Page 12 of Brodie

“All right.” He sets his burger down and takes his cellphone out of his pocket. I watch him type something, and then he sets it asideand resumes eating until it dings a moment later. After he picks it up andchecks the screen, his eyes meet mine. “Does eight work for you?”

“Sure.” I dunk one of my fries into some ketchup.

Dropping his gaze, he quickly texts something back beforelifting his burger once more. “We’ll meet the charter company I use in themorning, and they’ll take us out.”

“It must be nice to be rich and famous,” I joke, then cringebecause it’s obvious that who he is is a sensitive topic for him. “Sorry, Ishouldn’t have said that.”

“Don’t be.” He shrugs. “I deal with that kind of shit frommy family all the time.”

“They give you a hard time about it?”

“Constantly.” He smiles. “My brother is the worst.”

“So, when you say you play pro hockey, I’m guessing thatmeans you’re pretty good.”

“I don’t suck.” His smile is tinged with a bit of cockiness.

“I don’t know much about hockey. How long have you beenplaying?”

“Since I was a kid. My dad bought me my first pair of skateswhen I was four. I joined my first team when I was seven and have been playingever since. You’ll have to come to a game when the season starts up.”

“I’m not really a fan of sporting events.” I hated watchingKirk play football, so I avoided his games like the plague, which probably mademe a pretty crappy girlfriend. I just didn’t enjoy the violent aspects of thesport and would sit there the whole time with a pit in my stomach, knowing thatone wrong hit could cause irrevocable damage. And knowing what little I doabout hockey, I imagine it would be the same thing.

“What sports do you like?”

“None.” I tip my head to the side. “That’s a lie. That sportthey play in the Olympics, where they sweep that black ball thing with broomsdown the ice, is pretty cool.”

“Curling is not a sport.”

“It’s in the Olympics, so I’d guess they’d disagree with youon that topic.”

I listen to him laugh, the deep sound just as attractive ashe is, especially when his eyes crinkle at the corners. The dimple in his leftcheek, which I didn’t notice before, shows ever so slightly. Ignoring theflutter in my lower belly, I focus on eating and just enjoying his company.

Being friends is safe, but there is no way I’ll entertainmore than that with an apparently famous hockey player who has women throwingthemselves at him.

Chapter 6

Brodie

Walking out of the cabin where the captain is, I take thestairs down to the lower deck and stop at the bottom, finding Reese where Ileft her, lying on one of the cushioned benches that encircle the front half ofthe boat. She’s beautiful, with the sun shining down on her, making her brownhair appear more red. She also looks miserable and almost green, which Ithought was a myth when people talked about getting seasick. She’d been fine onthe hour ride out to our fishing spot, but about ten minutes after the boatcame to a stop and the captain dropped the anchor, the look she gave me let meknow she was going to be sick. Two seconds later, she leaned over the side ofthe boat and lost her breakfast.

As I walk toward her, she opens her eyes. “I’m sorry. Isuck,” she whispers, looking up at me pitifully.

“Stop apologizing.” I squat in front of her and smooth herhair out of her face. “Are you feeling any better after the pill?”

“I want to say yes, but no. I’m pretty sure I’ll be sickagain if I move from this position.”

“You don’t need to move.” I stand and then sit next to herhead on the bench.

“I guess I should have thought about how different icefishing is from deep-sea fishing. You know, one being on frozen water and theother not.”

“I should have asked if you’d ever been on a boat.” I restmy hand on her forehead—cool to the touch despite the sun.

“Yeah, come to think of it, this is definitely all yourfault.” Laughing, I look down at her. I haven’t laughed so much in a very longtime. Her humor and honesty are both refreshing. She’s refreshing. AndI’m still annoyed at myself about yesterday when I basically accused her ofstalking me.

“I know better for next time. I’ll make sure to give yousomething to take before we get on the boat.”

“There isn’t going to be a next time. This was a one-timething. I will never go out on another boat again.”

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