Dark brown hair, perfectly neat, with a smile aimed directly at her. He’s dressed in a finely pressed suit. He looks like the exact type of person who Bex would like.
My date still isn’t here, so it’s all I can do not to watch Bex like a creep. The way she smiles at him. The way she touches him.
Damn it.
“Nick?”
My eyes snap to the woman standing over me now, with a short, blonde pixie hairstyle, a warm smile, and brown eyes that are staring down at me.
“Edith?” I stand, holding out my hand to her. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
I gesture for her to take a seat.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“I’m okay with water,” she tells me. “I’m a little nervous.”
I give her a smile that hopefully relays the same thing. Hopefully it will help set us both at ease. “I am too.”
Edith looks shocked at this. “Why? Aren’t you some big, bad hockey player?”
I laugh, sinking back into my chair. “Is that what Angie told you about me?”
Her eyes go wide, like I caught her in a lie or something. “I mean, she told me you play hockey. Aren’t you all supposed to be cocky players?”
“Then my sister definitely didn’t tell you about me.”
“You seem pretty suave to me.”
“You might be the first person to ever call me suave, Edith,” I tell her.
Her eyes cast downward, and she starts picking at her rolled-up napkin. I cut a quick glance at Bex, seeing her eyes on me.
Is she feeling the same way I am? Like she wants to have me sitting across from her and not this perfectly nice person in front of me?
Not that there’s anything wrong with Edith, but she’s not the woman I want.
“You’re a teacher?” I ask her, trying to draw her into starting a conversation.
“I am.” She nods, not elaborating any further.
“What grade do you teach?”
“Third.”
I guess it’s going to be completely on me to carry this conversation tonight. Is it easier because of everything Bex has taught me? Or is it easier because I don’t see this going anywhere?
“I want to go into teaching once I retire from the league.”
“I need to use the restroom.” Edith bolts up from the table, her hands nervously twisting in front of her. “I’ll be back.”
She grabs her purse and heads that way.
“Okay…”
What in the world is going on tonight? Nothing seems to be working in my favor. Angie told me that Edith was a nice girl she knows from her work at the foundation, but she hasn’t said more than a dozen words to me tonight.
