Page 26 of Just My Puck
“I’m stuffed,” she says, leaning back against the chair. “What are we going to do with all these leftovers?”
“Don’t worry,” I say, packing up the rest of the slices. “There’s a shelter not far from here. I’ll drop these off tomorrow.”
We clear the table, then head down to the family room to watch some TV and—most importantly—digest all that food. I’m probably going to regret this tomorrow. It’s always tempting to eat more and work out less when we have a few days off between games, but I have to stay on the top of my game. It’s going to be a busy week.
“So, what do you want to watch?” I ask, grabbing the remote.
“I don’t know. Let’s see what’s available.”
“If we do that, we might just spend the entire evening scrolling through the catalog.”
She chuckles. “Good point. It took me forever to choose one yesterday.”
I scroll down the list of movies, but nothing sparks our interest.
“Do you thinkIcould be a princess?” Aria asks out of the blue.
Confused, I glance at the screen, where there’s the movie poster forThe Princess Diaries. The little ‘Watched’ icon tells me that’s the movie she picked yesterday. “Maybe. The odds are slim, but anything is possible.”
“Well, thanks for crushing my dreams,” she grumbles, grabbing a cushion and hugging it.
I wince, but I can’t hold back my laugh. “Sorry. Would you really want to be a princess, though? Sounds like a tough gig. All those rules and protocols.”
“At this point, I’ll take anything. But yeah, the princess thing might be a pipe dream.” Her expression softens. “I wonder if I’m married or have a boyfriend. It’s weird not knowing, right?”
My throat constricts. “Right.”
“I don’t feel like I’m withsomeone. Then again, I don’t feel like I haveanyonein my life, which makes zero sense. I have to have someone, right?” She pauses, her eye downcast. “Anyway, what about you? Why are you single?”
I shrug, keeping my eyes on the TV. “Don’t have time, I guess. I know it’s a lame answer,” I say with a grin. “But it’s kind of true. With forty-one away games per season, I’m not here that often. And even when I am, my life revolves around my job. I can’t do both.”
She leans into the couch and draws her knees to her chest. “It must be great, being so dedicated to something. Having a passion. But don’t most of your teammates have wives and girlfriends?”
I scratch my head. “Yeah. But I’m the captain, which comes with a lot of extra work and responsibility. Plus, I had a bad experience in the past.” I swallow hard. “I dated this girl in college. Hockey was already everything to me by that time. I tried to make it work, but I couldn’t find a balance, and we both ended up miserable. I don’t want to put myself—or someone else—through that again, you know?”
Honestly, it was one of the lowest moments of my life. Hearing the disappointment in her voice whenever I canceled yet another date while she always showed up to my games. I was focused on honing my skills, putting hockey first. Needless to say, she got the short end of the stick.
She nods. “Yeah, I get it. Finding that balance must be tough.”
“What abo—” I stop myself just in time, heat spreading over my face.
Unfortunately, she still caught it. “It’s okay,” she says with a weak chuckle.
“Sorry. It’s—I—” I stammer, not knowing how to salvage this.
She tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s weird for me too. I feel like I should be contributing my own story, but I’m drawing a blank. I do think I’m a relationship person, but like I said before, I don’t feel like I have someone in my life. Surely if I did, I’d miss him, right?”
“Of course. And surely he would miss you too, and he’d be out there looking for you.” I can’t imagine losing Aria and not overturning every stone on the planet until I found her again.
12
"Who knows? Maybe I was even a good cook."
Aria
I’m on my way to my first therapist appointment—feeling a lot better in my new clothes—and I’m excited to finally start my journey toward recovery. Caleb offered to take me, but since it’s only a fifteen-minute walk, I insisted on going alone. He’s already rearranged his life enough for my sake, and I don’t want to be a burden. Last night was really nice. I enjoyed our talk, and surprisingly, we did eventually settle on a movie.
I can’t help but feel jealous of the girl he’ll date when he’s finally open to it. Despite what he believes, I’m sure he’ll make some girl very happy in the future. I can’t imagine him bailing on his girlfriend when I see how kind and thoughtful he is to me, a total stranger—and kind of a weirdo.
