“Good. He’s tired, but he got through all of his PT exercises. The trainer was happy with what he got done.”
“Don’t treat me like I’m an invalid,” I hear Grandpa grumble. “Still here, you know.”
I look to the sky, mouth curved. “Can I talk to him?”
His scratchy voice comes over the line. “Hi, chicken. How’s school?”
Affection blooms in my chest at his nickname for me. “Hey Grandpa. It’s good. How are you feeling?”
“Oh, on top of the world. Like I could dance one of my mother’s jigs with her, rest her soul.”
He never loses his sense of humor, even when he’s not feeling his best. I can tell from the tightness in his voice that he’s feeling the age of his bones. He’s a stubborn man who hates that he has to rely on my parents and the rest of our family to take care of him when he spent a lifetime taking care of all of us.
“I can’t wait to see you for Christmas.” The words come out slightly strained. “I’m spending the whole break with you. We can do anything you want.”
“You don’t have to come see me, chicken. Go out with your friends.”
“No way. I want to hang out with you.”
“Ah, well, in that case turn around, Rosalie. If Maya’s coming to see me, I need to be able to walk on my own two feet again instead of hobbling around with the walker.”
“Take it easy,” I say as I reach the coffee shop. “You know you don’t have to show off for me.”
It’s busy inside with a line all the way to the door.
“Wouldn’t that be nice?” He goes quiet for a few seconds.
“We’re almost home, Maya. We should go,” Mom says.
“Okay. Love you guys. I’ll talk to you later.”
I keep my voice hushed so I don’t disturb the other customers. While I’m distracted with saying goodbye, I accidentally bump into the guy ahead of me in line.
“Excuse me,” I offer as I slide my phone into my purse.
There’s no response until I look up, coming face to face with Easton Blake in a navy blue Heston U Hockey warm up jacket and gray sweatpants. They highlight his powerful thighs and show off the impressive bulge of his—I snap my eyes up, darting my gaze around the cozy coffee shop.
Fuck me.
“Oh,” I choke out. “Sorry about that.”
The corner of his mouth kicks up. “It’s cool. You can bump into me whenever.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’d like that.” I mutter it before thinking, more to myself than him.
“Oh, without a doubt.” He winks, shuffling backward when the line moves so he doesn’t have to stop talking to me.
“Aren’t you late for practice?”
“Away game.” He nods to his bulky duffel bag by the door. “I have to head to the rink to catch the bus right after this.”
I smirk. “A hockey player-free campus tonight? Score. The Landmark won’t run out of wings.”
He scoffs. “That only happened like once.”
I tick off on my fingers the times since I’ve been here the hockey team was directly responsible for eating all the wings the few times I’ve braved the sports bar. “Freshman year, late April. I’ll give you that one, since I’m guessing you won Frozen Four.”
“Damn right we did.”
