Page 25 of My Best Bet

“Quick question,” I said to him, ignoring Piper. “Do you happen to know if-”

Piper clasped her hand over my mouth, making me shriek in shock. I struggled and finally overpowered her little arms.

The bartender looked at us like we were crazy.

“Does Richard Kappers play for–”

“The Windy City Whalers?” he finished, his bushy eyebrows raised. “Yeah. He’s right wing, on a line with the captain, The Conman. They’re expected to tear it up this year. Really hoping they take the city all the way. Can you imagine a Stanley Cup parade going on around here? It’d be electric.” He threw a cloth rag over his shoulder. “And good for business.”

Piper’s forehead hit the wooden bar with a smack.

His eyes darted to her blonde head. “Are you ladies okay?”

“It’s fine, she’s fine.” I waved him off.

“I amnotfine.” When she picked her head back up, she whined, “Dick ishere?”

“Maybe you should, ya know, not call him ‘dick’ anymore.” I cringed. “He really didn’t like it.”

She gave me an exasperated look.

_______

When the bar finally closed, we wobbled out together on shaky legs.

“We’re gonna feel like shit tomorrow,” I said, already regretting my choices.

“We are,” she confirmed. “That’s why we’re staying together.”

My neck snapped over to her, then I wobbled from moving too quickly. “You’re staying over?”

“I’m not welcome?” She hiccupped. “Aren’t you living in this part of the city?” She motioned around us.

“You are,” I recovered quickly. “And yeah, I’m pretty close. It’s just… My place is not very…” I trailed off, not quite knowing how to explain it. Simply put, my place was not the same as hers. I visited her once this summer before moving here. She lived in a fancy new skyscraper apartment that overlooked Lake Michigan– and not because she made so much money ice dancing. While she had won multiple national championships and a series of other international titles, she still basically had zero dollars to her name. I suspected she made a little off of sponsorships and her social media, but she was mainly financed by her wealthy parents who wanted to help her win gold at the next Olympics. I think the only reason she started coaching this summer was because she was bored with the fact that she and Patrick were taking this upcoming competition season off.

While I couldn't afford much, I was still proud of my place and the way I’d been able to spruce it up and make it homey over the last two weeks.

We turned down my street and Piper gasped as her eyes drifted over the pristine row houses with colorful autumn trees lining the sidewalks. The street really was breathtaking… It was just my apartment that wasn’t.

“Wow, this is fancy, Mer! Maybe I should give up the road to gold and tour instead,” she said.

“No.” I snorted. “Stay on the gold road, girl.”

I led her past the row houses, and she pouted and reached back like she wanted to grab one of them. They were pretty, but living in a place like that wasn’t ever my dream like it was hers. She was a city girl through and through.

“Let’s keep moving,” I said with a chuckle. “I think my blood is starting to freeze.”

We power-walked all the way to the end of the street to a skinny brick townhouse with broken window shutters, making it slightly resemble a haunted house.

Piper skidded to a stop beside me. “Oh.”

I laughed because she hadn’t even seen the worst of it yet.

As soon as I let us inside the little rod-iron front gate, I didn’t go up to the front door. Nope. I turned and walked down a set of cracked concrete steps.

Piper gasped. “You’re joking, Mer! You donotlive here.”

“I do,” I laughed. “C’mon, only the entrance looks sketch.”

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