She leaves, but not before caressing my cheek and laying a gentle kiss on my lips that makes me regret agreeing to let her go home. I would love for her to just lie with me and keep those gentle touches coming, because it feels like she’s healing me when she does it. I’m that much of a pussy after some bad sushi. Wow.
I grab the last Pedialyte off the kitchen island and head straight for bed. I swallow it down in big gulps, place the empty container on my night table and turn off the salt lamp. But I can’t fall asleep just yet. After fifteen minutes I reach for my phone and text her.
Need to know you’re home safe.
After a minute she texts back.
Home safe.
Now I can sleep.
17
Zoey
“This is amazing!” I whisper, and I know I’m grinning like a loon. “He is amazing.”
“Yeah. He’s all right,” Dixie says in a completely unimpressed tone.
I turn to look at her, but it’s almost painful to pull my eyes from the ice. Watching Jude skate down there is mesmerizing. Dixie’s dressed in a pair of high-waisted black dress pants and a white silk blouse. She’s a vision of business casual, but it’s kind of completely out of place in the arena, surrounded by boisterous fans wearing hockey jerseys, most with mustard stains from their hot dogs or wet spots from spilled beer. She shrugs her tiny shoulders at me. “I’ve watched him my whole life. It’s gotten boring.”
I shake my head and let my eyes find him on the ice again. His friend Duncan has the puck, and he’s skating up the ice toward the other team’s net. He passes it to Jude, and two guys from the college team skate straight at him. He does this ridiculously cool thing where he looks like he’s going to skate to the right but then at the last second he spins to the left, pushing the puck through one of the college guys’ open legs, and then skates around him to pick up the puck again. The two college team guys are left in the dust, well, if there were dust on the ice. Then Jude passes to number nineteen, who takes a shot and scores.
“Did you see that? It was insane!” I squeal at Dixie, who still looks unimpressed, as I jump to my feet with the rest of the sold-out crowd and clap wildly. I even let out a “woo-hoo” for good measure.
Dixie laughs. “Holy crap, you’re hysterical.” She leans in and whispers, “Do you want me to get you his autograph? I have connections.”
“Ha-ha,” I reply wryly but with a sheepish grin on my face.
Everyone settles back down, and I take my seat again next to Dixie, who never bothered to stand up and only gave her brother and his teammates a half-assed slow clap after that play. She yawns—freaking yawns—and then asks, “So have you found him a new place yet?”
“I have some places to take him to tomorrow afternoon,” I tell her. “I was going to take him to three, but I’ve cut one off the list. It doesn’t have a doorman.”
Her eyes, which are the exact same cornflower blue as her brother’s, fill with intrigue. “Did he ask for a doorman?”
I shake my head and then tuck an errant strand of hair behind my ear. “No, but he definitely needs one.” I don’t want to tell her why after last night I think he needs a doorman, so I change the subject. “Jude said the party afterward was totally casual. A carnival-type event.”
“It is, but I’m technically here as Thunder PR, so this is dressed down for me,” Dixie explains and then stands up. “I should go check on the setup in the parking lot, actually. You’re okay here? You remember the instructions to get to the friends and family room afterward?”
I nod, and my fingers automatically go to the laminated pass on the Thunder lanyard around my neck. Carla leans forward from her seat behind me. “Don’t worry. Tess and I will make sure she doesn’t get lost.”
“Perfect. See you all later.”
“Later, Ms. Wynn,” I say and wink.
She laughs and shakes her head as she walks away. Tessa leans forward now too and puts a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve really never been to a hockey game before?”
My eyes keep following Jude around the ice. “A couple high school ones, but nothing like this. They’re all so skilled. Even the college team.”
“So you’ve never seen Jude play before?”
I shake my head. “No, but I hope he invites me again. I love watching him.”
“I hope he invites you too,” Carla replies. “But if he doesn’t, we can score you some extra tickets. If you’re still into the sport after things with him end.”
The arena seems to get chillier. I hear Tessa spit out Carla’s name in an angry whisper. Carla’s face is a mask of embarrassment and remorse as I turn to look at them. “I didn’t mean…I just meant that if things don’t work out. Not that they definitely won’t. I mean, Jude could…and you could want to be together for a while. It’s not impossible or anything. I was just saying we’d love to still hang out with you, no matter what.”
Tessa hisses her best friend’s name again and then covers her face with her hands in exasperation. It’s sweet Tessa is concerned for me, but Carla’s words don’t throw me. Jude’s been honest about how active his sex life was, and he made it clear last night that I’m his only focus now. “It’s okay. I know you’re not trying to be mean.”
