Playing to Win (The Trouble with Tomboys Book2)

by Stephanie Street

  “I promised myself I wouldn’t do that. Put the team at risk.”

  Asher shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be like that.”

  “Yeah, but it could. We’re already competing for the same position.”

  Asher growled. “So frustrating.” His hands came up to frame my face. “I don’t even care about hockey.”

  “Then explain it to me. Why are you even playing?” It made no sense.

  His face twisted as he dealt with some internal debate. Finally, he exhaled a deep breath. “Because of my dad. He wants me to play.”

  “And you don’t want to let him down?” I could understand the feeling.

  He shook his head. “It’s more than that. We made a deal. When I began to get really serious about my music-” He looked up as though just realizing we still stood in the student parking lot and the bell would soon be ringing. “Can we talk about this later? We’re going to be late.”

  “Are you kidding? You’re just going to leave me hanging?” What did he hide?

  He grinned. “No. I’m going to leave you with this.” His lips crushed mine in an all encompassing kiss that ended too soon.

  Holy smokes!

  “That’s not fair,” I said with my eyes still closed once he pulled away.

  “Jordan,” he said my name and waited for me to open my eyes.

  “What?”

  “I really, really want this to work. I haven’t felt-” he stopped again and this time I thought I might punch him.

  “Haven’t felt what?”

  He dropped a quick kiss on my lips. “I haven’t felt anything like this before. I don’t want to give up. I want to give us a chance. Will you take a chance with me?”

  Would I?

  Right then everything seemed scary. Being with Asher. Not being with him. Risking the balance that existed on our team.

  But like him, I’d never felt anything like this, either. And letting it go hardly seemed an option.

  “Yes. I’ll take a chance with you.”

  Asher’s mouth split into a beautiful, happy grin.

  “But! But, we have to promise not to let our feelings mess with what’s happening on the ice. Deal?” I held out my hand.

  Asher took it, but didn’t shake it like I expected. Instead, he held it securely as he leaned down to kiss me again. “Deal.”

  We walked into school hand in hand. I’d never once held hands with a guy at school before and it seemed everyone noticed me holding Asher’s. Part of me wanted to rip my hand out of his grasp and push him away, but why? I didn’t feel ashamed of him, exactly the opposite.

  Asher squeezed my hand just as Natalie came barreling around the corner, giving me just the warning I needed to brace for impact.

  Natalie’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open when she saw us together, but then almost immediately her expression turned smug.

  “Whatever is about to happen, I am so sorry,” I said just loud enough for him to hear.

  Asher laughed as he took hold of my shoulders, pushing me in front of him like a shield.

  “Chicken!”

  “You know it.” His breath hit the skin on my neck giving me goosebumps. He must have noticed because he blew gently again and chuckled.

  “Not funny.”

  “It’s a little funny.”

  Ten feet in front of us, Natalie squealed, drawing the attention of anyone in a fifty mile radius. “OMG! Did I call it or what?”

  “Nat, calm down.” I should just permanently stain my cheeks red. It would easier. I wanted to switch places and hide behind Asher.

  “No way! You two are just too cute together. I’m so excited for you.” She punctuated her statement with another squee and a hug that sandwiched me between her and Asher.

  “What on earth is going on?” Kelly asked, watching us with one hand on her hip.

  Before I could answer, Natalie broke away to hug Kelly. “Jordan and Asher are together.”

  Kelly glanced at Asher and I where we were indeed standing together. “Um, yeah. So?”

  “Are they always like this?” Asher whispered in my ear.

  “I told you,” I said out the side of my mouth.

  Natalie rolled her eyes as she exhaled an impatient breath. “No. Together, together.”

  Kelly’s brows rose. “Oh.” She took a second look at us, noticing Asher’s hand on my hip and the way his chin rested on my shoulder. “Oh!”

  “Yeah.” Natalie nodded with satisfaction.

  Enough embarrassment for one morning, thank you!

