A flash of a smile. “I’m not sure what to unpack first. That you think this small campus is crawling with past hookups of mine, or—” He stopped when I gave him an “oh, come on” look. “I’m only a sophomore, Megan. And only a week into it. I mean, sure, I’m devastatingly handsome and all, but I think you give me too much credit.”
I thought of poor Ches bursting into Logan’s room and knew I had not overestimated. Probably rounded down, in fact.
“Or that you think I’m not capable of talking about my feelings. What? ’Cause I’m just a jock?”
“No. Because you’re a twenty-year-old man,” I said. He started his comeback, but words seemed to fail him, which of course made my point.
“Okay, point to Megan. But talking about feelings of grief is okay in the man-code universe. Not the same thing at all as relationship stuff.”
“I’m glad to hear you make the distinction. And I agree. But it just kind of brings it all home, right? A hookup now—now that we know what our Wednesday nights will be together—just doesn’t seem worth it.”
He flinched, like I’d dealt a physical blow.
I continued, “I know, I know. You’ve got numerous comebacks floating around about how ‘worth it’ it could be, and ‘wanna bet,’ and stuff like that.” His grin confirmed it. “And yeah, I wanted to jump your bones Friday night. And it seemed like it was mutual, but—”
“It was most definitely mutual. And it’s more that I—”
“But that was Friday night. My first party at Bribury. Getting my feet wet, so to speak.”
He sat back in his seat, against the wooden back of the booth. “And are your feet so wet five days later? Met the love of your life on Saturday, is that it?”
I scoffed and took a sip of my beer. “What if I did?”
He leaned forward, placing his forearms, hoodie sleeves pushed up enough to expose the dark, coarse hair and the corded muscle, on the table. (Muscled forearms did it for me? Who knew?)
“Did you?” The teasing was gone, and I felt like it would be a mistake to play it light now. The whole thing felt uncharted to me. Me, who had been swimming alone for a year, wondering which way the tide would turn next.
“No,” I said. “But I’m not dumb enough to think I found him at a hockey party full of… whatever you call girls who chase hockey players.”
“There are several terms these days,” he said. He took a large bite of his burger and studied me while he chewed. “And I feel that I’d be hurting my chances with you to name a few.”
“Charming,” I said. “I’m sure they’re all very flattering. And lots of puns, no doubt.”
He shrugged while wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Don’t forget about ‘rhymes with puck.’”
“Double charming.”
“Yeah, it’s stupid. And childish, I’ll give you that,” he said.
“And misogynistic,” I added.
“Yep. Which is why I don’t use any of those terms for the girls who come to the house.”
“Girls like Ches. What term do you use?”
He took a drink of his pop, shaking his head. “Not falling into that trap. The girls who want to sleep with a hockey player? I don’t know their motivation other than they think they’ll have a good time.”
“And that’s all you want, too, right?”
“Megan, you were the one who suggested going to my room the other night. I was happy to just talk and get to know you. I wanted to walk you home tonight. Would I have settled for a one-time fuck Friday? Maybe.” He leaned toward me, his brown eyes drilling into mine. I watched his lips as he said, “But I don’t think so. I think I’d want more.”
Warning bells went off in my head. Too much. Too soon. With too much handsome man in my vicinity. This was not the issue I wanted to deal with one week into my mulligan.
Trying to circle back to the question at hand, I said, “Exactly. Kind of. Either way. One night or wanting more—and I find that hard to believe, given the houseful of second-night hopefuls literally busting down your door—and I’d—”
“You’re not Ches,” he said softly. He hadn’t moved, still leaning halfway across the small table. I could easily take my hand from around my beer bottle and touch a finger to his mouth. But his mentioning of Ches kept my grip firmly on my Corona.
“No. I’m not. I don’t chase.”
