Page 19 of Can’t Kiss the Chef (Westvale University #2)

Byron

The trip to the barn with Lola wasn’t an uncomfortable one but rather a loaded one.

She was waiting for me to force her to make decisions that she needed to make for herself.

She was going to go on that date no matter what I told her, but I still told her the truth.

I was honestly waiting for her to turn her back on me and never talk to me again.

I have always been a confident guy, but I don’t really have much experience with relationships.

I can’t believe I’m calling Jalen for relationship advice.

It doesn’t take much scrolling to find his contact. He tops my favorites and has since we were kids. Jalen’s my brother. We might not share the same parents but his family has been there for me in every way that counts.

I wait for the phone to ring, then place it against my water bottle so I can start my weekly dinner prep.

With the season starting tomorrow and midterms coming up, I don’t want the guys to have to worry about what’s for dinner, and with Josiah heading to the playoffs, it’s a win-win for the whole house.

I’m pulling out all the ingredients I’m going to need when the call starts connecting.

I look at the screen, just wanting to say a quick hi before finishing up what I’m doing.

It’s not Jalen’s ugly mug I’m greeted with.

It’s the two people who stepped up and helped my mom when she couldn’t rely on anyone else.

Jalen’s parents–with their faces squished together on the screen-are sporting two of the goofiest smiles I’ve ever seen. I join them. We are all just smiling in silence. It might be a little creepy to a bystander, but these are the people I feel most at home with.

“Byron!” Mae’s strong southern accent drips with disappointment. “You promised you were going to call me more this semester.”

I grit my teeth and put on my most charming smile. I hate knowing I disappointed the woman who is like a second mother to me.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. H, things have been a little crazy around here.” Last year I’d just jump on the call when Jalen was talking to his parents.

“You behaving yourself?” asks Mr. Holloway.

“It’s a little easier now that I don’t have your son here as a bad influence. Speaking of Jalen, he didn’t tell me he was going to see you guys today.”

Jalen’s parents’ answering his phone has me hoping even more that I get drafted by the Rangers. I want to be able to go home after a game and make it easier for my mom, with her schedule, to come to my games.

“Ivy and him stopped by after practice today. It’s nice to have him so close to home.”

“Mom said she saw him last week, and wants to shave his awful beard.”

“Your mother and I have been working on that.” Mrs. Holloway murmurs, rolling her eyes.

“Mom, have you seen my phone?” Jalen yells from somewhere in their Brooklyn apartment.

“We have it, sweety. Byron called!”

Jalen’s head pops up behind his parents before he takes the phone from his mom.

“Hey Jay, can you take me somewhere a little more private? I need some advice.”

“Is everything okay?” The worry in Mrs. Holloway’s eyes has me feeling awful. I didn’t mean to make her nervous.

“Just need some girl advice, and I don’t need Ivy hearing and blabbing to Lola.”

A knowing smirk slowly spreads across Jalen’s face as his mom tells me, “I knew you two would work it out.”

“Yeah something like that.”

With that he’s on the move, giving me no chance to say bye to Mae and Andre.

“You could have at least let me say bye to your parents.”

“Ivy is going to be back any second. She’s coming after her study group, and I wanted to give us enough time to talk before my Mom buddies up and tells Ivy everything. I don’t know where her loyalty lies anymore.”

I can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of me. This guy and his flare for the dramatics.

I pull all the vegetables I need to make a salad out of the fridge.

I keep my head turned from the phone to gather myself.

I’m the funny friend, the one who doesn’t take life too seriously.

Right now my life feels like a five alarm fire.

My class clown persona is only rivaled by my competitiveness.

Lola isn’t some trophy that I want to win, she is the person I want to be with.

I want to show her she deserves more than a well-dressed man who only sees her as an accessory.

She deserves someone who sees her as an equal, how she takes her morning coffee versus her evening coffee.

That when she needs to decompress, she curls up on the couch with her current read, and that I can play video games next to her as long as I’m not too loud.

That her love of travel comes from the trips her parents took her on growing up, and that she keeps a list of places she wants to go to next on her phone, always adding stops.

Most importantly she wants to fix her relationship with her parents.

When I hear the door latch behind Jalen, it all comes flying out.

“Dude, can you believe fucking Dalton Powell was at our party last night!”

Just the mention of his name has Jalen turning red. He has always struggled being a mixed raced hockey player. Dalton and his prick teammates made him feel like he would never fit in.

“Oh, and it gets worse,” I tell him while he’s still processing. “He came with Lola.”

His jaw drops. He opens his mouth and then closes it again. After what feels like an eternity, he simply says, “How?”