  “Okay, guys. Let’s move along. We’re drawing a crowd,” I said, waving my friends forward. And it was true. Several people had stopped to gawk at Asher and I.

  It would be hard to miss all the looks he got from girls at school on a regular day. But today? Holding my hand? Now, they were staring at me. And not in a nice way. I’d be lucky if I didn’t get my eyes clawed out by day’s end.

  “Does this mean you’re going to sit with us at lunch, Asher?” Natalie asked.

  “Oh, um-” he looked at me. “We haven’t discussed it, but I usually hang out with Jarom and the guys during lunch. With passing periods on either side, we can usually jam for almost an hour.”

  “Jam?” Kelly asked.

  “Yeah, I kind of joined their band and we practice during lunch since I don’t have much time after school.” He shot me a look. “With hockey and everything.”

  I got a warm feeling knowing everything referred to hanging out with me.

  “That is so cool,” Natalie said.

  “Don’t be such a groupie, Nat.” Kelly rolled her eyes.

  Natalie’s cheeks flushed. “I’m not a groupie,” she said to Kelly before turning back to Asher and me. “Although, I would love to hear you guys play sometime.”

  Asher nodded. “I’m sure that could be arranged. Let me talk to the guys.” He glanced down at his empty hand and stopped. “Dang. I left my guitar in my car. I better go get it before the bell rings.” He turned to me, his warm brown eyes melting my heart a little. He was so very hot. “See you later?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good.” He kissed me quickly before smiling at my friends and hurrying back the way we came.

  Natalie and Kelly flanked me, one on either side, as we watched him go.

  “I can’t believe you get to kiss him.” A comment I might have expected from Natalie, but it came from Kelly.

  “You better watch your back, Jordan. Every girl in this school’s crushing on your new boyfriend.”

  I cringed, knowing she was right. “We better get to class.”

  “He must be pretty good if Jarom asked him to be in their band. I’ve heard them a few times and they’re not bad,” Kelly said.

  “Really? I didn’t know that. When did you hear them?” I asked.

  Kelly shrugged. “At the concert in the park thing they do over the summer. I went with Angie. Jarom, I can’t remember what their band is called, but Bash and Adam are good, too.”

  “Well, Asher’s amazing.” My friends knew all about me listening to Asher out my bedroom window by now. “And guess what else?” I told them about Asher mentoring Payton, teaching him to play the guitar and sing.

  “Wow, that’s really awesome,” Kelly said.

  We’d stopped outside my first period class. They both had classes close by and the bell would ring any second.

  “It will be if it helps keep him out of trouble.”

  Asher

  A week later I still couldn’t believe Jordan agreed to be my girlfriend. And even though we tried to keep things on the down low, especially at hockey, I couldn’t deny how crazy I felt about her.

  Her brother, Payton, on the other hand, was a whole different story. I wasn’t crazy about him at all.

  “Dude, why are you even doing this?” I asked him after our third day working together. I hadn’t told Jordan what a little turd her brother could be, but that’s exactly the word I would use to describe him. She probably
knew, anyway.

  Payton slumped down in his seat, one of the school’s guitars held haphazardly in his grip. The kid had no respect. “What do you care? Let’s just do the time, man. It’s not like anyone’s checking on us or anything.”

  Bingo.

  Everyone had something to motivate them. I had no idea what motivated Payton, but with one little sentence he revealed it to me.

  “Oh, really. Is that what you think?”

  Payton frowned, his eyes meeting mine for the first time since I walked into the middle school band room. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you really think Ms. Jackson and Mr. Hooper are going to just let us mess around in here for an hour everyday without any kind of accountability?” I made a scoffing noise. “You’re crazy.” I sat back in my chair with my arms crossed over my chest and waited.

  Payton sat forward. I tried not to cringe at the careless way he handled the instrument in his hands. “What are you talking about? No one said anything to me. What do I have to do, take a test or something?”

