I could just see that smirky look on his face. I rolled my eyes.
Me:It was my brother’s first game as an NHL owner. Of course I watched.
It was a minute or two before he wrote back. I used the time to add his contact into my phone, justifying that I might need it to share info about Josie.
Yeah. Right.
Liam:He probably isn’t feeling so great about his investment right about now.
Me:Andy’s a smart guy. He knows these things take time.
The dots bounced around for a few moments.
Liam:Sorry, still depressed. I hate losing.
I remembered this about him. Whenever the team lost a game in high school, he would mope around like a little kid who’d been grounded.
My phone dinged in my hand.
Liam:Distract me, Gracie.
That sent the butterflies tumbling around in my stomach. He had always called me Gracie. I wasn’t sure why—Andy didn’teven call me that. But it always felt special coming from Liam’s lips. There was something proprietary about his use of the diminutive. Like he was making some kind of claim over my name, making it his own. It always felt like a statement about how he felt about me.
More high school silliness,I reminded myself.It’s just a nickname.
Me:How shall I distract you?
Liam:I *really* want to say something dirty right now, but I’m going to be good. How was your day?
I grinned as I typed my response.
Me:It was fine until I watched this absolute clusterfuck of a hockey game.
Liam:NOT FUNNY
I giggled to myself as I typed.
Me:My day was nice. I’m starting to feel like I know the kids in my class, and that makes the work a lot easier.
I chewed on my lip, wondering how much he actually wanted to hear.
Me:Today a student brought in a pregnancy test instead of his lunch.
Liam:WHAT?
Me:Apparently there were two paper bags on the counter before he left for school. He grabbed the wrong one.
Liam:Holy shit.
Me:Had no idea how to explain that one to the kids. Then his mom called in a panic when she realized what happened. She was mortified. I tried to explain to her that it wasn’t close to the most embarrassing thing a kid ever brought in.
Liam:Yeah, I’m gonna need to hear *all* your insane teaching stories at some point.
Before I could respond, the dots started bouncing again.
Liam:Josie had a really good time at your computer thing the other day.
That had me grinning wider. She’d been obviously shy during the two hours she’d stayed after school with the STEM Gems, but she showed interest in everything we did, which I’d taken as a good sign. If she’d told her dad it was fun, that was a pretty good start.
