Page 37 of Fear of Falling

“Are you asking for my hand in marriage? You know the answer is already yes, babe.”

I snorted at my best friend, Tasha’s response. “One day.”

The funny thing was, if the two of us did go off and get married, I doubted anyone would be surprised. We’d been inseparable for years. Are you really best friends if there hasn’t been rumors at some stage linking you together romantically? Despite the fact we weren’t blood-related, Tasha was my sister in every sense of the word.

“I got tickets for tonight's hockey game. Do you want to come with me?”

“How did you get tickets for the game?” I could hear her tapping away on her computer.

“Um…” I wasn’t entirely sure how to tell her about Wyatt. Till now, I’d kept our relationship close to the chest. Not because I’m ashamed or trying to hide him. I wanted to keep Wyatt to myself until I was sure he wasn’t going to run off. He still could, which is the scary part.

Plus, every time you bring up a guy to your friends it jinxed it—at least in my experience. Within days you’re ghosted. I didn’t want to risk that happening by telling Tasha or Lydia. AlthoughI couldn’t see any way around that now that I’d invited Tasha to the game.

“Jo?” Tasha prompted. She knew me like the back of her hand, and I could never hide anything from her. Knowing I was about to endure a lot of questions I decided to rip it off like a Band-Aid.

“One of the players on the team gave me tickets,” I said it so fast the words jumbled together.

“Wait, what?”

“I met a guy who plays for the team, and he gave me tickets,” I said it slower this time. Forcing myself to take a deep breath, I pulled the phone away from my ear in preparation as I silently counted down.3… 2… 1…

“You met someone! A hockey player! Josie Scott!

Glancing around, I made sure no one had heard Tasha’s screeching through the phone, but it was safer holding it at a distance—I was too young to have hearing loss. I could see my office building up ahead as I continued down the street.

“Done freaking out yet?” I asked after a moment.

“When did this happen?” she demanded.

“The two of us got stuck in the elevator together last week.”

“Wait, what? How could you keep that from me? And he lives in your building! How did I not know this?”

“I didn’t even know myself until the elevator,” I confessed.

Admittedly, I wasn’t the best at paying attention to my surroundings. There were probably countless times I’d seen Wyatt within the building and never even knew. But then again, Wyatt had the ability to capture everyone’s attention as soon as he walked into a room, so it was hard to believe I hadn’t noticed before.

“And he gave you tickets to make up for the elevator?” Tasha asked, but I knew what she was doing. She never outright asked. As a professional counselor, she knew how to slowly easethe information out of you. Tasha’s basically a conversational wizard.

“Not exactly…I returned the jersey he lent me, and we ended up going out to eat. We’ve been talking all week.”

“We have so much to discuss when I see you tonight.”

“So, you’ll go with me?”

“Like I would miss the chance to see a game and meet this hockey player,” Tasha scoffed through the phone. Not that I’d expected her to say no. She was the type of friend you could call at midnight and ask to go for a drive, and she’d immediately say yes—no questions asked.

“The game starts at six, so we’ll want to be there around five-ish to get through security.”

“Sounds good. Want me to come pick you up?”

“Might as well. Save money on parking.”

“I’ll swing by later,” Tasha said. “Oh! One more question!”

“Yeah?”

“Is he super-hot?”

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