Breathless (7 page)

“Yeah, that sounds great—when did you want to pick me
up?” Johnny frowned slightly for an instant before he laughed.

“Oh, I’m playing—but I could have a ticket put aside
for you so you could come and watch me play.” I felt a little disappointed; I
thought of all of the games I’d gone to for my friend in high school. At least,
I had known something about football. Johnny put one hand on my shoulder and I
felt as if I would vibrate out of my skin at any moment. “I would love for you
to come and watch me.” My heart skipped a beat in my chest at the word “love.”
I told myself I was being ridiculous, but it sent a little quiver through my
body even so.

“Can I bring my roommate? She—she likes hockey, too.”
Johnny nodded.

“I’ll have them put two tickets aside for you at the
box office.” He beamed down at me and gave my hair a quick tousle. “Can’t wait
to see you there,” he said.

“Thanks—I’m really excited. First game at my new
school!” Johnny’s hand left me and he told me to make sure to be there with
plenty of time; I watched as he started to head back the way he had come, and
felt my skin tingling all over, my heart beating faster. I glanced over my
shoulder, not wanting to give up the moment I’d just had, and caught sight of
Johnny looking back at me, a little smile still curving his lips as he went on
his way to another class. When I turned back around, I saw a group of girls who
had come to a stop, looking from Johnny to me. When they saw me looking at
them, I watched their expressions go from shock to envy, and then anger. It was
petty of me, and probably pretty stupid, considering how keyed up I had been
before, but I had to admit that it felt really good to see them all looking so
jealous that Johnny had paid some attention to me.

Chapter
Eight

I felt fidgety and nervous as Georgia and I got to the
hockey stadium, all the way at the edge of campus; it was farther away from the
dorms even than the football field. When I had told Gigi about Johnny inviting
me to come watch him play, she had taken it as a sure sign that he was
definitely into me—and I couldn’t help but think that he at least had
remembered my name, at least wanted me there, at least had said he’d love it if
I was in the crowd. It probably didn’t mean much of anything in the long-term,
but I had to admit to myself that he at least was showing me a little
attention. He had to be at least a little interested in me.

I stepped up to the box office and cleared my throat.
It had occurred to me more than once that as nice as Johnny might seem, this
all could be an elaborate prank. But I couldn’t just assume that of him; I had
to take him at face value that he had meant what he’d said. The woman, who
looked about my mom’s age or slightly older, looked up. “Hi,” I said, smiling
nervously. “I should have two tickets reserved there—uh…” I glanced around;
there were a few people behind Georgia and me in line. “They would have been
put aside by Johnny—Johnny Steel.” I tried to say the name as quietly as
possible; if it was a prank, I didn’t want anyone to know, or at least, as few
people as possible.

The woman looked down at a list and smiled. “Yes, I
see two tickets, right here. Can I get your ID for a second? I do have to make
sure they’re going to the right person.” Relief flooded through me as I dug my
ID out of my wallet and handed it over.

With our tickets in hand, Gigi and I went into the
stadium, both of us getting more and more excited; I had looked at the tickets
to try and figure out where we were sitting—what section, so we wouldn’t be
wandering around forever. We found the part of the stands where our tickets had
us and went through the gate to that area, and I looked around at the seat
numbers. As we moved forward, and forward, closer and closer to the ice, I
finally could see that the tickets that Johnny had had them hold for us were
right behind the glass, right next to the area where the team would be. “Holy
crap!” Georgia said as we sat down. She gave me a little grin.

“They probably just have, like, a certain group of
seats they can choose from,” I said, though my cheeks were already warming up.
I would be able to see everything—and especially Johnny. When Georgia had
mentioned we were going to the game that night to some of the other girls on
our floor, they’d told us that Johnny played Left Wing, that he was one of—if
not the—best player on the team. Angelina had been nearly green with envy at
the fact that we’d gotten free tickets from one of the star players—she was a
huge hockey fan, and the college’s team was one of the reasons she had chosen
the school.

