Confidential Fuck Buddy.
With the speed I accept it, I’d be surprised if it even rang on her end.
“Hey,” I exhale.
“Hi! Oh shoot, did I wake you up? I was just going to leave a voicemail.”
The relief I physically experience from hearing Ellie’s voice should be studied. I lie back against the headboard and close my eyes, feeling both relaxed enough to sleep and too happy about talking to her to let that happen.
“No, I was actually just thinking of calling you to check in. Is everything okay? Why a voicemail?”
“Oh, phew. Yes, ugh, I feel so bad. I didn’t mean to leave you hanging today. I was with Dev and she wanted to look at something on my phone so I set it to Do Not Disturb. Didn’t really trust her nosy butt to not click on a text notification from you. Anyway, I totally forgot I did that so I never saw your texts until a few minutes ago. They really need to give you regular reminders so you don’t accidentally leave it on all day,” Ellie huffs. “I was going to call to apologize and explain that instead of texting you an essay,” she adds sheepishly. “Did your game go okay?”
A rambling Ellie will always make me smile. “I’ll be sure to file a complaint on your behalf,” I tease. “How was your time with Dev? Has she grilled you yet?”
“When she didn’t say much at any of our shifts this week, I thought I was in the clear. Boy, was I wrong. It was something all right. Felt like I was on trial with the level of interrogation she launched at me,” she laughs. “Thankfully she’s satisfied now and willhopefullybe chill.”
“I take it she recognized me?” I guess. I remember the look on her face when she saw me outside Ellie’s door.
“Oh yeah. She said she had secondhand embarrassment that I propositioned someone famous with my Band-Aid sex idea. So that was nice.”
I laugh out loud at that. “Well you can tell her I found it incredibly endearing so she has nothing to worry about.”
“I’ll let her know,” she says quietly. It sounds like she’s smiling, but I guess I can’t be sure. “So did you guys win or what?”
“Oh yeah, we did. In overtime, actually. Kind of a close one, but we pulled it out.”
Ellie would have no way to know this, but I can’t remember the last time I spoke to someone who didn’t already know the results of the game. Family, friends, girlfriends…They were always watching either on TV or in person. Or were at least invested enough to check the stats online.
There’s something oddly refreshing about thatnotbeing an assumption with Ellie. In fact, I think it’d be safer to assume the opposite.
If I get caught up thinking in the long term, I can admit it might worry me a little that she doesn’t have any interest in something that makes up my whole life. But I still feel like we always have plenty to talk about without hockey. And ultimately, having a relationshipnotbuilt around that seems like it might be better. After all, my career here isn’t going to last forever…
“Showed those losers who’s boss,” she declares, graciously interrupting my almost thought spiral.
I hold back my chuckle. I don’t think she even knows what team we played.
“Why aren’t you out celebrating? Isn’t that what you guys do?” she asks, an odd tone to her voice.
“Sometimes, I guess? Depends on the situation. Some of the team is out having a celebratory drink though, yeah. We got into Jersey a little bit ago and don’t play until Monday. I’m sure some of the guys are taking that as a pass for getting drunk.”
“You didn’t want to join them?”
“Not really my scene. And I was kind of hoping to chat with someone on the phone,” I add.
“Just someone?” Her light tone is back, making me think I heard incorrectly before.
“Someone really specific, actually,” I tell her. “She’s kind of a secret though, so that’s all I can say.”
Ellie laughs and I wish I could bottle the melodic sound for a rainy day. It’s not jarring or silly—it’s the type that makes you smile and desperately want to be in on the joke.
“I hope that works out for you,” she says.
“Things are looking pretty good. Are you headed to bed or can I pitch an idea to you?”
“Well, even if I was going to bed, I’m definitely staying for this pitch. It does seem to be our thing.”
I chuckle and hope my dumb idea isn’t actually going to keep her from sleeping, if that’s what she wanted to do. “Okay, I probably oversold this. I was just going to propose we play twenty questions.”
