“Okay,” she sighs and looks back out the window.
CHAPTER5
I’m on a serious high after practice. We drive to New York for the game tomorrow, and I can’t help but feel like I’m going to get to play. No offense to Johannson—the current starting goalie—but I know I’m better.
While I’m nearly dead on my feet, there’s no fucking way I’m cooking, so I head to the pho restaurant that Piper suggested. No, I haven't been thinking relentlessly about the tall, sweet Alpha. It would be nice to have a friend outside of the hockey team as well, but I’m used to being alone—but maybe I shouldn’t be.
I feel like a sad little bitch when I open the door to the restaurant. It’s small and cozy, only about five total tables. You order at the front and take a seat wherever you want. I order the pho with brisket and bubble tea. The waitress hands me my number, and when I turn around, I see her. Like I fucking manifested her with my thoughts. The circles under her eyes are dark, and her cheeks are stained red, like she’s been crying.
I should walk past, go sit at my own table and act like I don’t see her. But something is calling me to go sit down next to her.
“Is this seat taken?” I ask. She shakes her head no and gives me a watery smile. “Rough day?”
“Yeah, really rough.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask, not knowing what else to say. She looks at me questioningly. She wipes her face and stares down at her pho before looking up at me.
“I lost a patient today.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. What the fuck do you even say when someone tells you that?
“It’s not the first time or the last. But… she was twenty-two. She was so defeated, and I… it’s just hard.”
“I can only imagine.”
She eats her food, and she doesn’t seem irritated by my presence, so I just sit in silence as my food comes. We’re both just eating, two lonely people eating at a takeaway place.
“How is your new job going?” she asks, interrupting the silence.
“Really good, actually. I don’t want to jinx anything, but we’ll see how things go this weekend.” Her smile is genuine. Even though she’s in pain, she’s still able to be happy for me.
“Superstitious?”
“Something like that,” I say with a smirk.
“I know something about that. A lot of surgeons are very superstitious. Things have to be a certain way before surgery, special scrub caps, things like that. Some surgeons won’t even perform a surgery if a patient tells them they think they will die. ”
“And you?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “No, nothing like that on my end.”
“That’s probably for the best if you’re opening people up.” She shrugs her shoulders while she stirs her pho mindlessly.
She changes tactics, clearly done talking about work. “You know there’s a Christmas market that starts this weekend. It’s about two blocks that way.” She points to the left.
“I’ll have to check it out.”
“If you need a friend to go with, let me know.”Friends are good, I could use a friend.
“I’d need a way to contact you,” I say.
She shakes her head. “Of course.” She takes out her phone, and I give her my number. Then she texts me so I have hers. She gives me her full name, Piper Blake, and for some reason, at that moment, Connecticut becoming home feels a little bit real.
We finish up our meal. The conversation is light, and I’m thankful for it. I’m not being grilled by my mom or having an awkward conversation with one of my new teammates. Talking to Piper is easy. And while she may be beautiful, I think being her friend could be something I need to center myself in this new place.
It’s an awkward half-wave for both of us as we part, going different directions on the street. I try to not let myself get too excited. This feeling of everything coming together for me, it almost feels too good to be true.
* * *
