Page 85 of Replay

“It was our anniversary. I wanted to treat you.”

“It was sweet.”

Josh’s smile was blinding. “Sweet is good, right?”

I nodded. Sweet, funny, considerate—he was all of that. Even though Josh had money and fans—here came another one to get his picture or autograph—being with him was easy. There were no tense silences, no effort to keep the conversation challenging or interesting.

We both ordered steaks, and Josh insisted on an appetizer to share. I agreed to split a bottle of wine, and we joked around, making up stupid descriptions for the expensive wines.

“Bouquet of dirty socks with a note of cheese.”

“Elements of goldenrod and ragweed, inspiring memories of allergy season.”

The waiter sniffed when he heard us, but Josh ordered one of the expensive wines and he left with our orders.

“He wasn’t impressed by our wine descriptions.” Every waiter in the city was going to hate us.

Josh shrugged. “I ignore that stuff. I’m never going to impress anyone with my brains, but I play the sport I love and make a shit ton of money at it, so I don’t worry about what other people think.”

I cocked my head. “Josh, you need to get over that. You are not stupid. But do you really not care what people think, or do you just try not to?”

A corner of his mouth quirked up. “It’s more true than it used to be.”

“Good. Ignore those people who judge you.”

“You never did. And I always liked that.”

“Why would I judge you?”

“You’re really smart.”

I reached across and covered his hand with mine. “Josh, school is not the only measure of intelligence. I told you that.”

He twisted his hand so ours were twined together. “I try not to be down on myself, really. But repeating a grade in elementary school didn’t help. And until I got good at hockey, I was the short, stupid kid with the bad clothes.”

“That left a mark, I get that. But look at what you’ve accomplished. You finished high school.”

“With your help.”

“But you did the work. I didn’t take your tests or do your homework. I helped, but that was because mainstream classes didn’t work for you. And now you’re playing hockey professionally—so many people want to do that and can’t. You’re doing it and you’re one of the best.” I thought back to my conversation with Nora. I wasn’t sure I was that smart outside of books. “I know how to study and take tests. You may notice that there’s not a lot of jobs outside of school where someone does that. In fact, most people are no longer affected by school at all. It doesn’t matter if school was a challenge for you. When it comes to life, you’re winning.”

“Yeah, but?—”

“No buts.”

His cheeks turned pink. “Coach complimented me today.”

“I’m not shocked, just so you know. What for?”

“For the idea of starting Mitch in goal. Cooper told him it was me.”

“See?” I squeezed his hand. “You’re not just a good player. You get the game. You were the guy who figured that out.”

The waiter came back with our drinks. I reluctantly pulled my hand away. There was something comforting about being close to Josh. He and the waiter did that tasting thing, and then the waiter poured the wine. I took a sip and sighed.

“Good?” Josh was watching me.

“Very good. Thank you.”

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