I sat up straighter. “You're what?”
“Seeing someone. Dating. The thing normal people do.”
“Who?”
“His name is Dean. He's a resident at the hospital. Orthopedics.”
“How long?”
“Two months.”
“Two months? And you're just telling me now?”
She raised an eyebrow. “You want to talk about communication breakdowns, Mr. I-Don't-Answer-Texts-For-A-Week?”
Fair point.
“What's he like?” I asked, already running through the mental checklist of things I needed to know to determine if this guy was good enough for my sister.
“He's nice. Smart. Funny. Good with patients. Has his shit together.”
“That's the PR version. What's he actually like?”
Leah smiled, the real one that reached her eyes. “He's good, Jace. Really good. He laughs at my terrible jokes. He brings me coffee on long shifts. He doesn't get weird about me making more money than him. And he's never once tried to use me to get to you, which is a refreshing change.”
That last part made my jaw tighten. “Has that been a problem?”
“It's always a problem. You're semi-famous. People are weird about it.” She waved a hand dismissively. “But Dean doesn't give a shit about hockey. Thinks it's boring, actually, which I find deeply amusing.”
“He thinks hockey is boring?”
“Deeply, profoundly boring. Said he tried to watch a game once and fell asleep in the second period.”
I should've been offended, but instead I found myself relaxing slightly. A guy who didn't care about hockey meant a guy who wasn't dating Leah to get close to me or the team. That was something.
“When do I meet him?” I asked.
“You don't.”
“What do you mean I don't?”
“I mean you're not doing the intimidating brother routine. Not yet. We're taking it slow, and I don't need you showing up and scaring him off with your hockey player energy.”
“I don't have hockey player energy.”
She laughed. “Jace. You absolutely have hockey player energy. You walk into a room like you own it. You're built like you could bench press a car. And you have resting asshole face that makes grown men nervous. So no, you're not meeting him until I decide you're ready to behave like a normal human.”
“I'm normal.”
“You're absolutely not normal. You're a professional athlete who lives in a bubble and hasn't had a serious relationship in three years. Normal people don't live like that.”
“I've been busy.”
“You've been hiding.” She said it gently, but it still landed like a punch. “But that's a different conversation. Right now, we're talking about Dean, and the answer is no, you can't meet him yet. Maybe in a few months if things keep going well.”
I wanted to argue, but she was right. I would absolutely show up in full big brother mode and probably scare the guy off. Leah deserved better than that.
“Fine,” I said. “But if he hurts you?—”
