Page 79 of Daydream

I smile because there’s nothing else I can do when I just carefully navigated trying to tell him how great he is without being too horrendously cringe, and that was his response. “I made it up on the fly. Are you impressed?”

“It’s not the best speech I’ve heard, but I acknowledge your efforts.”

I want to kiss him but I’m kind of scared to touch him, so I lean in on the assumption he’ll do the rest if he wants to. “I’m sorry I didn’t know how to make you feel better yesterday. I’m sorry you’re here when you don’t want to be.”

He leans in, too, his face so close to mine I can smell his cologne. “You’re apologizing again.”

“And I’m not going to stop until this work is done.”

“My body feels really oversensitive today, so I’m not going to kiss you even though I really like it when I do. I also don’t want to get kicked out for heavy petting in the library.”

I’m about to tell him that nobody saysheavy pettinganymore until he turns and points to a sign on the wall that literally says it. “If we get this finished in the next two hours, I can come to your coach’s office with you. I only have class this afternoon.”

I fear I might have gone too far, but he smiles and nods. “That’d be nice.”

IT’S NOT UNTIL WE’RE ONour way that I realize I’m so unathletic that I don’t even know where the sports building is.

Henry explained it’s a little like an evil lair occupied by multiple supervillains and he normally avoids it at all costs. He apparently got locked in there for two hours with his coach after the door jammed when he was a freshman and he’s never recovered.

Campus is fairly quiet as we stroll across it toward Henry’s meeting, but the calm doesn’t stopmefrom worrying thathe’sworrying about his meeting. I decided that distraction might be my best method. “How did you end up being a hockey player? Why not football or baseball or, I don’t know, chess?”

“My uncle Miles played hockey until he went to med school. He’stechnically my biological dad, so I guess I inherited his talent. He’s been my mama’s best friend since high school, then they all went to the same colleges, so they’re all close. My mama grew up playing different sports, so she wanted me to find something I liked as well.”

“Did he teach you to play?” I ask.

“Yeah. He’s the person who taught me repeatedly that I can be better than anyone in the room if I want to be. He got me my first skates. Took me to my first game. Signed me up for youth league. I became a bit obsessed, the way I do with things I like. My mom was happy that I was working in a team since I also liked creative things but would only do them alone.”

A mental image of little Henry playing kids’ hockey flashes through my mind. “Does Miles live in Maple Hills? Does he have any kids of his own now?”

Henry takes my hand and pulls me gently to move me out the way of someone texting and walking. His fingers thread through mine and he doesn’t let go. “He lived here when I was younger, but he went back to Texas. His mom got sick so now he teaches at a college there. I usually see him a few times a year. I’ve never known him to even date anyone, so he doesn’t have any kids. He’s a good guy; I think you’d like him. He reads a lot of books.”

“Reading books is definitely the best hobby a person can have.” Henry nudges me with his shoulder and rolls his eyes. “I bet he’s proud you’re where you are now.”

“Walking across campus holding hands with a hot girl? Probably.”

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Oh, you’ve got jokes now, huh.”

“I wasn’t joking.”

“I meant the fact you’re the captain of your team.”

“For now.”

“Henryyyy.”

“Halleeee,” he says, mimicking me.

“I know you’ll be with your parents this week for Thanksgivingand I’ll be working, but I’m going to come to your game on the weekend. I’ll find a way to move my shift around or leave early or something. I want to be there when you get off the ice,” I say. “I’m going to wear your jersey and scream your name.”

“Can you not make me hard before I go into this meeting, please?” I choke slightly. “Maybe wait to see if Faulkner kicks me off the team before you start moving things around.”

“You know that isn’t going to happen.”

He looks across to me as we stop in front of a building I’ve never seen before. “Do I?”

Henry holds the door open for me and ushers me to a bench inside the lobby. “Be honest with him, please. Whatever he wants to talk to you about, tell him you’re being too hard on yourself.”

“I’ll be as quick as I can.”

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