“Skyler came by the bar last night,” I said.
Mia’s eyebrows shot up. “The hockey player? Your number one fan?”
“He’s not my—yes. Him.”
“Alone?” she asked, brow raised.
“Alone.”
“Interesting.” She exchanged a look with DeShawn. “You may continue.”
So I gave them the condensed version. I left out the “make me” slip and the way I’d called him Sky without thinking. Some things were too embarrassing to share, even with your besties.
“And then this morning,” I continued, “he texted to say thanks.”
“And?” said the Oracle of Omaha, not buying the period at the end of my sentence.
“And then he asked if I wanted to grab lunch tomorrow.”
Mia’s eyes went supernova as her voice jumped an octave. “He asked you out?”
“Shh!” I glanced around to make sure no one could overhear. “He’s a pro player, Mi. Keep it quiet, okay?”
Her whole face scrunched into a frown, as though I’d insulted the idea of chicharron.
I continued in a whisper, “He asked me to lunch.As friends.He was very clear about that. He even used the phrase ‘bro hangout’ twice.”
“Bro hangout,” DeShawn repeated, a smile tugging at his lips. “That’s adorable.”
“Shut up, Dish. It’s not adorable. It’s just lunch.”
“With a famous hockey player who keeps finding reasons to see you.” Mia leaned forward on her elbows and batted her evil, all-seeing eyes. “What did you say?”
“Well, duh, I said yes. We’re going to that taco place in Seminole Heights. It’s casual and low-key.”
“Andverydate-like,” DeShawn added.
Mia’s grin turned feral.
“It’snota date.”
“Doesheknow that?” DeShawn asked.
“He said ‘not a date date’ in the text.”
Mia and Shawn exchanged another one of those looks, the ones that made me feel like a specimen under a microscope.
“What?” I demanded.
“Nothing,” Mia said, though she was smiling now. “It’s funny. You’re both so adamant that it’s not a date, which means someone wishes it was.”
“He’s straight, Mia.”
“So you keep saying,” DeShawn countered.
“He literally told me about the woman who broke up with him.”
“The woman he feltnothingfor. The woman who said he wasn’t present.” She shrugged. “I’m just saying that’s not a ringing endorsement of his heterosexuality.”
