Page 6 of Six Wishes

“Motherfucker,” Wyatt’s deep voice thunders over the line, “if I hear you calling her Ali one more time, you can bet your ass that the last game in the NHL that you played will really have been your last.”

He did warn me before not to call her Ali. Apparently, only he is allowed to do so. I also smile sadly because, from the looks of it, my career as a professional hockey player is coming to an end. Acting like an idiot is helping me cope with it.

“Wyatt, you are being ridiculous,” sounds like Alison put the phone away from her mouth, but I can still hear them bickering in the background. “And if you wake Ethan up with your loud ass voice, I swear to God that I will beat you.” Ethan is Wyatt’s four-year-old nephew, who has come to live with him permanently. Apparently, there’s some family drama there that warranted that.

“Okay, guys,” I raise my voice and hope they can hear me. “I just called to ask about Chloe.”

No words are coming out of them anymore, but I just heard a weird sound, and I swear I think they’re making out now.

“Alison,” I make sure to enunciate so we don’t have any arguments about it later. “I need you. Help me,” I beg into the phone.

“Sorry, Van,” she sounds frazzled now, and I know I was right about Wyatt having kissed her stupid there. “What about Chloe? I thought you didn’t like her.”

“What gave you that impression?” I only ask to be polite. As mentioned before, I was a dick to the girl the very first time I met her.

“You weren’t nice to her,” Alison now confirms. “And you didn’t even hit her with a bad pickup line. That was very disappointing, I have to say,” she continues teasing me.

“Well, I ran into her tonight,” I come clean with my information. “And I do like her. A lot. And I need you to tell me what you know of her because I am trying to avoid a possible puck bunny situation.”

“If by puck bunny you mean what I think you do, then ewww, and shame on you, Van,” Alison chastises me like she is my mom. “Chloe is a great girl, I love her. And just so you know, if you end up marrying her and you move her to New York, I will never speak to you again. The GIF supply will dry out forever, you hear me?”

The way Alison is talking to me, I almost want to sit up straight and quite possibly salute her, too. I know she is a teacher, and she seems to know how to get people’s attention, that’s for sure.

“I hate to disappoint you,” I finally say when it catches up with me what she just said. “But I did not call to ask for Chloe’s hand in marriage. I just called to get confirmation that she wouldn’t be some crazy hockey fan that I should be watching out for.”

“Not Chloe, I promise,” Alison starts cracking up. “But watch out for her cousin because she is Sliders’ biggest fan.”

“Back to Chloe.” I know I have a one-track mind, but I called to talk about her, not about her cousin.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Van.” Alison gives me a frustrated sigh now. “She is a great girl. She went to school up in Wisconsin, stayed there after graduation, and now she moved back home. She’s not sure what she wants to do with her life,” she continues at a fast pace. “So she came to work with me at school. She’s my classroom assistant and all the kids love her. She joined this beach volleyball league, and she is damn good. I think she played in college too. She should be playing professionally. Is there a professional volleyball league?” She keeps on talking without taking a breath, and I keep on nodding like she can see me paying attention.

“Is she seeing anyone?” I finally cut her off.

“Not that I’m aware. Although, I do know that Brian likes her a lot…” Alison tells me in a low voice, like she’s telling me a secret.

“Who the fuck is Brian?”

“Oh, he is a firefighter. He works for the Lake County fire department. He is soooo cute,” she gushes over this guy like she wants to go out with him now too. I hear a growl coming out of Wyatt, and I know that he’s gotten to the same conclusion. “Quit, Wy,” she tries to silence her fiancé. “Anyway, I don’t think she likes Brian like that. Besides, they’re almost the same height,” she sounds almost appalled by it now, and I grin just as I pull into my driveway. “How would she ever even wear a pair of sexy heels when she’s out with him?”

“She can wear all the sexy heels she wants when she goes out with me,” I deadpan, and Alison gasps.

“You’re taking her out?”

“You betcha.”

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