TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD
The momentI get the news, there’s only one person I want to call. I’m pacing my dorm as I pull out my phone, trying to remember where he is tonight. Does he have a game?
JJ signed with the Bolts last year and this is his first full season on the team. Their veteran goalie, Sidney Howe, gets far more ice time, but JJ still plays, and getting any time during his first year is a huge deal. And he’s playing for our hometown team. Honestly, that’s just about every hockey player’s dream.
I was there the day he got drafted, and like we always do, we celebrated with pizza from Antonio’s. Just the two of us.
While he’s living it up, I’m still in college. Even if I was brave enough to enter the draft, my parents were adamant that I wait until after I graduate. I’ve been telling myself that when that time comes, maybe I’ll be ready. After the news I just got, I’m starting to believe it.
I’m pretty sure the Bolts are in Michigan, so Antonio’s is likely out of the question. But I still need to hear his voice.
I pull up his contact info and put the phone on speaker, then drop it onto my bed and pace.
“Hello?” A female voice crackles through my room, stealing the air from my lungs. “Hello, JJ’s phone. Is someone there?”
I work to clear my throat and snatch the device off the mattress. “Yeah, um, hi. It’s Adeline. He can just call me back.”
“JJ, baby, someone’s on the phone,” the woman coos.
There’s a jostling and then another hello. This time the voice is familiar, making my heart stutter, even as it sinks.
“Hi, uh…” I bite my lip. God, why do I want to cry right now?
“Adeline?” JJ asks. “Is that you?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay?”
“Baby, who is Adeline?” the woman asks.
He huffs. “Can you give me a minute?”
I shake my head. “Yeah, of course. Just call me another time.”
“Not you,” he says into the phone. A second later, a door clicks shut, and he murmurs, “What’s up?”
“Where are you?” I ask, unable to stop myself.
“In a hotel in Michigan?” he answers, his pitch rising at the end like it’s a question.
“Baby?” I say, my mouth really getting away from me.
“Huh?”
“She called youbaby.”
He sighs. “Is that why you called? To ask about what some girl called me?”
My stomach rolls. “She’s in your hotel room.”
“And?” he asks, his tone shorter than usual. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Why should I have a problem with that? Just because we’re best friends doesn’t mean you owe it to me not to sleep with anyone else…and we’re not sleeping together so, like, yay,” I say in the fakest of squeals which ends with a stupid clap of my hands.
“Did you just clap?”
I tap my forehead with the edge of the phone a little too hard.Seriously, Addie? Could you get more embarrassing?“Maybe?”
