandered around a college campus where tons of guys were bound to hit on her. Not when I’d barely gotten any time with her since we’d started dating. Until now, we’d been limited to me driving her to school in the morning and home from my games on the weekends, plus hanging out at school. For the first time in my life, I resented how much time I spent on hockey because it kept me away from Emme so much.