Page 64 of The Pucker and the Princess
“You gotta warn me about these chicks, though. I almost tried to shoot my shot with her after you broke up with her.”
That gives me pause for half a second, and I sit up, eyeing him quizzically. “What stopped you?”
He jerks his chin in Nick’s direction. “Abernathy. Told me it wasn’t cool to go after a teammate’s ex-girl. I hadn’t realized you guys were all that serious, so I didn’t know …”
He trails off when he sees me shaking my head. “Shewasn’t that serious. At least not that serious about me, unless you count pumping me for as much money as she could.” I shrug. “Like I said, lesson learned. You should thank Nick, though. While I would’ve probably been pissed at you for getting with her so soon after she and I broke up, he was really just watching your ass.”
Bouchard’s eyebrows raise. “Why? You’da called me out? Beaten my ass?”
Laughing, I shake my head. “No. But Jenny’d’ve taken you for as long a ride as she could manage.”
He looks in Nick’s direction again. “I’ll have to thank him, then.” He refocuses on me. “But who’s the new chick? Anyone I know?”
I’m a little hesitant to tell him, just because I know he said that he wanted to ask her out and also because I made such a big deal about the two of us just being friends. Standing, I scratch the back of my neck and reach for my helmet. “Well, uh, yeah. You met her at Thanksgiving.”
His eyes narrow, then go wide. “What? What happened to ‘just friends?’” He makes dramatic air quotes with his fingers and scoffs. “I knew you were lying.”
“Oh yeah? Then why’d you ask if it was okay to ask her out?”
“Psssh. To rile you up, obviously. You were so deep in denial, I was trying to shake you out. The two of you were staring at each other all night. I almost felt like I was watching the beginning of a porn, you know where they’re doing the bad acting to set up the thin premise that leads to sex? It was like watching that play out in real life.”
I stare at him, my mouth hanging open. “Wait, what?”
He laughs. “It was obvious toeveryonethat you guys want each other. The most hilarious part is how hard you were both trying to deny it. We even had a whole conversation about it after you left.”
Scanning the room, I find Nick, who’s finishing dressing and talking to some of the other guys, probably discussing the upcoming game, and decidedly not looking at me. “I don’t … I can’t …”
“Look, I’m just glad you finally figured it out, that’s all. Good for you, man.”
“Thanks,” I say absently, still stunned and staring at Nick.
He finally glances my way, cocks an eyebrow, and goes back to his own business, totally unconcerned with me and mine.
I guess that explains why he was so ready to help me fix things with Marissa, though.
Huh.
Pulling out my phone, I send Marissa a quick text.
Hope you enjoy the game. Looking forward to seeing you after!
It’s not quite what I really want to say, but this is still so new that I’m not ready to dive off the deep end. Not yet.
I’m glad she’s here, though. And even if Bouchard’s kind of a dick, he’s right that it’s good we finally figured ourselves out. Because this past week has been the best of my life, and I can only see it getting better from here.
The game is hard and fast, with all of us scrapping hard for every goal. It’s tied 1-1 early in the second period, and it stays there until the bitter end, when the Hawks score a goal right before the buzzer.
“Good game, Dozer,” Nick says as we head back to the locker room. “You played hard. I think that’s the best you’ve played all season.”
I nod my acknowledgment, still annoyed at the loss. Even if I played my best, it doesn’t change the fact that we have another loss added to our tally. With our mid-range ranking so far, Coach isn’t going to be happy when we come in tomorrow to review game tape.
It’s a quiet and subdued locker room as we all get showered and changed. My disappointment over losing can’t dim my happiness that Marissa’ll be waiting for me when I get out.
Bouchard nods to me before I leave, and Nick follows me out, smacking me on the shoulder as we go. “Glad you got your shit figured out, man.”
“Ha. Thanks for your help. Tina’s too.”
He shrugs. “We didn’t do much. And when she mentioned the kiss, I was worried that might’ve blown everything up. Glad it didn’t cause too much damage.”
