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I grab my water and take it, swallowing quickly.

“Now we celebrate,” Caleb says, grinning. “With waffles.”

I laugh, but Eli’s barely paying attention. He keeps glancing at his phone, jaw tight, knee bouncing under the table. When it rings, he stiffens like he’s expecting the worst.

“I need to take this,” he mutters, already sliding out of the booth.

Caleb watches him walk off, then turns back to me. “What’s that about?”

“Not my story to tell,” I say.

Caleb nods. “Fair enough.” He taps his fingers on the table, then tilts his head at me. “You okay?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Good.” He leans back, stretches an arm along the back of the booth. “Can I ask you something?”

I shrug. “Go for it.”

He smirks. “How the hell are you not dating anyone?”

I snort. “What kind of question is that?”

He raises a brow. “A fair one.”

“I could ask you the same question, puck boy.”

“Ha!” he scoffs.

“I am being serious. I was at the last game. You saw the crowd. I’d bet half of Blackridge is ready to bend over for you if you so much as look their way.”

That earns me a laugh. “And dicks would be falling in your hands, bunny.”

I roll my eyes. “Please.”

“I’m serious.”

I toy with the straw in my water. “Tell me about you. You’re, like, beloved.”

His smirk fades. He looks away, then exhales through his nose. “Had a girlfriend.” A beat. Then, quieter, “Ex, now.”

I wait, but he doesn’t say anything else. “What happened?”

His jaw works for a second before he mutters, “She moved. Out of the country. Family stuff.”

I frown. “Long distance?”

Caleb scoffs, shaking his head. “Wouldn’t have worked. Trust me, I tried.”

That… surprises me. Real shocking. He’s such an asshole, and he actually had a girlfriend? I’m trying to process that when he cuts in.

“What about you?” he asks, glancing over. “You got an ex?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

His brows lift. “Oh?”

“We broke up when I moved back.”