“I guess he was working a camp this summer near her, and when she went home on Friday, she ran into him at a club and invited him over.” I take off my hat and toss it on the counter before I run my hands through my hair.

“When she texted me asking if she could bring a friend, I assumed she meant Charlotte because we all love to see Aaron fall all over himself when she is around.”

“Dude, I don’t know what to say. Ivy hasn’t mentioned anything about Lola and a new guy.”

“I’m not sure if she told anyone before last night. I freaked out a little. May have thrown a chair at the garage wall.”

His eyes go wide with delight, “Dude, you got it bad.”

“I miss her,” I confess. “I just thought I’d have more time to remind her how good we are together.”

“Dalton will show his true colors eventually. I think you should let her figure it out on her own. He can only play the good version of himself for so long. Just be there for her when she realizes it.”

I nod in agreement. It makes sense.

“Do you remember when we duck taped all their pads together before we scrimmaged them sophomore year?”

The pranks we would pull on each other in high school weren’t ground breaking. There were frogs in the lobby and shaving cream in the gloves, but kids like Dalton had never faced any kind of adversity so these little pranks drove them wild.

“Remember when we played them junior year, and the starting lines fought before the puck was even dropped?”

That was the city championship game. We played our cross-town rival during our last regular season game a couple of weeks before.

They dug up dirt on each of us, using it like grenades to blow up our game; jabs about Jalen’s race, jokes about our senior defenseman, Henry’s, scar from his cleft palate surgery that he had just before his first birthday.

“I’ll never forget what they said about me being raised by a single mom. That my dad was better off without us in his life.”

I talk just as much shit as the next guy, but bringing people’s families into it is a level I will never stoop to.

Luckily, nobody got thrown out of the game.

I was really grateful because, around the end of the first period, I looked up from my spot on the bench and saw my dad in the crowd.

He was mainly absent from my life, but I’d occasionally see him tucked into a dark corner of the arena.

Sometimes, he’d sneak out before I got a chance to see him after the game.

Other times, we’d get dinner together as a family of three.

I remember how happy my mom was when we were all together.

I thought that if he could just stick around, we would be a real family, but he would always leave, and Mom and I never knew when we would see him again.

“Byron, you know that’s not true.”

“Do you know that was the last time I saw my dad?” I blurt out. “Top right corner of the bleachers. It was just dark enough that if you didn’t know what my dad looked like, you would have never realized that it was him.”

Jalen actually noticed him first. When I spotted him midway through the first period, Jalen just looked at me and said, Doesn’t mean shit that he’s here. Just play your game. I did just that and had my fourth hat trick of the season blowing out Dalton and his asshole teammates.

My mom was sleeping on the couch when I got home.

She used to hate that she had to work during my games.

Days she couldn’t come she would stay up in our small living room waiting for a full recap of the game.

I didn’t tell her dad was at this game. I’d watched him get her hopes up, only to rip her heart out time and time again.

Once she realized he was never coming back, she tried to find love again.

She hasn’t found her prince charming yet, but I am happy she is still putting herself back out there.

Jalen silently nods. The bedroom door flies open, hitting the wall behind it with a loud thud, before he can say anything. Ivy skips through before settling on Jalen’s lap.

“Hey, By! How are you?” Her cheery voice brings some levity to this otherwise dark conversation.

“Ivy!” I watch my best friend kiss his girlfriend on the cheek. She slides her hand into his and then looks back at the phone. “How’s school?”

“I love working with the animals, but it’s definitely a lot more work than I thought it was going to be. What were you two talking about?”

At the same time, I say, “Nothing.” Jalen says, “We are thinking of ways that Jalen can win Lola back.”

Ever since Jalen and Ivy broke up last year they tell each other everything. Jalen won’t risk being dishonest. They tell each other everything. I mean EVERYTHING.

Ivy’s eyes grow big. To my surprise, they shine with pure happiness.

“You go get our girl back, so we can finally go on those double dates.”

We all laugh. I only stop when I hear Mia scratching at the front door.

“I have to let Mia out.” I turn my head to see Mia sitting at the front door, impatiently waiting for me to clip on her leash and bring her out.

“I miss you guys. Come visit soon.”

“We’ll be up in a few weeks when Jalen plays in Buffalo. We are going to stop by and see what all that money you helped raise last year did for the shelter.”

“The whole team is planning on coming. I can’t believe I’m going to watch you play in an NHL arena.”

Our childhood dream.

We end the call and Mia is doing her business when relief washes over me. Ivy thinks Lola and I were good together.

I pull up the Friendship-Do list and start planning.