“He’s not my—”
Cass grinned mischievously. I rolled my eyes, but I was glad that they didn’t seem nearly as nervous as they had on the drive here.
The moment I was outside, someone tapped my arm. I turned to see a small Asian woman with a warm smile. Behind her at a bit of a distance was an Asian man who seemed about ten years older than her. Daniel’s family, I assumed.
“You’re Samaya, aren’t you?” she asked. “I’m Daniel’s mother.”
“Oh, hi. Nice to meet you,” I said, putting my hand out to shake.
But she leaned in and gave me a tight hug instead. I tensed a bit, taken by surprise—I thought Daniel had told her we weren’t that serious?
“I’m Christina Ramos,” she said as we hugged, “but you can call me Chrissy.”
She let me go. “Daniel has been talking about you so much! He’ll be embarrassed that I introduced myself to you, but I wanted to make sure that I caught you before we left. I love that blouse! Very pretty. Did you enjoy the game? I know you don’t know much about hockey.”
“Oh, thank you. The game was great.”
Daniel talked about me to his mother. What had he said? I peeked around her to see that the uncle was still looking at us stoically. Daniel’s mother hadn’t introduced us, and the uncle didn’t seem to want to meet me anyway.
I was still talking to Daniel’s mother about the game when Daniel himself appeared. He was grinning, of course, although he looked a little nervous that his mom and his fake girlfriend were talking without him. Which made sense—he had his boundaries.
His mom hugged him tightly, then ruffled Daniel’s hair, which was wet from his shower. She said to him something in Tagalog, then looked at me.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should speak English. I was telling him how proud I was of him for getting that assist.”
Daniel said something to his mother in Tagalog, then told me he’d be back in a second and walked his mother and uncle to a silver SUV in the lot. He put his hockey gear in the back. I watched as he hugged his mother again, said something to his uncle, then came back to me. He still looked uncomfortable.
I smiled at him. “Everything okay?”
“It’s all good,” he said. “They’ll bring my gear home.”
On the short walk to the café, Daniel seemed to get over his discomfort. In fact, he was even more hyper and cheerful than normal. He kept talking about the game and some awesome maneuver someone on his team did that I hadn’t even realized was awesome.
After we were sitting with frappé drinks, a muffin for me, and a scone for Daniel, Cass finally came in with a tall white guy with short red hair and dark-framed glasses. Owen, I assumed. Judging by the easy smile on Cass’s face, meeting Owen’s team had gone well.
Daniel grinned. “Hey, Cass! I hear you’ve been fraternizing with the enemy?”
Cass grinned. “Fraternizing with the winning team, you mean,” they said.
Daniel laughed. “Ooh, harsh.” He smiled at Owen. “Great goal there. You were flying.”
Owen smiled. “Thanks, man. That was quite a fake out you did when you got that assist. I didn’t even see Krebs there.” He shook his head, in awe. “Wicked.”
Cass and Owen joined us at the table, and Cass introduced us formally. I watched Owen and them both closely. Cass was definitely less anxious than before. Owen seemed nice and easygoing. Friendly. A bit like Daniel, in that he seemed like he could talk to people very easily. He wore a black turtleneck and slim jeans.
Owen gave Cass a mock scolding. “I still can’t believe your best friend isdatingDaniel Ramos,” he said playfully.
“I did ask you if you knew him!”
“But you didn’t say why. You were like,none of my friends are into sports, and yet ...” He waved his hands between us to prove his point. “And of course I’d know him. If they play hockey in Scarborough, I know them.”
Cass shook their head. “You can’t possibly know all the hockey players in Scarborough.”
Owen nodded proudly. “I’ve been on skates since before I could walk. Yeah, I absolutely have met them all. May not know them well. Definitely don’t like them all.” He nodded toward Daniel. “I like this one, though, even if the guy is playing for a shit team. He’s got a decent slapshot, so it’s all good.”
Daniel laughed, and I rolled my eyes. But secretly, I was delighted with Owen. Not that I thought Cass would be into someone less worthy, but Owen was now the second hockey player who’d knocked down my jock stereotypes.
But mostly, I was so incredibly happy for Cass. Dating or not dating, it was clear that Owen was great for Cass.
