Page 29 of Drawn to You

She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a man-child. Just leave it like it is and send it.”

I finish the message and set my phone aside, digging into my food.

“This is actually really good,” I say.

“Of course it is. I’m a woman of many talents.”

Her confidence is hot. I try to figure out if she’s wearing a bra. No visible nip, so probably.

Damn. If she weren’t wearing a bra, that would mean she was trying to get me to look. Even though we don’t get along, today feels like a truce of sorts.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring, though?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Josie

If I didn’t knowhow moody and arrogant he could be, I’d think Dane Foster was an absolute saint. A stand-up guy. A gentleman, even.

Archie Bright, the nine-year-old cancer patient who just met Dane for the first time, is looking at him with such reverence that it takes my breath away. When we arrived, he cried and hugged Dane for a solid five minutes and he’s just now managed to let go of him so they can have a conversation, both of them wearing masks.

This morning, Dane called my cat “a furry menace” and griped at me for not emptying the lint trap in his dryer. Then he made me a delicious cheese omelet. I still haven’t figured out if he’s mercurial or just constantly trying to balance out his grouchiness with good deeds.

Right now, though, I’m in awe of him. Archie is bald and thin, and he was staring listlessly at nothing in his hospital bed when we walked into the room. Now his eyes are shining happily andhe’s holding Dane’s hand. Dane is smiling warmly at the little boy, listening to him talk about watching hockey games on TV.

“They don’t have most of the Mammoths’ games on TV here,” he says glumly. “Sometimes they do, though.”

“How would you feel about watching tomorrow night’s game against Chicago?” Dane asks.

Archie lights up. “Oh yeah! I’m watching that one. Regina said I can stay up late and watch it on the big TV in the lounge. She’s one of my nurses.”

Dane shakes his head and makes a face, looking at Archie’s mom, Taylor.

“I don’t think you guys should let him stay up late and watch it in the lounge,” he says.

“What?” Archie cries.

Dane waves a hand dismissively. “If you’ve seen one hockey game, you’ve seen ’em all, man.”

“No!” Archie’s expression is devastated. “I want to watch the game! Regina said I can!”

“How about this?” Dane says. “You can still watch the game, but instead of watching it from the lounge here, you come to the arena and watch it with me in person.”

The little boy’s eyes fill with happy tears and he looks at his mom. “Can I?”

His mom is smiling through tears as she says, “Of course, baby.”

It’s a good thing the Mammoths’ PR office sent two of their photographers with us to capture this meeting on video and in photos because I can’t keep it together anymore. I have to step out of the room to go clean my tear-streaked face off in the bathroom.

Archie and his family deserve all the joy in the world. All I asked Dane to do was come here and meet Archie, but he asked Arnold for a private area where he, Archie and his family couldwatch a game. He’d read through posts Archie’s mom had put on social media and knew steering clear of germs was important for him. That’s why Arnold is giving up his own private box for tomorrow night’s game and having it disinfected from top to bottom so Archie and his family will have a safe place to watch.

I take a short walk, get a Diet Coke from a vending machine and put my mask back on before returning to Archie’s room, where Dane is crouched down next to his bed.

“Does it hurt when you get hit by a puck?” Archie asks him.

“Not too bad. Unless you catch a puck to the old coin purse without pads on.”

Archie laughs, his hand still holding firmly to Dane’s.

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