Page 19 of Famous Last Words
Shoving the Thunder paraphernalia back inside the bag, I’m tempted to pop the bottle of Veuve right here at my desk; it’s five o’clock somewhere, right? Instead, I take my phone out and scroll to my messages.
Me: For future reference, I’m more of a chocolates girl.
Asshat: I’ll have you know those roses cost me 400 big ones!
Me: Sucker. A box of chocolates would’ve set you back no more than ten bucks.
Asshat: I take it you got the gift, too?
I snap a photo of the jersey crumpled up in the bag and insert it into my message.
Me: Yeah, thanks. So thoughtful.
Asshat: Wear it tonight.
Me: Can’t I just wear a team scarf or something.
Asshat: You need to have my name on your back.
Me: Branding a woman with your name on her back. How 1950s.
Asshat: It’s basic dating-a-hockey-player 101.
Me: I must’ve missed that class in college.
Asshat: Lucky you got me as your tutor then, huh?
I roll my eyes.
Me: I’ve never been to a game before. Where do I even go?
Asshat: MadisonSquare Garden.
I scoff at his response.
Me: No shit.
Asshat: When you get there, Andy will meet you and take you where you need to go. Then after the game you’ll come down to the locker room and I’ll meet you there so you can swoon all over me.
Me: In case you can’t tell via text, I’m literally bursting at the seams with excitement.
Asshat: You need to put your socials on private.
Me: Huh?
Asshat: I followed you on Insta today.
Me: Ok?
Asshat: My fans are on another level. Well, they’re not really my fans because most of them don’t know shit about me or hockey. But they seem to notice who I follow on social media.
Me: Weird.
Asshat: Yeah. Don’t accept any DMs.
Interest sufficiently piqued, I scroll toTikTok, shocked to find the account I’ve never even used other than to look at cute dog content tagged in a whole bunch of videos. When I click on the first, I can’t help but gasp when I see photos of me that have clearly been taken from my own personalInstagram, attacking me.
@HockeyGal89: I refuse to believe it until I see them together.
