Page 22 of One Pucking Destiny

“Yeah, I think so,” she replies.

“Good. You’ll be a great teacher,” Grandma says to Hattie before addressing me. “Now this Texas thing is that party week where all you hockey folks go to drink and get girlfriends?”

“G-ma!” I huff out a laugh. My grandma calling random hookups girlfriends is extremely adorable and slightly awkward.

She tsks. “I see this stuff all the time on videos. Your generation has zero filter. It’s like no information is private anymore.”

“What videos?” I ask.

“The reels!” Hattie chimes in.

I shake my head. “Maybe you should spend less time on those videos.” I wrap my arm around my grandma’s shoulders in a side hug. “And to answer your question, no. I’m not looking for a girlfriend, just a week to hang out with the guys… and apparently, all their families.” This bye week is different already.

“He’s in mourning,” Hattie blurts out.

“What? I am not.”

“Mourning?” Grandma questions. “Over who?”

Hattie leans across the counter, and her face lights up the way it always does when she has some good tea to spill. “He had agirlfriend. Briefly. Now he can’t find her and is depressed over it.”

“I am not depressed,” I chide.

Grandma raises a brow. “You don’t know how to get ahold of an ex-girlfriend?”

Refusing to make eye contact with my grandma, I return my attention to the ball of cookie dough that needs to be rolled out. “She wasn’t my girlfriend for that long,” I say under my breath.

“He can’t find her. He’s looked everywhere.” Hattie, the world-renowned gossip, exchanges looks with our grandma.

“You can’t call or write or stop by?” Grandma questions.

I don’t have to respond because my twin does it for me. “Nope.” She supplies an exaggerated “p” sound at the end of the word, causing me to roll my eyes. “He never got any of her information. Just a first name, if she even gave him her real one.”

“You don’t know if your girlfriend gave you her real name?” Grandma’s brows furrow in concern. “Sebastian, honey. I don’t know what kind of girls you’re dating but you deserve someone who will give you her real name, a phone number, and an address.” I can almost see the wheels in Grandma’s head turning. She pauses. “Oh.”

Powering through this conversation, I continue, “It’s fine. I’m not in mourning nor am I looking to find a girlfriend. I’m going to Texas to relax and spend timewith my friends. Oh, Twin”—my voice raises an octave—“how’s Anthony?”

Hattie shoots me a glare.

“Anthony?” Grandma questions. “I thought that ended a while back.”

“It’s actually a fun story,” I tease.

“I will kill you,” Hattie warns under her breath.

Typical Hattie. She can dish it, but she can’t take it.

“Never mind. I was thinking about someone else. Anyway, G-ma… tell me again about that new recipe of yours.”

Grandma loves nothing more than chatting about cooking. One question and she’s off and running with all the intricacies of her new cookie recipe. Hattie presses her lips in a line, suppressing a grin.

“You’re lucky,” I mouth to her.

Did she deserve to have her dirty laundry spilled in front of our grandma? Yes. Luckily, she has an awesome brother who isn’t into petty revenge.

Was she wrong about me still wallowing over my time with and inability to find Ariana? No. I wouldn’t say I’m in mourning, but it is true that not a single woman has remotely interested me since my night with Ari.

It’s actually a problem.

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