Page 58 of Heat It Up (Off the Ice)
Good question. “We can sit over there.” I point to an empty bench overlooking the small garden and the half-full bike rack.
“So what’s up?”
“Did something happen between you and Kyle this weekend?”
I squirm at the line of questioning. What Kyle and I did—and didn’t do—isn’t something I want to discuss with Joni. “Why are you asking?”
“Do you care about him?” He leans back against the bench, appraising me as if trying to read my mind.
“He’s my friend,” I say, “so, yeah, I do care about him.”
“So that’s all he is to you? A friend?”
I nod, confused where this is going.
Joni releases a heavy breath. “That’s good.” He taps the screen of his phone and hands it to me.
On the screen is a picture of Kyle kissing some blond who isn’t me. It could be any of his one-night stands he hooked up with before he met me.Except why would Joni have it?“Where did you get this?”
“I went out with some guys from work last night. I saw Kyle all over the woman. But since he’s not cheating on you…” He lets the end of the sentence hang.
Staring at the phone, I shake my head. “No, he’s not cheating on me.” So why are my eyes tearing up as if he were? We agreed to being friends with benefits. We didn’t talk about being exclusive.
Kyle has every right to kiss anyone he wants, just like I do. But knowing that doesn’t dull the pain clawing my heart. Stupid heart.
Blinking away the tears, I plaster a bright smile on my face and give Joni back his phone. The few rain drops from earlier are met by their buddies and it starts raining hard.
Joni curses under his breath in Finnish and glances at the sky. “I need to get back to work.” He gives me a pity-filled smile. “Glad to see I was wrong about the situation between you two. I’d hate to see him hurt you.”
“No, that’s okay. You didn’t know.” I say goodbye to him, then race back to the main entrance. I’m a hot, wet mess by the time I enter the building.
I wipe my sneakers on the oversized mat, taking out my frustrations on it. I’m not even sure who I’m mad at: Kyle for making out with another girl after I told him I couldn’t join him because I was going to bed—or maybe he was even making out with her before that. Joni for showing me the photo. Or myself for feeling this way when I have no right to.
As I make my way back to the staff room for a change of uniform, I check my phone. Kyle has sent me a text.Thinking about you. No doubt like he was thinking about me when he had his tongue stuck in that woman’s mouth.
I ignore the text. Just like I ignore the one he sends hours later:Have great news to tell you.
I bet he does. He discovered the woman he was with last night is hot to do a threesome.
Awesome.
Chapter Thirty
Kyle
It’s Wednesday afternoon and I still haven’t heard from Sofia. Not even a simple text replying to the ones I sent her yesterday.
I phoned her last night and that went ignored, too.
Something’s not right. Usually she responds quickly to my texts.
Not knowing if she’s sick or injured, I drive to the sports center once I’m finished at the camp. I enter the physical therapy clinic and wait for the receptionist to finish with her call.
After what feels like several minutes, she hangs up the phone and rambles off a string of Finnish to me.
“Hei,” I reply, “is Sofia Philips here today?”
Creases appear across her forehead. “Sofia Philips?” She checks her computer screen. “Is she a patient?”
