Page 15 of Replay

Damn, I knew it. There was always something when a rental was too good to be true.

“I came to see you,” he said, as if that was a thing.

“Why?” We damned well didn’t have any plans together. I hadn’t thought I’d see him again. Except, for example, on the bus that had just passed by behind him with his face on it. Damned hockey players.

He held up a bag with the name of a pizzeria on it. “Thought you might want this.”

“Pizza?”

His big grin crossed his face. “Nope. Donairs.”

On cue, my stomach rumbled. “Donairs? Real donairs?”

He nodded. “Some people from Nova Scotia run this place. It’s the real thing.”

How had I not known about this? I was new to the city, but priorities! I eyed the bag in his hand, noting the name for future reference. “And you brought me some?”

He bit his lip. “I was hoping we could share them? I wanted to talk to you.”

What did he think we had to talk about? But…donairs. The smell was wafting into my nose, and god, I’d missed them.

But did I miss them enough to ask him up to talk? I wasn’t afraid of him. He might have hurt my heart, badly, but he wasn’t a bad guy. I’d tried to hate him, but it was difficult. He was like a golden retriever, all happy and friendly, and just didn’t understand why I was upset he’d peed on my bed.

That analogy was getting weird fast, so I nodded and opened the door. He followed me, and in the elevator the smell of the donairs filled the small space. I almost grabbed the bag from him to start scarfing down some of that back-home goodness but was proud of my restraint. We reached the eighteenth floor and the doors opened. He followed me to our condo and waited while I opened the door.

Once inside, I kicked off my shoes and headed to the kitchen. This time, Josh wasn’t mouth-locked with my roommate and knocking into the wall. Instead, he toed off his own shoes and followed me to the island separating the kitchen from the living room.

I dropped my school tote on the island and pulled out some plates. “What do you want to drink?”

He unwrapped the food bag and reached inside. “Oh, whatever. Water’s good.”

I shrugged and pulled out a beer for myself. Not everyday I got to eat a donair. Josh set two wrapped sandwiches on my plate, and two on his.

I passed him a water bottle. “So how did you find this donair place?”

“I looked it up.”

Well, duh for me not doing the same. Hadn’t even occurred to me. I’d seen gyros and shawarma, but though they were close, they weren’t the real thing. Then I moaned as I took my first bite. It was sooo good.

I looked up, wiping sauce from my chin, to find Josh staring at me. I rubbed my chin again. “Sorry, I should be more careful.”

He cleared his throat. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ve missed them too.”

There was silence while we enjoyed the first of our sandwiches. I took a long swallow of beer and sighed. There wasn’t much better than a donair and a Keith’s.

I pulled back the paper on the second one. “Have you been back home often? To enjoy these?”

He licked sauce off his thumb. “I was back for a week this summer. You?”

“I ended up going to Dalhousie, so I lived at home till my last year. Just moved to Toronto in time for this semester.”

His head tilted. “You stayed—and you’re still in school?”

I shifted, sitting a little taller. “Doing my master’s now.”

That big grin was back. “That’s great, Katie. How long will that take you?”

“I’m working as a TA, so I’m going to spread it out over two years. This is my first year.”

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