She rolls her eyes. “No. But who wouldn’t want to at least be asked? I’m not like you, JJ.”
“I have no idea what that means.”
She scoffs. “For guys, playing hockey ups your level of hotness. For me, it only makes me intimidating.”
I sigh. She’s not wrong. Girls are happy to drop to their knees the second they find out I play hockey. Not that I take anyone up on the offer.
Still, I work not to swallow my tongue imagining someone else asking Adeline out. “Who’s intimidated by you?”I ask, managing to keep my tone aloof.
She smacks me.
Without my permission, my eyes dip down, taking in her bodyagain. “It’s just because they don’t see you in these short shorts and tank top.”
“Shut up. These are my pajamas.”
I laugh. “What’s the excuse for the socks?”
She shoves me again and I fall over onto our snacks. As I go down, I snag her hand. “Stop being so violent. All I’m saying is I don’t think anyone would remember that you play hockey if they saw you right now.”
She stares down at me. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”
I’m not sure either. Would she appreciate the idea that I’ll probably be using the image of her in this exact outfit many a night going forward? Probably not.
I shrug it off and sit up, snagging my iPod. Head down, definitely not looking at her again, I find the playlist I want. Then I connect it to the little speaker in my pocket, and we’ve got music.
“It’s so weird that you have one of those,” she teases, folding her legs into a pretzel shape.
I pluck one of the bags of chips off the mattress and pull it open, then hold it out to her.
“It’s my dad’s,” I tell her. “Well, actually…” I can’t help but smile. “It was my mom’s, but my dad stole it.”
Shifting, Adeline exhales loudly through her nose. “What?”
“She used to listen to it on the train from Providence to Boston. She mostly did it so she could ignore my dad, who was trying really hard to get her to go out with him.”
“Really?” She breaks into a big smile, the expression sending a warm rush through me.
“Yup. And since he’s never been one to play fair, he hacked into her iTunes account and wiped out her playlist.”
Her mouth drops open and she lets out a breath. “Shut up.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, my dad was down bad.”
“God, I can’t imagine what that would be like. To have someone try so hard to get your attention.” Her eyes widen in this dreamy way for a second, though she quickly catches herself and sits straighter. “I’m sure you’ve had women do crazier things to get your attention.”
I laugh. “Nah, my dad was definitely the craziest. Anyway, hewould add a song a day. And then you know how they were separated for a long time?—”
She nods.
“He kept adding songs. She had no clue. And when he proposed, there was a ridiculous number of them. Like thousands. One for every day since he first met her.”
Her jaw drops. “Even when they were apart?”
“Yup.”
“Wow. That’s quite the story. Your mom was in Paris when they were separated, right?”
“Yeah, for some of the time. She loved it so much that they moved there about the time I was born.”
