Page 25 of Fear of Falling

“Thanks. It worked out in the end though. I like where I’m at now.” I truly did. As Wyatt fell silent, I could tell by the look on his face he was thinking of his own injury.

He may be healed physically, but is he mentally?

“Hey,” I nudged him under the table with my foot, getting his attention. “Your knee is going to be fine. Stay up on physical therapy and I’ll make you a jar of my famous pepper paste.”

“You really think pepper paste helps?” Wyatt looked at me with a skeptical look.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make a believer out of you,” I smiled.

“We’ll see about that.” He nudged me back with his foot.

“Oh, we will. You’ll learn soon I’m always right.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. It’s one of my many amazing traits,” I said with a chuckle.

“Well, it’s a good thing I like being proven wrong.”

12

JOSIE

“So, tell me, hockey boy,” I said once our food was long gone, including the dessert Rick brought out to us. The sun had fully set as we remained there talking, losing track of time. People came and went from the food truck, but we didn’t move.

“Hockey boy? Really?”

“What? I think it suits you,” I said cheekily. “It’s your new nickname.”

“Out of all of the nicknames?” Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “Can’t even add man instead of boy.”

“Well, what should your nickname be then?”

“Wy. B. Or just Wyatt,” he rattled off.

“Really? All of them are one letter.”

“Technically Wy is with the W and the Y.” This time it was his turn to be cheeky. “And B is for my last name. The guys on the team call me that one the most.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll come up with a better one for you, hockey boy,” I giggled as Wyatt sighed.

“You were saying?” He waved at me to continue. Suddenly, the confidence I felt a few moments ago slowly faded away. Now I wasn't sure if I should ask the question that was on the tipof my tongue. But I had to know, at least before things went further.

“Um…should I be expecting some sort of girlfriend or crazy ex to suddenly show up at my doorstep wondering why I’m spending time with you?” I forced myself to keep eye contact as I asked. The last thing I wanted was any drama.

“No, no crazy girlfriend or ex,” Wyatt said as he shook his head. “I…” He struggled for a moment as though trying to decide if he should say more or not. “I’m not exactly proud of my past relationships. I slept around a lot my first year of Uni and continued when I got drafted.” Again, he rubbed the side of his neck. “Any sort of relationships I did have didn’t last long but I never cheated. I can promise you that,” he said firmly as he gave me a pointed look.

“Relationships can be a bit hard with everything in my life. Sometimes you just don’t know people's intentions. It makes dating more difficult. So, it’s been about a year or so since I last ‘dated’.”

“Women will seriously use you for fame?” It sounded like something that would come out of a book or movie, not real life. Yet I wouldn’t put it past certain people to do that either and I thought about the women I saw—the so-called fans—that hunted the players down at clubs and the like.

“You’d be surprised at how many do,” Wyatt said, bitterness seeping into his voice. His jaw clenched at what I assumed was a bad recollection.

Something close to anger washed over me at the thought of some girl using Wyatt like that. Using his kindness and handwork to get further in life, only to what? Cheat on him? Dump him when they found something better? Wyatt didn’t deserve that. No one did.

“That’s beyond shitty. I’m so sorry.” I reached across the table and took his hand in mine, squeezing. “You shouldn’t have to question someone's intentions when you are dating them.”

“Comes with the territory.”

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