Page 42 of Absolutely Not in Love
“You know what? I’m feeling pretty tired,” she says, her voice a little too high, a little too hurried. “And you know, now that I’ve got all these clothes to fold, I think I should just go to bed.”
I quickly stand up, but she’s all but running to the guest bedroom door. There’s no way I can stop her now.
“Thank you for dinner,” she says. “And for talking. And for letting me stay here.”
I push my hands into my pockets. “Of course. I’m happy to help.”
She nods. Swallows. Licks her lips, her eyes looking everywhere but at me.
“You’re a good friend, Felix,” she finally says, her voice so soft I almost don’t hear her.
Then the bedroom door closes with a painful, resoundingclick.
It’s almost as loud as the wordfriendechoing in my head.
Chapter Ten
Felix
“That’sit?That’sallthat happened? She just…went to bed?” Logan asks. He readies a shot and sends the puck flying toward me across the ice. I block it, then shift to the right to block another coming in from Eli, before sliding right again to block a third shot from Logan.
I’m too slow though, and this one gets past me into the net.
Logan grins. “What’s the matter, Jamison? You feeling a little distracted?”
I skate behind the net and gather the pucks we’re using for a three-shot shooting drill and send them back to Eli and Logan.
“Not distracted. Let’s do it again,” I say. I resume my position in front of the net, eyes darting between the two of them. They won’t tell me who’s shooting first. “The Gracie thingisweird though, right? Things were so good, then she just…freaked and ran away.”
Eli backs up, then takes the puck wide, coming in from the side, a grin on his face. My eyes are on him, but I catch Logan’s movement in my periphery and drop to my knees just in time to catch his first shot. I twist and catch Eli’s shot in my glove, then dive sideways to get Logan’s second shot.
I’ll never be contending with three pucks at once during a game, but this drill still keeps my reflexes sharp. It’s also a good way to clear my head and help me think through stuff.
“Nice,” Eli says as I stand and slide the pucks back to him. He hits one to Logan, keeping two for himself. “And I don’t think the Gracie thingisweird. She’s already told you she doesn’t date hockey players. You’re making her rethink her stance, so props to you, man. But of course she’s freaking out. It’s a paradigm shift.”
“Did you just use the word paradigm?” I say.
“It’s the word of the day,” Eli answers. “I have an app.”
Logan chuckles. “He makes a valid point, with or without his fancy word app.”
“So what do I do?”
My teammates share a look, some kind of wordless exchange happening that I can’t make out from where I’m standing. Eli skates toward me, and I brace myself for his shot, but he’s moving too slowly, almost casual-like. He stops a few yards away. “You give up, man.”
I relax my stance. “I give up?”
He fires off a shot that flies past me directly into the net. Before I can regroup, Logan circles the net and chips the puck over my shoulder, then Eli shoots again. I dive forward, but I’m not fast enough and the third shot gets through too.
Eli and Logan stop in front of me, matching smirks on their faces.
“That wasn’t funny,” I say.
Logan shrugs. “It was a little funny. Eli, didyouthink it was funny?”
“Definitely funny.”
We can’t talk about Gracie anymore, because Coach Davis calls us over to end practice and make sure we haven’t forgotten the schedule for the rest of the week, including our very early departure time first thing Wednesday morning for a run of three games we’re playing in between here and New York.
