Page 31 of Keep Me

“No.”

She poked her lips out, frowning like a petulant child.

“You didn’t even hear me out.”

“Because I’m not interested in a blind date.”

“Who said anything about blind? Does Erik Steele ring any bells?”

“None at all.”

She glared up to the sky and huffed out a breath of annoyance. “Well, he’s on the hockey team.”

“Doesn’t the hockey team hate you?”

“Not anymore.”

“But they did?”

“Yeah, sophomore year we had a huge misunderstanding. They like me now, though.” She twisted her lips, contemplating. “Although, it might be because Dash Bridges and Cade Bright are gone. They were the ones that couldn’t stand me. But anyway, I like to think I’ve made somewhat of a friendship with Erik.” She looked me up and down, her lip curling with disdain. “Not the way you and Matty are friends, though. That’s just a complicated mess.” She shook her head. “But that’s not the point. I think you and Erik would really hit it off. I will warn you, he’s kind of a player, but I’m almost certain it’s because he hasn’t found the right girl. Yet.”

“And you think that girl is me?”

“Why couldn’t it be? You love to watch sports. He plays a sport. I couldn’t think of a better life for the two of you.”

“I’veneveronce watched hockey.”

“At all?” She raised a brow.

“Nope. Not even an accidental second at a sports bar. My family are baseball and football people. If one of those games is on, we aren’t leaving the house.”

“So? Switch sides. Hockey boys are pucking awesome.”

“And you’re pucking deluded.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve already thought of the perfect ship name for the two of you.”

She held her hands up as though she was showcasing something.

“Brik,” she said so proudly I couldn’t figure out if she was joking or not.

I stared at my friend, thinking she’d lost her mind, until her shoulders dropped.

“Okay, well, if it’s not hockey guys, then you might have to settle for the football team. Although, I seriously doubt Matty would let you date one of his teammates.”

And she did it again. Mentioned the boy who ripped my heart out, shoved it in a toaster, turned it on, then threw it in a filled bathtub.

This year would be a nightmare if I couldn’t even get through my first day of journalism without mentioning him. It didn’t help that I was lead anchor for the football team, which meant player interviews and analyses were coming my way. As much as I dreaded seeing Matty again, I needed the broadcasting gig more. Not only would it give me the right credits for graduation, but it was my dream.

I always wanted to be a broadcaster with the NFL, and this was a steppingstone for it.

“But I guess if you show up wearing some daisy dukes and another player’s jersey, there’s no way Matty could stop his teammates from being into you. I hear Jackson James is single.”

“I’m not going to date anyone on the football team. It’s my first and only opportunity to be lead anchor, and I want to be taken seriously.”

“Okay. You’re right.” She looked up to the sky and frowned. “I get it.Chally Sportsisn’t going to want to take on a sports broadcaster who dates someone on the team. Imagine the mess if there’s a breakup.”

I gulped. It wasn’t a code I was afraid to break over the summer. It was only now that I needed a convenient reason not to date a player that I used it.

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