We settled in to watch the game, and I looked out over
the ice constantly, watching as the two teams came out and started warming up.
My heart was pounding, and as soon as I saw Johnny, I knew I was grinning like
an idiot. “We should have made a giant sign,” Georgia muttered to me as
everyone around us cheered, elbowing me playfully.

“Right,” I countered, “Because nothing says ‘date me’
like acting like an obsessed fan-girl.” Georgia laughed and we were swept up in
the excitement of the crowd and the action of the game.

I really had very little idea of what was going on—and
I felt a little bit guilty, more than once, that here I was, watching a game I
didn’t even know anything about, when someone like Angelina would have given an
arm—or at least a finger—to be there. But it was obvious to me as I watched
that Johnny was a star for a reason: he was as tough on the ice as he was nice
in person, fast and brutal pushing through other players, and I was barely even
able to keep track of the puck as he raced from one end of the ice to the other
with it, passing it with just a quick movement to one of the other members of
his team or intercepting it from the other team. There were no actual fights,
but it was easy for me to see how hockey had developed a reputation as a brutal
sport—players jostling and shoving, knocking into each other. Even with pads it
was hard for me to imagine how any of them managed to escape unscathed.

It almost hit me like a shock when the clock ticked
down and the game was over. Our team had won by two points, and everyone in the
crowd was cheering, a few people talking about what a great game it had been.
Georgia and I were cocooned in sound, cheering ourselves, jumping up and down
and laughing as everyone celebrated around us. “Come on,” Georgia told me
quickly, as people started to filter out—the other side had started to leave
almost immediately, less excited and enthusiastic due to their loss. “Let’s see
if we can find him.”

We somehow found our way to the locker room area and
hovered outside, waiting with a dozen or so other people for the players to
come out. I could still feel the jumpy, nervous, excited feeling bubbling up
under my skin. I told myself that Johnny wouldn’t even notice
me, that
he’d come straight to me, that I shouldn’t be
disappointed no matter what happened. He would react the way he would react,
and just because he had said he would love it if I came to the game, it didn’t
mean that he hadn’t said the same thing to a dozen other girls.

Johnny came out and I held my breath, not wanting to
be the kind of girl who would make a fool of herself by screaming. A bunch of
the people clustered around the locker room entrance moved in closer, and
Johnny smiled, politely thanking them, shaking hands, accepting the attention.
I saw him looking around and I stood on the balls of my feet, wanting to stand
out—but not willing to be more obvious. When he spotted me and came straight
over, I felt my heart flip over in my chest.

“Hey,” he said, his smile broadening as he approached;
some of the other people who had been talking to him so excitedly
half-followed, stopping a few feet away. “What did you think?” I could see the
confidence in his eyes, in spite of the question.

“You were great!” Georgia echoed my praise, adding
that the game had been so exciting. For just a moment, it was as if there was
no one else in the world, and I felt my cheeks burning as I looked up at
Johnny.

“I’m just glad I didn’t humiliate myself while you
were watching,” Johnny said, and I rolled my eyes. I could tell that he never
thought he might embarrass himself; he knew he was good. The rest of the
players started to come out, dressed once more in their regular clothes or with
the jackets Gigi and I had seen before, their hair wet from the showers, and
Johnny raised his hand to acknowledge a loud call-out from one of them. “Do you
feel up to hanging out for a while? The team and I were just going to chill for
a bit, maybe get a beer.” I hesitated. I had a really early class the next day.

“I wish I could,” I said, making a face to show how
much I regretted it. Georgia elbowed me hard in the ribs and I barely kept my
face straight. “I’ve got a crazy-early class tomorrow, and I don’t want to be
totally useless the first week of classes.” Johnny frowned, looking
disappointed rather than angry or upset.
Mmy
self-discipline wavered for a moment, but I just gave Johnny a sad smile and
said that any other time, I’d love to hang out.

