Page 20 of Fear of Falling

I wanted to smack my forehead.

Great, now she knows I’d talked about her.

I really needed to get Josie away from my friends. Instead of making me look good they were doing the opposite.

So much for being my wingmen.

“When Wyatt told us he got stuck in an elevator with a pretty girl we didn’t believe him.” Trevor leaned against the side board, a flirty smile on his face.

Josie flushed under his gaze. It was the Trevor Hall effect. He could charm any woman with a single glance. Usually it didn’t bother me, but right now, I wanted nothing more than to smack that smile off his face.

Both Trevor and Bryton looked at me with matching grins, and I just knew they were going to say something stupid.

“You should have seen this guy today,” Bryton started. “He was a hot mess thinking about you.”

“He almost started crying and he’s not an attractive crier either,” Trevor added.

“Then there was the whole ‘woe is me’ situation in the locker room.”

Josie listened to my two best friends with a raised eyebrow, lips twitching. I knew I had to put an end to this before the two assholes went any further with their lies.

“Okay, that’s enough.” I placed my hands on their shoulders and gave them a nudge. “Time for you to go.”

“But we want to get to know Josie better!” Trevor protested, but I tightened my grip. “She clearly wants to talk to us more than you,” he added, winking at her. As Josie giggled, I felt my jaw clench.

“Yeah, come on Wyatt.” Of course Bryton had to egg him on. Glaring, I pushed them towards the tunnel to the locker room.

“Fine, fine, we're going.” Freeing himself from my grip, Trevor skated backwards, looking at Josie. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hopefully we see you again.” Bryton gave her a wave.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Josie called out, smiling at the two idiots. I shook my head at my best friends as they finally skated away. Not before wiggling their eyebrows at me. “Sorry about them.” I rubbed the back of my neck as I turned around to face her.

“No worries, they seem really nice.”

“They’re shit stirrers,” I mumbled. “Don’t believe a word they say.”

“Oh, so you weren’t crying in the locker room?” Josie teased. Seeing the way her eyes lit up, I suddenly didn’t care what my friends said.

“Someone was cutting onions in there,” I teased back. It dawned on me I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such easy banter with someone of the opposite sex. It was nice.

“Well, I better let you go. I just wanted to drop by and return the jersey.” She took a step back. As her eyes met mine and I couldn’t deny the spark of something in my chest. “I’ll…uh, see you around.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

The sight of her leaving made my stomach sink. I couldn’t let her walk away, not after she just got here. It had been three days of battling with myself, wanting to see her, and now I had my chance. I couldn’t let the opportunity slip through my fingers. Not like I did in the elevator.

“Wait,” I called out before she could take another step. She stopped, slowly turning back around to face me.

“Are you free right now?” The words slipped out before I could stop them.

This was not really what I’d had in mind when I thought about seeing her again. Standing here in my bulky hockey gear with sweat dripping off my face. Thought I’d at least look presentable.

“Yeah, I’m free.” I could hear the question in her voice.

“Want to go grab something to eat?” I couldn’t stop the hopeful tone in my voice.

Please say yes.

Josie stood there for a full minute without saying a word. Right when I thought she’d say no, she answered. “You do owe me a hamburger.”

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