Page 85 of The Fake Out Flex

Evie

"I have to admit, I thought this would be weird."

"Weird, how?" Fraser's smooth, deep voice drifts through the speaker on my phone, while I'm finishing off some bracelets.

"Like, I thought it would feel like I'm talking to myself."

"Don't tell me you never talk to yourself? You're a prime candidate for self-talking."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you love to talk. You talk back to the TV."

"When I'm watching a game."

"Oh, well, in that case…" Fraser lets out a rusty chuckle. "I've seen you talk to your flowers."

"Yes, and notice how they always last for a long time? I'm convinced plants respond to kind words."

"I bet they do. But what I'm getting at is that I think it's interesting you find talking like this, over the phone, so novel. Don't you call your friends all the time?"

"Nope. We have a group chat."

"Levi?"

"Texts, mainly."

"Your mom?"

"I have dinner with my parents every Thursday, which gets me out of having to call her during the week."

"Right. So this whole phone-talking thing is new for you."

"It really is."

"Well, you're doing remarkably well."

I smile even though he can't see it. "Thank you."

It's our first chat date, and I'm acing it, apparently.

This was such a great idea.

I can't make it to any of Fraser's games for the next few weeks because I'm needed at work, and since my numbers are back to anemic, I'm in no position to ask for time off to fly around the country to watch my boyfriend play hockey.

Oops, fake boyfriend. I keep slipping up on that.

I lay down the bracelet I've been working on. "So, what now?"

"Nothing. We just keep talking. I'm a classic man, favoring the traditional back-and-forth method where one of us says something, the other listens, and then we switch. But I'm also open to the Evie Freeman method."

I smile and sit up taller. "Enlighten me please."

"Well, I have to say it's evolved over time. It used to be harsh hockey critiques sprinkled with occasional musings on a variety of random topics."

"The random musings are still trademark Evie."

Fraser laughs. "They are. But there's been a shift. Hockey feedback has mellowed. I no longer have my therapist on speed dial."

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