Tuck
Oh, we are. We’re on the team of friendship, and we play in a league far more important than the NHL: our hearts.
Rhys
Oh brother
Hudson
Okay, I’m turning off my phone now.
Have a good time, Jamie
Thanks
That’s the only thing I say before stuffing my phone back in my pocket.
Alright, I’ve burned away enough time. I sure as shit won’t be fashionably late if I start to walk there now, but who am I kidding? I’m not a fashionably late kind of guy. When I care, it’s obvious, and I don’t try to mask it. It’s who I am, and I’m not interested in trying to be someone else.
I can imagine Felix giving me his player-brained advice.
Don’t look like you care too much.
Don’t seem over-eager.
Play it cool. Be nonchalant.
Well, I do care, I am eager, and I’m chalant. I’m not even sure if that’s a word on its own, but I’m claiming it.
My breath catches in my chest when I turn a corner and see the sign for Last World up the block in front of me.
Excitement and tension sizzle through me. I try to work out the knot in my chest by pulling in a deep breath of cold air. But it doesn’t do much to calm me down. My fists are clenching and unclenching in my jacket pockets, adrenaline sluicing through me.
I’m at the door. I can see her through the glass. She looks so gorgeous that when I catch sight of her, it feels like the Earth’s axis tilts.
I reach for the door handle, my stomach full of butterflies and feeling like it’s climbing up my throat.
Here goes nothing.
10
CARMEN
Iknow what I said, but who am I kidding? I’m on a date with Jamie.
The look my aunt gave me when he picked me up almost had my eyes doing a full rotation in my head. I’m not looking forward to her peppering me with questions when I get home.
Jamie and I are walking to the art class.
Awkward excitement rolls off him in waves. Honestly, it’s kind of cute. But at the same time … kind of concerning.
I don’t know what kind of person he’s built me up as in his head, but I’m not it. I’m distant, I’m always in a bad mood, and I have no idea what I want. I’m not the kind of person a guy like Jamie should be with. Even though he caught me in a moment of weakness and rare openness on Friday night when I agreed to this date, none of that has changed.
And no matter how often my idea of using him to help with my writer’s block has continued to tease me, my better sense still prevails.
I’ll just have to be sure not to let this date turn into a second.
And, hey, maybe I’ll actually like painting. Who knows. Going on a date with Jamie isn’t a good idea, but his suggestion that I should start trying new things is.
