“Are you looking at a picture of your boyfriend?”
I glance up and find the cute guy from earlier standing a few feet away.“No.My niece.”
He smiles.“Good.I like that better.Gives my delusional brain the thought that someone as awesome as you could be single.”
“I am,” I reply, turning my face back to the photo of my adorable niece.“But just because I’m single doesn’t mean I’m looking.”
“Trust me, I know.”He replies without even a second of being offended or stunned by my attitude.“And I really shouldn’t want a shot with a woman who is clearly out of my league, but watching you hand that drunk guy his ass earlier was… well, I swooned.”
Okay, now he has my attention.I look up from my phone again and take a quick sip of my ginger ale.He is just as cute as I originally clocked in the bar.And he’s got one hell of a smile, which he is flashing at me right now.“How is someone that looks like you, with such game, single?”
“I wasn’t,” he replies.“Until recently.”
“Oh.”I’m not against being someone’s rebound.In fact, it kind of works for me because I don’t want a relationship.“So you’re looking for a rebound?”
“Not necessarily.”
“What did you major in?”I have to ask because I have rules.I don’t date finance guys, and I don’t date anyone in a sports program—whether it’s sports management, physical education teacher, or kinesiology.The first is because they’re usually right-wing jackasses, and the other is because they freak out when they find out who my family is.Especially in Maine, where hockey was a religion long before they got their own team.And I have the misfortune of being from two hockey families.My dad, Eli Casco, was a goalie who played for San Francisco with his brother Levi.My mom’s brother, Jude Braddock, also played for San Fran, and she worked for the team.
“Marine biology,” he says and shrugs.“Grew up on the coast.Obsessed with the sea.”
“Maine?”A local boy is a bonus.I like Mainers.They’re down-to-earth and kind.
“Nova Scotia,” he says, then adds, “Canada.Came here on a scholarship, then snagged a job and am in grad school part-time.”
I smile before I can stop myself.A nerdy Canadian is even better than a Mainer.The Braddock side of my family is Canadian, but spend summers here in Maine.I have a soft spot for Canadians, too.They’re funny, and kind, authentic, and passionate.“Do you watch hockey?”
He laughs like I just asked him if water is wet.“I said I’m Canadian.”
Okay, so not long-term material, but that’s cool.I don’t think either of us is looking for that.“I’m from California originally, but I live here now.”That’s as much info as he needs from me.And my first name, which he has.But I don’t have his.“I didn’t catch your name.”
“Pete.Wallace.Guess my trick to get you to look at my credit card didn’t work.”He laughs.
“And you never ordered another beer.”
“I’m not much of a drinker.”Pete shrugs again, and damn… he has a dimple in his left cheek.Yeah, okay.I may need to go home with him.
I look at my phone again.My break is basically over.
“I have to go back to work.”I turn and reach for the door.“Don’t forget your credit card.”
“I was hoping to pick it up at the end of the night,” he says sheepishly as he adds, “and use it to get us an Uber back to your place.”
I stare at him, and he looks like he might apologize for that.I pull open the door, then turn and say, “Make it your place.”
And then I disappear inside.
Chapter3
Theo
September…
Istare at the text, wishing it would evaporate.Willing it to stop existing.Praying to whatever Gods actually exist to make it go away.But it stays there.Four words that bring fear, pain, anxiety, andcrushingguilt.I black out my screen and place my phone face down on the coffee table.Then I grab the remote and decide I’ll give myself a time-out.Watch a little television.Allow myself a second to zone out and ignore the text.
That numbing quality booze always brings would be fucking epic right now.The TV comes to life, and it’s a Sports News show on TSN, because of course it is.It’s training camp for the NHL, and everyone is talking hockey.The first preseason games will start in two weeks.It’s going to be heartbreaking to watch the season start without me, but it’s also what I deserve.
“The Riptide’s going to come so close this season, just like last season.But the simple fact is, they have a hole in their defense that I think will continue to keep the Cup out of their reach.”The broadcaster’s lamenting, like they always do before a puck has even dropped.They act like they can predict the whole damn thing.They’re rarely ever right, but no one seems to remember that by the end of the season.“Their lines are filled with rookies or guys who are one injury away from retirement.They need a couple solid players in their prime to go along with Casco, Conner, and Grady Garrison.”
