Page 67 of Replay

Katie smiled at me. “Josh only watched the movies. He wasn’t a big reader. And no”—her smile turned to a frown—“it’s not because you weren’t smart enough. A lot of people find those books challenging.”

I could feel my cheeks heating up, so I asked “Ready?” and hit play.

Fitch had questions for Katie after the first episode, and she was excited to talk about it, her eyes shining.

“The biggest difference is Finrod’s story, but since they didn’t have the rights to the Silmarillion—” Katie stopped herself. “Sorry, I can get carried away.”

Fitch shrugged. “I asked.”

“And I over-answered.”

“No problem. But I have some things to deal with, so I’ll let you two watch the next episode. Good night, Katie. Catch a ride in the morning, Ducky?”

“Sure.”

Katie frowned as he walked away. “Did I bore him that much?”

I was pretty sure he was trying to help me, but I couldn’t tell her that. “He’s dealing with a divorce and she’s on the West Coast, so it might be that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. It happens, but it’s never fun.”

She dragged her teeth over her lip. “Did you ever get serious—sorry, that’s not really my business.”

“I don’t mind you asking. I never got serious about anyone, so I don’t have anything like that in the past. Do you?” Shit. She wasn’t seeing anyone, was she? I’d never thought to ask.

She shook her head. Phew. “No, it’s been school for the past five years. No one serious.”

But there had been nonserious guys? That idea chewed at me, but I had no ground to stand on. I’d had a lot of nonserious women. I’d been trying to find another Katie, but there was only one.

The one and only was looking at me with furrows in her brow. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” She could ask me anything.

“Why do your teammates call you Ducky? Back home they called you Middy.”

I dropped my head on the back of the couch. People were so used to the name Ducky that they didn’t ask anymore. But back in juniors, Middleton had become Middy. Or sometimes Midster. “You’re going to laugh.”

She sat up. “Your teammates call you a name that mocks you? Seriously?”

She sounded upset on my behalf, and that at least felt good. “No, nothing like that. It goes back to after I was drafted, and I don’t think these guys even know why. Like, I have no idea where Fitch came from.”

“His last name isn’t Fitcher or something? I don’t remember what he told me.”

“No, it’s Astrom.”

She rolled her eyes. “Hockey players are weird. So, how did you get your weird name?”

“I was drafted by Nashville, remember?” She nodded. “They flew me in for prospects camp. We were there for a couple of weeks.”

“I’m sure you did great.”

“Not that great. They told me I was going to play on their farm team that year. But at camp, my roommate was a fan of that TV show, Friends.”

She tilted her head. “You watched it?”

I snorted. “I didn’t have a choice. He had it on all the time. And the two guys who were living together on that show had a duck and a chicken as pets.”

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