  That would have been easier to plan than what I had in mind, but the stakes weren’t high enough. If Payton had an ounce of his sister’s competitiveness, a test wouldn’t cut it.

  “A test? Dude, no.” I shook my head and sighed. “Man, you have to perform. In front of the whole school.” I hoped I wasn’t lying to him. As soon as I finished with Payton, I’d have to pay a little visit to Mr. Hooper. And then I’d have to convince Jordan to help me pull this off.

  Payton’s face turned pale. “I have to what?”

  “Yeah, there’s gonna be a school talent show and you have to perform. That’s part of the program. They don’t want us to just sit in here and do nothing. And to prove we haven’t been-” I clapped my hand down on his shoulder. “You have to perform what you’ve learned.”

  “No. No. I’m not doing it.” Payton shook his head, looking dazed.

  “Oh, really? Then I guess you’d rather do the other thing?” I was taking a chance and I knew it, but what other choice did I have?

  Payton’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know about that?”

  Ha! I didn’t know anything, but I was right. Working with me had been option number two, the lesser of two evils. Payton had been a bad boy indeed.

  I shrugged. “Does it matter?” His eyes wavered with a flicker of doubt. “What’s it going to be, Payton?”

  He still wanted to be the tough guy, the one with the upper hand. “Maybe I don’t care. Maybe I just did this because it sounded easier.” He looked me in the eye. “Performing in a talent show doesn’t sound easy.”

  I’d have to sweeten the pot. An idea had occurred to me as we talked. Probably overkill, but I didn’t care. No skin off my nose either way.

  “Okay, Payton. Fine. I’m willing to make you a deal because you’re my girlfriend’s little brother. Consider it a friends and family thing.”

  Payton’s top lip curled. “I can’t believe you kiss my sister.”

  “Believe it. And I love every second of it.” I held back a laugh while he pretended to throw up in his mouth.

  “You ready to hear my offer,” I asked.

  Payton hesitated, but only for a second, before nodding. Whatever the other option might be, it must suck.

  “Okay, if you go through with this and you don’t give me any crap while we work to get you ready to perform a song in front of all your friends-” Was it my imagination, or did he turn a little green? “If you commit to this, right here, right now, there’s a ticket in it for you.”

  “A ticket? For what?” I’d piqued his interest. Good. Now for the clincher.

  “A ticket to see Carly Ryan in concert on November first.”

  Payton’s mouth dropped open before he caught himself and laughed. “Yeah, right, man. Like you have a ticket to see Carly Ryan.”

  “Not just one ticket, three. One for you. One for me. And one for Jordan.” Or I would as soon as I made a phone call. It would only be a matter of one ticket, however, because two would already be waiting for me at will call the night of the concert, just like they always were and had been since she hit it big when I was five. It didn’t matter where she was in the world, I’d get a text before every show letting me know she’d left two tickets with my name on them at will call. I’d taken her up on them a few times, and only since I got my driver’s license, but they were always there.

  Payton scoffed. “How do you have three tickets to see Carly Ryan? Those tickets sold out weeks ago.”

  The whole tour had sold out in under an hour.

  “What’ll it be, Payton? This is the deal. Take it or leave it, but I’m only going to offer it once. I don’t have to sit here and torture myself everyday. I can do something else to get my hours.” I acted as though I didn’t care, but I did. Jordan would be heartbroken if this didn’t work out.

  “You seriously have Carly Ryan tickets and you’ll give one to me if I do a stupid talent show?”

  I nodded. “I seriously do and I will. But this isn’t a joke. You have to work hard and do a good job. You can’t just go up there and play Chopsticks, so to speak, and think we have a deal.”

  Payton chewed his lip. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. “Carbine is opening for Carly Ryan. They’re my favorite band.”

  And just like that, folks, I had him. “Dude, are you kidding? Because I can introduce you to them.”

  “Holy sh- I mean, crap! Are you serious? But how?” Payton eyed me with suspicion. “You can get tickets to a sold out concert and introduce me to the opening act? How is that possible?”