Johnny brightened. “In that case, you have to promise
me you’ll come out to the party this weekend.” I laughed and promised, and he
left after giving me another quick smile, moving to catch up with his team.

“Girl, you need to get your head checked,” Georgia
said, as we headed out to one of the other exits. I rolled my eyes.

“I think you bruised one of my ribs, by the way,” I
said, giving her a pretend scowl. “And anyway, I don’t want to look too easy. I
don’t want to be too accessible. If he wants me, he’ll have to work for it.” I
said it confidently, turning my nose up a little bit and laughing, but deep
down, I wished that I had gone for it. I wished that I was a little less
responsible. I wished that I was a little more daring.

Chapter
Nine

Friday night finally came, and as Georgia and I walked
across campus I felt like I might explode out of my own skin, I was so nervous
and excited. I couldn’t walk fast enough—I almost wished that Georgia hadn’t
talked me into the short, tight pencil skirt I was wearing, but I couldn’t deny
that it looked sexy, especially with the heels she had convinced me to borrow
to wear with it. If Johnny thought I was cute in jeans and a t-shirt, he wasn’t
going to be able to resist me in this outfit.

We could hear it raging from a block away, and for a
moment I felt almost—not quite scared, but intimidated. It was obvious from the
pounding music and the loud sound of shouting that there were a ton of people
there. Johnny’s boast that his frat threw the best parties was probably
well-founded. “How do I look?” I asked Gigi nervously as we got closer and
closer.

“Great. You look fab. Stop fidgeting!” I grinned, even
though my heart was pounding in my chest and my mouth was more than a little
dry.

The frat house was crawling with people—the front yard
had at least a dozen people milling around, drinking, joking, and dancing, some
of them in frat-approved togas. As we went in, the heat and humidity hit me
like a ton of bricks, and I immediately started looking for Johnny, trying to
see him through the pounding bass, the knots and clusters of people. I was
overwhelmed, thinking for just a moment that it would be impossible to find
him.

Georgia and I made it to the backyard, and finally I
spotted him, standing off to the side, surrounded by a group of girls. I
laughed, shaking my head. “Well, go over there,” Georgia said when I pointed
him out to her; the girls who were clustered around Johnny obviously were
hanging on his every word, oblivious to anything else going on.

“Ugh, I feel like such an idiot; of course he’s
surrounded by girls. He’s never going to even know I’m here.” Georgia shook her
head, giving me a nudge.

“Have a little faith, will you?” As if on cue, Johnny
looked up to glance around the yard, and I nearly jumped when his gaze fell on
me. Immediately, he said something to the girls and gently pushed through their
ranks, coming right over to Georgia and me with a huge grin on his face.

“You made it out!” He hugged me, and then held me out
at arm’s length, looking me up and down. “Becky, you’re going to kill
me—promise me you’ll never wear anything this sexy to a game.” I laughed and
shook my head. “Have either of you gotten anything to drink yet?” he glanced
from me to Georgia and we both agreed that we hadn’t. “Let me get you both
something.” He gave me another quick hug, and Georgia looked at me as he left
for a second before we both started laughing.

Off to the side, away from the people having a good
time, I saw the girl who had been talking to Johnny days before—the one who had
been so into him, touching her hair and flirting as obviously as I’d ever seen
any girl flirt in my life. She was looking me up and down with an expression of
disgust on her face, as if she had just bitten down on the bitterest lemon in
existence. I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore her, just as Johnny came back
with two big red Solo cups.

To my surprise, Johnny was almost as sweet and
attentive to Georgia as he was to me—he asked her about her major and got to
know her a little bit. Fortunately, Georgia had gone to the trouble of looking
up information about hockey after I’d told her that my excuse for bringing her
to the game was that she loved the sport; but his main focus somehow still
managed to be on me, and as I sipped my drink I couldn’t help but feel a warm,
tingly sensation working through me, knowing that all the girls wanted him—and
he didn’t seem to see a single one.