“I’m here to see Ms. Hayes,” I said.
“What for?” a girl asked. She didn’t even come to my waist.
“I need to talk to her,” I said.
“You got a problem?” another child asked.
I nodded. “And she’s the only person who can fix it.”
“In the entire world?”
I turned toward that voice and recognized the tiny boy I’d helped around the ice the other day. His lisp was adorable. So were his freckles.Andy. That was his name.
“Andy! Great to see you, my man.”
Delight flashed over his face as I fist-bumped him. “It’s good to see you, Cormac.”
“Do you know where Ms. Hayes’ room is?”
“This way.” Andy slipped between a few of the bigger kids, who deflated as they realized we weren’t here to sign autographs or dote on them. Maybe another time. Definitely another time if this conversation with Keelie went the way I hoped it would.
“Here it is,” Andy said, beaming. Then he shifted on his short legs. “I gotta go. My mom’s going to worry because I’m not outside with my aide.”
“Thanks for the help, kiddo,” I said. “I’ll get you some tickets to a game, if you want to come.”
Andy’s face lit up so brightly, I squinted. “Yeah! That would be fun.”
I nodded. “Cool. I’ll talk to Ms. Hayes about getting those to you.”
Andy whooped as he ran down the hall, his backpack bouncing up and down.
“He’s cute,” Maxim said.
“He is. Now, help me fix what you broke so I don’t need to use the cute kid to crawl back into Keelie’s good graces.”
“I didn’t know it was such a big deal. We were just horsing around.” Maxim turned petulant, but he raised his hand and knocked. Keelie’s was the only closed door. Weird.
She opened it only a crack, peering out through the slit. Her eyes widened when she saw me, then grew further when she noticed Maxim. “What’s going on?”
“We need to talk to you,” I said. “Well, Maxim is here to tell you what happened. I’m here because…because I missed you.”
Keelie remained nonplussed. “I’m meeting with a parent. Give me a few minutes.”
She shut the door.
“She didn’t seem happy to see you,” Maxim noted.
“Why would she be? She thinks I stood her up. If she checked the stupid internet, she might even think I blew her off to spend time with Shannon instead.”
Maxim rubbed his index finger over his lip. “I’m not sure I’m going to be enough help on this one, dude. I mean, she’s giving you the cold shoulder. You, Cormac Bouchard.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, agitation swirling through me. “I’m aware of my name.”
“But are you aware that you’re a catch? Chicks fall over themselves to get near you, and the one you want isn’t interested.”
“I don’t want a random chick.” I wanted Keelie. For a woman I planned to date causally, I missed her more than I should. She was all I thought about, even while I was watching the news coverage of Dukovsky’s injury. I’d blown past casual in about seven seconds, but I clung to the idea that we’d hang out, even as worry about her not wanting to see me ripped at my guts.
I was a disaster, and I hated it.
