Page 68 of Tight Spot

DAWSON

“I’m beginning to think you’re the only person alive who would not know Isaac Svechnikal was living above them.”

This girl. I was almost laughing too hard to speak, and that had never happened.

But Svech? What the hell was he doing renting a second-floor apartment? He had the money to be living in a neighborhood like mine. It was all strange, but it killed me how Hailey could remain so clueless about professional sports when her best friend was married to one of the best defenders in the NHL. And Svech? He was breaking records left and right in his second year since being called up from the AHL league in Wisconsin.

“Well, no one told me!” she shouted into the phone and then humphed, threw herself back onto her couch. “I’m going to need lessons, Dawson. All the lessons. And maybe quizzes on faces or something. I mean, I didn’t even know my own dad watched football. It’s like my brain has some kind of blockage whenever a sport is mentioned. Just goes in one ear and out the other.”

One of the many reasons I was really beginning to like this girl. Outside her willingness to not only try everything I mentioned when it came to sex, she loved every damn thing. Might have had more excitement than I did.

“Do you not even watch the local news?”

“Ugh. No…it’s depressing. Or lame. Or hell, maybe I do, and I just don’t remember.”

At least she could laugh at herself. Another thing I liked about Hailey.

Truth be told, when it came to her, there wasn’t anything I didn’t like yet.

“Next time we’re together, I’ll start going over the basics of hockey and football. Okay?”

“I think that’d be either great, or a complete waste of time for both of us.”

Spending time with Hailey was never a waste of my time. She was consuming all of it. I’d found myself thinking about her all week. When I was eating. When I was working out. When I was placing my weekly grocery order. Wondering what she was doing. How her shop was going. If she was remembering to eat lunch, something she confessed she often forgot before she lost time. Yesterday, I’d been so damn consumed with it, I’d called Margo’s, asked what Hailey’s favorite lunch was and had it delivered to her.

Later, I received the cutest selfie with a thumbs up while she held her caprese flatbread as a thank you.

I’d been so focused on the picture, Cortland had shoved me in the shoulder as he passed by me, and I almost slammed my face against my locker. Considering Cortland had one hundred pounds on me and was almost butt-ass naked by the time I collected myself, I couldn’t retaliate.

This fixation on Hailey wasn’t supposed to happen, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to stop it. I was going to take all the time she was willing to give me and when it ended, I’d figure out how to deal later.

“You ready for Sunday, then?”

A pool party at Cole’s to officially welcome our new coach Logan Caldwell. Now that our conditioning was in full swing, he wanted a day to get to know us better on a personal level.

For the first time, I was bringing a date, and more shocking, I wasn’t hating the fact I had to go. After all, it gave me an excuse to see Hailey in a swimsuit.

“I think so…”

“You’ll be good. Eden and Maggie will make sure you have a good time.”

“Will your manager be there?”

“Probably not, but he’ll hear what goes on.”

“Right. So I better be on my best behavior then, make sure everyone knows we like each other.”

My heart thumped a strange beat in my chest. Was she planning on faking liking me? Yeah, that was the deal, but I was starting to think she actually did. Outside the bedroom, was all of it an act?

It hadn’t been. No way. Not with the way she’d let me hold her after I threw all that bullshit about my dad to hers. Unless that was her general reaction.

Fuck. I shoved my hair back and fisted it at the nape of my neck. This fake shit was turning into a nightmare. And uncertainty wasn’t something I usually dealt with.

My phone buzzed, and my dad’s name blared on the screen. Shitty timing, like always.

“Hey, I gotta go. My dad’s calling.”

“You still haven’t talked to him?” Her blue eyes widened with surprise.

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