“Thatchick?” I look back just as he gestures toward the check-out desk.
“What about her?”
“She’s the reason we’ve been coming here practically every night.” It’s not a question.
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“You don’t need to, man. It’s written all over your fucking face. You’re smitten.”
Smitten? That’s probably a good word for it. “I don’t really know her.” But, after her comeback just now—douchenozzle—I’m going to do my damn best to change that.
“She’s not the type—”
I don’t like where this is going. “To what?”
“She’s no puck bunny.”
What he means is, she’s not one of the women who hang out after hockey games in order to hook up with one of us. “Definitely not a puck bunny.”
“That chick will take a lot of work. She’s got high-maintenance written all over her.”
The look of irritation on my face can’t be helped. It’s directed at the man who’s supposed to be my best friend. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
For the first time since I’ve known Cody, I see something I never thought I would. Sympathy. Or maybe understanding. “She reminds me of my little sister. Kids, guys especially, have been really mean to her for as long as I can remember because she has always carried a little extra weight.”
“Hang on….”
He shakes me off while holding up his hand. “Let me finish. I think it’s bullshit. My sister is cool as fuck. Believe me. I’ve kicked as much ass as I could without getting myself into too much trouble––so if you like that girl, you need to go into it knowing she’s probably gonna be skittish. You’ll have to treat her with kid gloves.”
“Maybe I’ll start bynotcalling her shit like shortstop.”
“It was shortcake, and that term wasn’t meant negatively.” He smirks. “Who doesn’t love shortcake? It’s sweet and delicious.”
I growl at his words, because I don’t like what he’s insinuating.
“Yeah. I get it. She’s definitely the reason we’ve been here every night. You should’ve told me. I would have come along just to witness the downfall of theplayahformerly known as Eli ‘Bax’ Baxter.” He gets a huge smile on his face. “Yeah.” He nods. “This is great for me.”
“What is?”
“Now that you’re out of commission, I’ll get all your leftovers. More of the lovely ladies for me.”
“God, you’re an ass.” But he makes me laugh anyway.
“Nah. I’m just shrewd.”
Okay, that makes me chuckle again. There’s nothing shrewd about Cody.
“She’s cute, man.”
“Emma?” Yeah. She is. Even more so than on Saturday. Today, her hair was in a ponytail at the back of her head. It gave me a better look at her face and her neck. I love a woman’s neck. Plus, her shirt isn’t as huge on her today. It gives me another look at her body and reminds me of the night at The Dirty Rabbit. She had on that tiny dress. Yeah, Emma should absolutely stop hiding that cute little bod. At least from me. Deciding we need to be done with this conversation, I slap Cody on the back. “Come on. Let’s study.”
He doesn’t answer; he merely makes a growly, groaning kind of noise. The guy hates school, but he’s got to keep his grades up if he wants to play hockey. And believe me when I say, the team needs him. He really is an exceptional forward.
