What Are The Odds?: A college hockey romance. (Phil-U Book 1)
What Are The Odds?: Chapter 41

Levi.

The guys were in the kitchen, two out of three of them looking like they were close to death. I on the other hand was grinning from ear to ear. Will froze with a pot in his hand.

“Looks like someone got laid last night,” he quipped.

And again this morning. Not to mention blown too. Not that I was about to brag about mine and Grace’s sex life to the guys, no matter how much I wanted to. Grace wasn’t a hook up, so as far as I was concerned, what happened behind closed doors stayed between us.

“Any drama last night?” I asked.

“All tame,” Will answered.

At least the antagoniser had left with me. He looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

“How’s the head?” I asked Ryan.

He grunted. “As full as my DMs. Cheers for that.”

Will smothered a laugh with his coffee cup.

“You deserved it,” I retorted. “You almost cockblocked me.”

“Almost being the keyword,” Tripp mumbled.

I glared at him. Might be time he invested in some soundproof headphones. I hoped last night and this morning would be on repeat.

“Is your exclusive buddy joining us for breakfast?” Will questioned.

“Actually.” I paused, waiting for the teasing to come. “Girlfriend.”

Will beamed, a proper toothy smile you didn’t often see from him. “About time.”

Ryan sneered. “Hughesy’s a lucky girl.”

“Agreed,” Tripp added. “I’ve seen your dick.”

Showering after trainings and games aside, there wasn’t much modesty in this house. I’d been caught in a compromising situation by the guys before. And I’d caught them in turn. No one was ever more embarrassed than the girl. I made a note to make sure I never got carried away with Grace on the couch or forgot to lock my door at night. If any of the guys saw her flushed like I had, or moaning like she did, I’d tear them a new asshole. On cue, Grace slid into the kitchen doorway. She was dressed in the clothes I’d left out. When I invited her to pregame, I should have told her to bring a change of clothes. We’d both known she would be spending the night in my bed. She was wearing my hockey hoodie as a dress and long socks that were several sizes too big. At the guys’ surprised expressions, she blushed.

“I, ugh, didn’t have spare clothes,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Yeah?” Tripp mused. “What’d you sleep in last night then, Hughesy?”

I clipped him over the ear. Basically everything from the fridge was on the bench. I guess Will was planning a cook up. I took out a chopping board and reached for the bacon. Grace slipped into the spare barstool between Tripp and Ryan. Her cheeks were still kind of flushed. Mine probably were too.

“Grace,” Ryan said, clearing his throat. “Now you’re officially Levi’s girlfriend, I need you for a TikTok.”

Grace leant her forearms on the bench. “Actually, I have a get out of TikTok free pass.”

He frowned. “A what?”

“I took a video of you last night.”

He actually looked afraid. Damn, I wish I’d been the one to take the video. I’d never thought the key to leveraging my embarrassing moments was to have a kitty of his on hand. Ryan glared at me.

“Your girlfriend is wicked, Levi.”

I smirked, thinking of all the wicked things she’d done to me.

“Yeah,” I agreed, winking at Grace. “She is.”

Somehow, Ryan still managed to convince Grace to film the TikTok. It was some new buddy’s girlfriend trend he wanted to jump on the bandwagon of. Months ago, the word girlfriend would’ve freaked me the fuck out. Now, the idea of Grace not being around was stranger. I watched in the corner of my eye as Ryan bumped Grace’s shoulder and stared at her strangely, mouthing words that made zero sense to me. This was some weird trend. I hope Tripp was filming waist up. Each time Grace moved her arms my hoodie rose higher than I’d like other guys seeing. Whilst the bacon cooked, I leant against the bench, pulling up the photo Grace and I had taken before we left home last night. She was grinning at the camera, the fresh alcohol from beer pong stealing away any shyness. I opened my Instagram account and loaded the photo. I typed in the caption then hit post before I could second guess myself. It was the first photo I’d ever posted that didn’t link back to hockey. I wanted the world to know I was taken. Hopefully this would stop the late-night texts I received. I’d awoken to four. One from Summer, two from Veronica and one from a girl who’d stolen my number from one of the guys.

“I take it you didn’t beat the shit out of Richardson?” Will said, flipping the eggs.

The mention of Ryker’s name caused my blood to simmer.

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“So you and Hughesy are good?”

I nodded. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”

“What’s next then?”

I tucked my phone in my pocket.

“What do you mean?”

Will was about to shit on my good mood. I could tell.

“The Colorado Eagles can call you up at any minute and get you to make the move.”

They could. Technically. It was in the deal we’d negotiated. Skip out on college and start my professional career. But I didn’t expect that to happen. They were all for me seeing out the remainder of my senior year.

“And even if they don’t, the school year has less than six months left. What happens when Grace graduates and moves home?”

“Dude!” I exclaimed. “Can’t I just enjoy this for five minutes?”

But it was too late. Visions of Grace and I boarding separate flights and never seeing one another again flooded my mind.