Frostbitten: The Complete Series by Ilia Bera Read Free Book Online

looked right at us. Its eyeball was bigger than my head—as big as this table. It stayed there for a good fifteen seconds, just watching us,” Andrew continued.
    Connor stared at Andrew, totally in awe of his story.
    Andrew took a sip from his pint of beer.
    “And then what happened?” Connor asked.
    “The whale sunk back down, and the waves hit us again. But the storm had tapered off. It was still bad, but nothing we couldn’t handle. We never saw the whale again.”
    “That’s amazing,” Connor said.
    Andrew took another sip from his beer, finishing it off.
    “There’s no blue whales in the South Pacific,” Brittany pointed out.
    “What’s that?” Andrew asked.
    “Blue whales—they migrate along the Australian coast and up to Indonesia. They don’t go into the South Pacific.”
    “It was a two-hundred tonne blue whale. I shit you not,” Andrew said.
    “I believe you—I’m just saying. Maybe you were closer to New Zealand than you thought.”
    “Before the morning we docked in Fiji—Not even four hours later.”
    “So why was he there?” Connor asked.
    “We don’t know. We told the coast guards in Fiji, and then again in New Zealand, but no one believed us,” Andrew concluded. “I’m going to grab another drink. Do you guys want anything?”
    “I’d take another,” Connor said, taking a ten-dollar bill out from his wallet.
    Andrew declined the money. “No, no. It’s on me.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah. It’s my pleasure.”
    “Thanks,” Connor said.
    “Brittany?” Andrew said looked at Brittany.
    “Um—Sure,” she said.
    Andrew smiled and then went over to the bar where his brother in law was mixing drinks for a slew of young college students.
    Brittany straightened her back and pushed her hair behind her ear. “You must have been really good,” she said to Connor.
    “What do you mean?”
    “On the hockey team—to be on the first line.”
    “Oh—I guess so, yeah.”
    “What was that like?” Brittany asked.
    “Playing hockey?”
    “Being so good—Being so talented.”
    “Oh—I guess it was good. It’s hard to say. I was skating before I could walk, you know?” Connor laughed.
    “What team do you play on now?” Brittany asked.
    Connor looked down at the table. “I don’t really play much these days,” he said.
    “Why not?”
    “It’s—It’s complicated.”
    “But you’re so talented. You have to play.”
    “Well, that’s the reason I’m here, I guess.”
    “What do you mean?” Brittany asked.
    “We won—we won provincials two years ago. All of the college scouts were out. I scored the winning goal too. By now, I would have been in the AHL—maybe even NHL if I’d put in the work.”
    “Why did you stop?”
    “Well, to play on a college team, you need to get accepted into college.”
    “I thought they had special admittance and scholarships for that kind of thing.”
    “They do—but I didn’t meet the minimum requirement for any school. I failed English class—among others, and every school on the continent requires at least a passing English grade. I got passed by in the draft.”
    “That’s okay though—in a few months you can try again, right?”
    Connor laughed and forced a smile. “I got kicked off of the team because my grades sucked—apparently that’s a requirement. I haven’t played a game in almost two years. All those other guys I used to play with all have years of experience and training on me now.”
    “Well I think you can do it—I believe in you,” Brittany said.
    Connor smiled. “Thanks.”
    “Besides, a guy like you can do anything you want,” Brittany said with a smile.
    Connor looked up into Brittany’s eyes. His eyes were bright blue and deep—in every sense of the word. They appeared to have many layers of spiralling bright blue tones.
    Connor leaned in closer to Brittany. He looked around. “You seem like a really cool girl.”
    Brittany blushed. “Thanks,” she said.
    Connor smiled and then looked down