  Well, crap. I didn’t want to answer all that just yet. “I have my ways, don’t you worry. And Payton.” I paused, waiting for him to meet my gaze. “For now, this is between you and me. You can’t run around telling everyone. Not even Jordan.” I gave him a hard stare, hoping he’d realize I was serious. “That’s a deal breaker, kid. Got it?”

  “Dude, if you can get me in to meet Carbine, I’ll do whatever you want.”

  I held out my hand. “All I want is for you to come in here and learn a song for the talent show. Deal?”

  Payton held out his hand. “Deal.”

  “Alright, man. I’ll see you next week.”

  Payton shook his head. “No, man. I’ll see you tonight. First game. Remember?”

  Oh, yeah.

  Crap.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jordan

  I’d never had a boyfriend before. Holding hands in the hall at school, waiting for each other during passing periods, feeling that sweet little flutter in my stomach whenever he smiled that smile, the one meant just for me- I liked it.

  I’d begun to think all my worries about dating a teammate were foolish. We went to school, went to practice, made out in his backyard. Hockey didn’t become an issue. Even my dad and brother seemed pretty cool about everything. Joe teased me relentlessly, making kissy faces whenever I skated passed him during practice, but what did I expect? As far as Dad, he limited his concerns to flipping the back porch light on and off when he felt Asher and I had been secluded in the darkness too long.

  Even Leo had let up a bit.

  Tonight, however, we had our first hockey game. Asher offered to give me a ride to the rink, but I declined. I knew myself. If tonight ended with disappointment, I wouldn’t be good company after the game. A part of me needed the separation from him in case things didn’t go how I wanted them to.

  Several members of the team clustered around Dad’s office two hours before the game started. On his door a single sheet of white paper had been taped. The sheet listed who would be in the starting lineup that night.

  Asher hadn’t arrived yet.

  I walked down the hall toward the door and that sheet by myself, my heart pounding. I wanted that starting spot so badly I could taste it. Asher and I had avoided any conversations about the team other than to complain about drills and sore muscles to each other.

  My brother, Joe stepped out of the mid
dle of the huddle of players. He didn’t see me at first, but when he did, his expression went from steely determination to wariness.

  Asher would start.

  I stopped in the middle of the hall. Joe approached me. He knew I wouldn’t want his pity, but I gratefully accepted his support when he ruffled my hair as he walked by on his way to the locker room.

  Hockey was a team sport. Dad made the best decision for the team. I got it, I really did. But it still hurt.

  I dressed for the game in the women’s locker room. Loud metal head music echoed from the men’s locker room down the hall along with the deep intonations of my teammates as they razzed each other and got pumped up for the game.

  I told myself to buck up. I wanted this. I’d have to dig deep. Even playing off the bench, my team needed me. I couldn’t let them down.

  Dad made sure all the guys were properly dressed before calling me into the locker room for a pre-game pep talk. Asher sat in the front with all the other starters, easily the best looking guy in the room. I still thought him too pretty to be a hockey player. His eyes caught mine and I forced a smile. He didn’t need to be worried about my feelings at a time like this.

  We had a game to win.

  And we did win. I went in a few times to give Asher a breather, but for the most part, he’d been the guy. To say I’d been humbled would be an understatement. My butt dragged out of the locker room to find Asher waiting.

  “Hey.” He took a step toward me, then stopped, his eyes worried.

  “Hi. Good game.”

  “I, um-”

  “Jordan,” my dad’s voice interrupted. We both turned to find him standing in the doorway to his office. “I need to talk to you for a minute.” He glanced at Asher. “Now.”

  Dad disappeared back into his office.

  Asher frowned. “What’s that about?” I could tell a part of him didn’t want to let me go. Sweet. He needed some reassurance.

  Rising onto my toes, I kissed his cheek.

  He sighed, all visible tension draining from his body. “Can I wait for you?”

  “I’d be mad if you didn’t.”