From the parking lot, I watch her step out of the hospital, and my heart does that weird flip-flop thing it always does when she appears.
My beautiful best friend.
Messy bun, hair falling out of it in loose waves that frame her face perfectly, wearing the biggest smile as she walks toward me, her pace picking up with every long stride.
“What are you doing here?” she asks breathlessly, not lookingshitlike she said she was.
I knew she was lying.
Her eyes might be slightly puffy from crying today, but that’s nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.
I stand straight and push off my car door that I was leaning against, shoving my phone into the back pocket of my dress pants.
“I’m here because you’ve had a long, upsetting, and stressful day, so I brought takeout from your favorite Italian place. It’s in my car.” I thumb over my shoulder. Also, Huck has a gig tonight somewhere out of town, which Erika told me about. He’s not around; he never is, so I am stepping up. Yet again. “I don’t think you should be driving home. It’s not safe.” When she told me she’d only had six hours of sleep in two days, I decided to pick her up tonight. “I’m taking you home.”
She gasps, looking over at her car parked on the other side of the parking lot. When she’s just a few steps away from me, she says, “I’ll have to call a cab to bring me to work tomorrow.”
“No, you won’t. I’ll pick you up in the morning and bring you back in time for your next shift. All you need to do is get into my car and close your eyes. We can play whatever music you want.” I pause. “As long as it’s not Lana Del Rey.” After the day Erika has had, the last thing she needs is sad music.
Erika chuckles, now toe-to-toe with me. “Thank you, Leon,” she says, looking up as I look down, though there isn’t much height difference between us.
I throw myself around her gently, loving the way she feels against me as she nuzzles into my neck. “I’m sorry you had a shit day.”
“I feel better already.”
With her in my arms, so do I.
“Can we stop somewhere to get chocolate bars?” she asks, leaning out of our embrace. Her big, beautiful eyes soften at the edges as she pats my chest, making my skin hypersensitive to her touch.
“Yes. But I will run in for you. You need to rest.”
“You’re like the ultimate book boyfriend. Romance girlies live for guys like you, Leon,” she says, completely unaware of what she does to me as she pokes her finger into my T-shirt, right over my heart.
I open the passenger door for her. “Stop talking baloney. Get in.” I roll my eyes, pretending to be annoyed, though secretly I wish she were mine to spoil every day. Then she’d know what it’s like to be truly cherished.
“You should be careful, Leon, my work colleagues might think there is something going on between us.”
“You’re engaged, Erika. They know we’re just friends.” Fuck. Saying it out loud hurts more every time, like tiny papercuts peppering my skin, stinging more each time.
“Maybe we’re having a sordid affair.” She laughs, shaking her head at her ridiculousness.
“Those romance books are filling your head with stupid ideas. Calm yourself.” I shut the car door, cutting off her laughter.
She has no idea how much I wouldn’t tolerate having an affair with her.
If she were mine, she would be mine and mine alone. I don’t fucking share.
CHAPTER FOUR
Erika– The Past:16 years ago. (Erika: 22, Leon: 27)
“Buster, have you seen Ash?” I ask, wrapping my puffy winter jacket around me to keep out the cold as I walk around the edge of the official practice ice that the Edmonton Eagles use for training.
Sounding out of breath, he removes his helmet, and my brother’s teammate replies, “You just missed him. He’s through there.” He points to the lockers, then swipes his sweaty brow with the back of his forearm. “If you go now, you’ll catch him before he hits the showers.”
“Thanks, Buster.” I gratefully give him a thumbs-up, then ask, “Good session today?”
Cheeks flushed, he looks exhausted, and his hair is all messed up, sticking out on end and soaked with sweat. How my brother and his team do this every day is a mystery to me.
