Page 74 of Pucked Up

I smiled at her, then scanned the room for a free table in a good spot when my gaze snagged on Micah. He was sitting in the sun, lounging back in his chair with a smile on his face, looking like a satisfied house cat.

Shit. I knew I needed to talk to him, but was I brave enough to do it here? Especially because there was every chance Hugo was sharing his table, and I was not ready for that. But my legs propelled me there anyway.

“Room for one more?”

“Oh my God,babe.” Micah sat up straight and patted the table in front of him. “Where’s my coffee? I can tell you need some.”

“I can get my own coffee.” I pulled out the chairbeside him and sat close so I could hear him over the chattering crowd. “Are you doing table service?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t about to get my hands all up in those nasty-ass buffet trays. You know how much bacteria grows in those?”

“I bet Tuck knows,” I answered. Biting my lip, I took a breath and leapt. “Where’s Hugo?”

“Fucked him silly. He’s sleeping it off.” His face was a mask of indifference, and after a beat of silence, he leaned forward and socked me on the thigh. “He had to meet some old friends, you fucking asshole. He and I are not?—”

“No. I know. And I owe you a huge apology,” I told him.

“Accepted.”

“No, wait. Let me actually say it.”

“No. Boden, you’re one of my favorite people, okay? And I know that I haven’t exactly tried to change my reputation back home. Also, Ihavefucked a fair few people in town.”

My chest went a little hot. “But Hugo?—”

“Not him. I…” He stopped, his cheeks going pink. “I wanted a friend, okay? Like, a friend who doesn’t think I’m some glorified hockey whore who fucks anything with a hole.”

“I don’t think that about you. And even if you were, I wouldn’t care. I just…I like him, so it hurt a little more.”

Micah relaxed back into his seat and rubbed at his eyelids. “I know. I mean, I didn’t know. I wouldn’thave been hanging all over him last night if I had. I would never, ever hurt you.”

I knew that, and yet, I’d let Tucker get all fussy about Amedeo meeting Micah, which was so unfair. I wasn’t going to tell Micah about that now, but God, we all needed to do better by our friend. “I’m sorry I sent him back all upset.”

“Yeah, that kind of sucked. Also, if you like him, why did you?”

“Because I’m not…” I fought through a thousand words of self-deprecation that I’d been telling myself since I was a kid. But those were all bullshit. “I don’t know. I was afraid I wouldn’t have room in my life for hockey and him, and I wouldn’t want him to compromise for me.”

“He likes you.”

“I know.” And it fucking sucked. One-sided would be so much easier to deal with. Glancing around, I sighed. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Micah perked up. “Oh my God, yes. I have to mingle with all these people later tonight. Save me, Obi-Wan.”

I pushed back up to my feet. “Come on. I need someone to anxiety dump on, and I need to do it over some Montreal bagels.”

“You are my favorite person in the world,” he said, kissing my cheek as he slid his hand around my arm. “Carbs are the way to my heart.”

“Then consider me Casanova.” I felt a million times better while also a million times worse, but being with a friend made it a lot easier to bear.

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

HUGO

“You were right.”

I looked up from my coffee at Vincent, who was smiling at his phone. “I was right about what?”