Page 38 of Body Checked By the Defenseman

“Mac and cheese?” I say excitedly.

“You got it,” she replies.

I help her put all the food into serving dishes and we set up the dining room table.

“Mario’s family seems very nice,” I tell her.

“They’re great,” she agrees.

“I’m happy for you, Abuela.”

“And what about you? Any handsome boys in your life?” she asks.

I’ve never lied to Abuela in my life, and I suddenly don’t know what to do.

“I was seeing a guy from my kinesiology class for a while. He was handsome,” I share.

“I hear abutin that sentence,” she inquires, watching me with precision that makes me think she can get inside my head and read my thoughts, which would be scary.

“No buts, it just didn’t work out.” I shrug.

“And did you and Mack have a fight or something?” she asks.

My stomach dips but I try to keep a straight face. “Why would you say that?”

“Because you guys aren’t talking or interacting like you usually do,” she replies.

Yes, well, that’s because we want to hump each other every time we touch.

“You know he’s been weird ever since we left for Riverside U,” I remind her. It was something we spoke about a lot because I didn’t understand how he could be so cold with me.

“I told you, mija, he wanted to give you space to flourish. It had always been the three of you against the world. Him taking a step back gave you a chance to meet new people on your own terms.”

“I did branch out,” I confess.

“So everything is same as usual then?” she asks, raising her brows. Geez, does she know what we’ve been up to? How could she possibly tell?

I swallow. “Same as always.” My tone is a little too high-pitched. Damn, I am a bad actor.

“Okay,” she says, accepting my answer.

With all the food ready and steaming on the table, we call everyone down to eat. We forgot to set a few drinking glasses on the table so I grab them from the kitchen and when I get back, Riley is sitting beside Macklin. He watches me, almost looking apologetic, but then he pulls his gaze and looks at the food.

“This all looks so delicious,” he praises.

“I hope you guys are eating well over there,” Abuela says.

“We are, Ruby’s friend, Charlie, is a great cook and she’s been doing a lot of cooking with Finn,” Hayden explains.

“You live in a house with your brother and his friends?” Vicky asks in shock.

“My dorm flooded at the beginning of the semester. Instead of moving into the worst dorm on campus, my best friend and I moved into the hockey house,” I explain.

“Shit, you’re lucky,” Riley says.

“Riley, watch your mouth,” Ana chides and Riley flinches.

“My dad would never let me move into a house that was all guys,” Vicky states.

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