Chapter 5 The Time I Got Totally Screwed.
Harper's POV,
I sat down next to Crew and immediately felt four pairs of eyes lock onto me.
The blonde who'd made the comment about this being interesting leaned forward with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm Jessica. Connor's wife. He's the team captain… And you are?"
"Harper." I met her gaze directly instead of looking away like I wanted to. "Harper Sinclair."
"Harper." She repeated. "If I may ask… how long have you and Crew been together?"
"About a month." I kept my voice steady. "We met through a mutual friend."
"Oh a month." Jessica glanced at the other women. "That's interesting. Crew doesn't usually bring anyone to games. You must be pretty special."
The way she said it set my teeth on edge. Like she'd seen girls come and go and I was just the latest one.
I smiled at her. "Or maybe he just finally met someone worth bringing."
One of the other women snorted, then tried to cover it with a cough. Jessica's eyebrows went up slightly but her expression immediately changed to a smile.
"I like her already," the woman who'd snorted said. She had dark hair and kind, bright eyes. "I'm Ashley. Marcus's fiancée. Number 77. And by the way, don't let Jess intimidate you. She does this to everyone."
"I'm not intimidated," I said, and I realized I actually meant it. I'd spent ten years making myself smaller for Joel, apologizing for taking up space, pretending I didn't know things so he could feel smart. I was done with that.
"I'm just here to watch my boyfriend play hockey."
"Good answer," a redhead on Jessica's other side said. "I'm Brittany. Derek's girlfriend. And honestly, it's nice to see Crew with someone who has a backbone. Some of the girls these guys bring around are just here for the Instagram photos."
I relaxed slightly. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
"So what do you do, Harper?" Jessica asked. Her tone was friendlier now. "For work?"
"I'm a physical therapist. Or I was. I'm between jobs right now." I hesitated, then decided to just own it. "Truth is, I actually quit my last position a few weeks ago. Needed a change."
"What kind of physical therapy?" Ashley asked.
"Sports medicine. I specialized in treating athletes, mostly hockey players actually."
Jessica’s brows lifted a little, and she leaned forward in interest.
"....So I probably know more about what these guys put their bodies through than I should."
"Oh, that's cool," Brittany said. "Which means you can tell us when we should actually be worried versus when they're just being dramatic."
The lights dimmed and music blared through the arena. The announcer introduced the starting lineup and I watched Crew skate onto the ice with his teammates as the crowd went wild.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick photo of him on the ice, then posted it to Instagram with a simple caption: ‘Guess where I am tonight’ then added a heart emoji at the end part of the text.
If we were selling this relationship, I needed to actually sell it. Maya had said; three posts per week minimum.
So might as well start now.
"Smart," Jessica said, watching me. "Get ahead of the tabloids. Control your own narrative."
"That's the plan."
....
After some minutes of chatter, the game finally started and I watched Crew move across the ice.
He was fast, aggressive, the kind of player who made things happen. I could see why Joel hated him. They had completely different playing styles. Joel was defensive, cautious, and played it safe. Crew took risks.
"Do you follow hockey?" Jessica asked.
"Yeah, actually. I've been watching for about ten years. I know the game pretty well."
Jessica looked surprised. "Really? Most of the girls we get are still learning what icing means."
"Icing is when you shoot the puck from behind the center line all the way past the other team's goal line without anyone touching it," I said. "It's a delay of game tactic. They call it to keep teams from just dumping the puck down the ice when they're tired."
Ashley laughed. "Okay, she definitely knows hockey."
"My ex played," I said simply. "I learned."
I didn't specify which ex or for which team. Let them wonder.
The first period was physical.
Colorado was playing dirty, lots of little hits and slashes that the refs weren't calling. I watched Crew take an elbow to the ribs that made me wince.
"That should've been a penalty," I muttered.
"Right?" Brittany said. "The refs are blind tonight."
Halfway through the period, Crew was fighting for the puck along the boards when a Colorado player checked him hard.
Like really hard.
The kind of hit that made the glass shake and echoed through the arena.
Crew went down and didn't get up right away.
I was on my feet before I could think about it. "Come on," I said under my breath. "Get up."
Down on the ice, Crew was pushing himself up slowly. One of his teammates skated over but Crew waved him off. He got back on his skates but I could see the way he rolled his shoulder. The way he tested his weight on his left leg before skating.
"That hit was high," I said to no one in particular. "If he has any shoulder instability from previous injuries, that could've aggravated it."
Jessica’s gaze lingered on me a moment longer this time, her head tilting just slightly. "You can tell that from up here?"
"I can tell from the way he's moving. See how he's keeping his left arm closer to his body? He's protecting it. Could be nothing though, could just be a rotator cuff issue." I sat back down, my heart still racing.
"He'll probably try to play through it either way."
"They always do," Ashley said quietly. "Stubborn idiots."
The period ended and Crew skated off the ice. He looked up at our section as he left and our eyes met. I gave him a small nod and he nodded back.
"He checked on you," Brittany said. "That's so sweet of him."
"He better be checking on me after taking a hit like that," I said. "I'm going to have questions later."
Jessica laughed. "Oh, you'll fit in just fine here."
....
The second period started and I felt myself getting into it. Calling plays before they happened. And analyzing line changes.
At one point I muttered "They need to pull the goalie" right before the coach did exactly that.
"Okay, are you secretly a hockey analyst?" Ashley asked. "Because you're kind of scary good at this."
"Nah, just a fan," I said, smirking.
And suddenly, it happened in a flash.
One of Crew's teammate passed him the puck at the blue line and Crew took off. He decked around a defender, pulled back his stick, and fired. The puck went top shelf, right under the crossbar. The goal horn blared and the crowd exploded.
Crew's teammates mobbed him. And then he looked up at our section… right at me. And he pointed.
Without hesitating, I blew him a kiss.
The Jumbotron caught it. And suddenly, my face was on the giant screen... grinning, while the arena went wild.
When I looked back down at the ice, Crew was laughing.
"Oh my God!" Brittany squealed. "That was perfect!"
"Did you see his face?" Ashley said. "He totally wasn’t expecting that!"
Even Jessica was smiling. "Okay, I take back everything I thought earlier. You two are actually really cute together."
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a text from Maya.
Maya: That kiss just went viral. Joel's going to lose his mind. Well done girl.
I smiled and put my phone away.
The second period ended and the players headed back to the locker room. I was starting to think I might actually survive this night.
.....
During the break period, Jessica leaned over next to me and said, "So I have to ask. Are you Joel Hartley's ex-girlfriend?"
And for a second, it felt like everything went quiet... as all four women turned to look at me.
The thing is… I could've denied it easily. Could've played dumb.
But instead, I looked Jessica right in the eye and said, "Yeah. That's me. Joel and I dated for ten years. He dumped me two months ago because his agent thought being single was better for his brand." I shrugged.
"Turns out, moving on was the best decision I never got to make."
Ashley's mouth fell open. Brittany looked like she was confused on whether to be shocked or impressed. While Jessica studied me for a long moment.
Then she smiled. "Well, Joel Hartley is an idiot."
"That's what Crew said," I replied.
"Crew's right." Jessica raised her drink. "Welcome to the club, Harper. I think you're going to do just fine."
I lifted my own drink and clinked it against hers, but my hands were shaking out of panic.
Because this was real now.
And these women now knew who I was.
They knew I was dating Joel's biggest rival. And by tomorrow, everyone in the hockey world would know it too.
At this point… there was no going back.