Page 69 of The Import Slot
“Nah, not really. She just asked if I could meet for a chat.”
“Well, Danny didn’t mention it. He’s too excited about this Ladies’ Night crap,” he says.
“Ah yes, Ladies’ Night,” I say.
“Are you coming? Vicky said I have to host a table; I may actually enjoy it if you’re there.”
“I’m not sure yet, but be warned, you will have women throwing themselves at you.”
“That’s the part Danny is looking forward to. Does that make you jealous?” he asks, his lips curving into a smile.
“No, because you’re free and single and can do what you want,” I say, a bit of venom in my tone. I think we both know it makes me a little jealous.
He scoots closer to me. “I don’t want anyone else, Jen.”
My heart hammers in my chest. What the hell are we doing?
“Please don’t say stuff like that,” I warn.
He opens his mouth to reply, but my uncle calls me from the Zam entrance. I stand up and swing the door to the ice open, stepping on.
“See you soon,” I say back toward him, but I can feel him watching me as I skate away.
Ryan runs a few stick-handling drills for the last twenty minutes of the session, so I bid my uncle farewell, clearing up the skating markers on my way off the ice. I hear Ryan telling the kids to try independently for two minutes, and he skates over at lightning speed.
“Are we okay?” he asks, leaning over the boards as I take my skates off.
“Yeah, of course,” I say, busying myself with my laces.
I can’t even look at him now because I know I’ll cry. We should be okay. No, we are okay. There’s been transparency from our first kiss, but I know I’m playing with fire. Anxiety spreads in my chest, and I feel sick.
“I need to get my bus,” I say, grabbing my things. “I’ll see you later.”
I head toward the door and hear him call twice, but I keep walking, making it outside just in time to board.
I text Becca when I get to the coffee shop, ordering for both of us. She joins me a few minutes later just as the drinks arrive, sunglasses on, hair a mess, and an old, oversized hoodie that I recognise as Danny’s. She looks like she’s been crying based on how blotchy her skin looks.
I stand up and pull her into a hug, tears wetting my shoulder from her damp cheeks.
“What’s going on?” I ask, knowing full well what’s going on, but I pat her back and push her into the seat opposite mine.
“Jen,” she starts, blowing her nose into a tissue. “I’ve been sleeping with Danny, and it’s complicated,” she says, bracing herself for my reaction, which, if I do say so myself, I do an excellent job at fake shock. I think she buys it because she apologises for not telling me sooner. She fills me in with the background before I add to the discussion, wondering if I should mention seeing her car parked behind Danny’s building for spells of time.
“I saw him last night. He’s not okay either, Bec.”
“I’m fine,” she says sharply.
“No, you’re not, and neither is he. He’s planning a boys’ night out, for Christ’s sake.”
“Course he is,” Becca scoffs, sipping her coffee. “I bet he’s going to revel in Ladies’ Night, too.”
“What happened then?”
“I told him some crap about our aspirations not aligning, but I was falling for him, and I knew he was already there, but I got scared, Jen. I don’t fall in love! I don’t do relationships. I sleep around and enjoy myself.”
“Wow. I wasn’t expecting that,” I remark, but at least she’s being honest.
She shrugs and then tells me that Danny found that dating app, still on her phone. She said she only used it that night, when we met Nathan and his mate, because she and Danny had a row. She wanted to prove that she didn’t have feelings. That was, of course, until last night when she met a guy for a date because they’d had another argument over commitment and coming out into the open.
