Page 84 of Going All In

“No. You,” Darcy shot back, then headed to her room.

“You love me,” Ally yelled as Darcy shut her door, shaking her head at her crazy friend.

She pulled her laptop and notes out of her messenger bag. She could keep everything digital, but there was something about handwriting her notes. It helped her organize her thoughts.

Most of her research was done and her comprehensive literature critique had been drafted for over a month, but she had to sit on it for a few weeks before diving back in. The research was solid, her focal points well thought out, but it needed something else. She tapped her pen against her desk and mulled over what else she wanted to say. This was just one piece of what she had to finish and submit in order to graduate and move on to the next step—getting her doctorate.

She had another meeting with Dr. Maguire later this week, and she had sent off an email to Dr. Chen for feedback two days ago. He was always difficult to pin down and meet with, but he was better with email.

Her phone buzzed across her desk, and she instantly looked at it, hoping to see Jake’s name on the screen. Not that she’d expected to hear from him so soon, especially since he was probably still on a plane between Winnipeg and Chicago.

She groaned when her mother’s name flashed on the screen, but she still answered the call.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, honey. How are you? It feels like ages since we talked or saw you.” Darcy heard the pout in her mother’s tone. She should be used to it by now, but it still frustrated her.

“I saw you last week,” she said.

“It was two weeks ago. You were busy last Sunday.”

“I had to work and then finish up some notes for my final graduation review.”

“I know, dear. You just work too much. Your father and I can give you extra money if you wanted to at least quit that coffee shop job,” she said.

“I like working there,” Darcy said. It was a lie, but her parents helped her out so much with tuition, and living with Ally meant her rent was low. She wasn’t going to ask them for more. And she was still seriously considering quitting the coffee shop.

“If you didn’t work there, we could spend more time together and you could spend more time with Jake. Should we expect him for dinner this Sunday?”

“I’ll check with him. He’s in Chicago for a game.”

“Ooh, Chicago. I love it there. Your father took me there one year for a conference. Why didn’t you go with him? Didn’t he ask?”

She bit back her groan. “I had to work, Mom. And study. And it’s the middle of the week. Most of the wives and girlfriends don’t go to road games, anyway.”

“You’re a WAG now, right? I looked it up. So much better than one of those puck bunnies.”

“Oh my god, why are you looking that stuff up?”

“Just want to make sure I have all the right terms. Your father has tried to teach me about hockey stuff for years, but now that you’re dating a hockey player, I thought I’d pay attention.”

She did not want to know how WAGs and puck bunnies had come up in conversation between her parents.

“Anyway,” Darcy drew out. She should’ve let the call go to voice mail. She usually did when her mother called and she was studying.

“How is everything going? That picture of you two at the playground was adorable. He clearly loves you. You love him, right?”

“Jesus, Mom. We are dating. It’s still new.”

“It’s not that new. It’s been almost two months.” her mother interjected.

Was it?

“Yeah. I guess two months. But that’s still new. And I know you saw the picture because you commented on it and then you shared it.”

“Am I not allowed to be happy for my daughter? That she’s found a nice man?”

Darcy kept her groan on the inside. Her mother meant well, but screenshotting a picture that the Strikers posted on their feed and posting it on her own Facebook page to gush about her daughter and her hockey player boyfriend was weird. And embarrassing.

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