Protected, even.
“This place is wild! And this box, sweet Jesus. How did you get Dom to fall so hard?” Via’s voice silences the thoughts in my head. I stare up at her sweet face, reminded that we’re at the hockey game.
Dominik’s hockey game.
Right… Enough with the intrusive thoughts and shit you have no control over.
“You’re funny.” I fake a smile.
“Where the hell are you right now?” Via glares at me.
“What do you mean?” Now I’m wondering if I totally blanked out.
“We’re at your boyfriend’s game… You know, the famous pro hockey player who got you box tickets so you could impress your colleagues and friend? That one. Who’s also madly in love with you?” Via squeezes my cheek, and I smack her hand away.
“Stop it. He’s just trying to make up for the rose fiasco I spent three hours cleaning up. Or have you forgotten about that already?”
Via scoffs. “Whatever. That was so sweet. Men don’t do things to just be nice.”
“Via,” I interrupt her unenthusiastically.
“Zoe…wake up and smell the roses… Pun intended.” Via shakes her head, standing up. “Want a beer?”
I try not to roll my eyes at her as she starts to walk away. “Yes, I do. And when you come back, you’re only allowed to ask me technical questions about hockey.”
The stadium has filled up quite a bit since we arrived, but Aaron is still nowhere to be seen. The game is about to start, and he hasn’t even sent me a text to let me know he’ll be late. Maybe I forgot to mention that Via would be here... Although, I’m pretty sure he remembers how excited she was at the office when Dominik invited her and our boss, Tracy.
Tracy refuses to spend time with us outside the office because she has a strict rule. However, Via has been eagerly talking about tonight nonstop for days.
Via nudges my shoulder and sits down, offering me a beer she got from the server in the kitchenette. I can’t even fathom the amount of money Dominik must be spending on this box. I wonder if he gets a discount.
You were supposed to stop thinking about him.
“Does he know we’re here?”
“Who?” I bob my head to the music as I watch the Zamboni finish up smoothing out the ice rink.
“Dominik. Who else?”
“Oh, I don’t know. He gave you and Tracy season tickets for the box. You’re welcome anytime.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Via looks genuinely confused.
I blink at her. She blinks back. Both our brains seem to be short-circuiting. “Don’t you see him every day?” she asks.
I sigh. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about this. But if you must know, no, I don’t see him every day.”
That’s a lie. I saw him earlier. It was still dark out and I was half asleep when he woke me up with his cock.
Shifting in my seat, I gulp down my beer. “We hang out all the time. We’re just both busy.”
Via seems disappointed. “Oh, shows you what I know. Dating is weird.”
“Are you seeing anyone?”
“Pfftt, no. I’m not going near any men right now. I’m still getting over my last shitty relationship.” Via stares off, her expression turning somber.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
