Page 15 of Replay (Toronto Blaze #3)

“You’re going to the game tomorrow, right?”

I nodded. “I could be in a box, but I’d rather sit closer to the ice.”

“Then get two seats and ask Katie to go with you.”

Why didn’t I think of that? Katie used to go to some of my games.

Most people I met wanted to see the Blaze playing at the arena.

And this was the season opener. Tickets were expensive, so she wouldn’t go on her own.

Not that she was likely to go without someone asking her.

“Yeah. That could work. I could take her with us to Top Shelf after.” First game of the season? We’d all be there.

Fitch smirked. “Sure. You could be her wingman.”

I pointed at Fitch. “I’m not going to be her wingman. None of those fuckers better flirt with her.”

Instead, I could introduce her to some of the women—wives, girlfriends, sisters. Most of them would be out tomorrow night, and Katie would have math stuff in common with Cooper’s girlfriend and JJ’s sister. Maybe she could make friends with them. Make her comfortable in my world.

That hadn’t happened in high school. Katie hadn’t been close to any of my teammates or their girlfriends. This was something I could change for the better.

* * *

Katie

I wasn’t sure if I’d hear back from Josh after that truth bomb I’d dropped. Not that he’d ghost me. We had history and he was basically a nice guy, but he and his mother were close and that had been blunt. Honest, but blunt. All the things I’d bit my tongue about back in high school I just…let out.

I could picture it. He’d say something like We’ll have to get together sometime , but nothing solid and eventually it would fizzle out.

That would be disappointing, if I was honest with myself, but school was my priority, so being friends with a popular hockey player probably wasn’t a good idea anyway.

But with Josh, expect the unexpected.

Can’t play the opening game

knee

They let me practice, not play

lame

I’m gonna watch

Wanna come with? As friends?

He wasn’t happy about being benched, obviously. I thought the coaching staff was being smart, even if he didn’t. And it made sense that he didn’t want to sit alone. He was a people person.

I hesitated over the message, not sure how I should respond.

He wasn’t pissed about what I’d said about his mother, apparently, but I’d just convinced myself it was better not to be his friend.

I didn’t think he’d want to see me again.

Now that he did, I wondered if I should be the one to say we shouldn’t hang out.

But I didn’t want to be mean. He’d brought me donairs.

“What has your phone done to you?”

Andrea and I were at the sandwich place again. This time I’d ordered a sub. I’d walked to school, so I’d earned it. Living with Madeline, the model of perfection, had made me a little self-conscious about my weight. Not that I wanted to be like her, but a bit of effort wouldn’t hurt.

Andrea had settled down about my knowing one of the hockey players. I’d explained high school, the bad breakup, and the five years of silence, so she’d stopped asking if I’d heard from him. But this would set her off again. “You can’t freak out.”

She froze. “Is that from Ducky?”

I sighed. “Why does everyone call him that? Yes, it’s from Josh. Can you keep your voice down?”

“I will, I promise. It’s just, I’ve never met anyone who knew any of the players.”

I hadn’t appreciated exactly how popular Josh was. Which had been obtuse of me. He’d been a fan favorite in Halifax when he was there, so playing at the top levels would only make him more popular. I just had a hard time matching the guy I’d dated with the man people in Toronto idolized.

I read out the message. “Should I go? I helped him out with his car when he hurt his knee.” Wasn’t going to mention falling asleep there. “But I was maybe too honest about what I thought about his mother, and I wasn’t sure he’d want to see me again.”

“Give me a moment. You didn’t tell me you’d—done what exactly?”

“When he hurt his knee, he needed someone to drive his car back from the practice facility to his place.”

She gaped at me. “He called you to come and drive his car?”

“His teammates were headed out to Ottawa, and he didn’t want to leave it at the arena.”

“Did you go inside? See the locker room?” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, did you meet any of the other players?”

“No, no and no. Please, could you just pretend this is a normal person I’m talking about?”

She squinched up her face but finally nodded. “Sure. We’ll pretend your ex is Josh the insurance agent.”

“Insurance agent?”

“I don’t fangirl over insurance agents. Work with it. So, you were honest about the mother who wanted to break you up. Whatever you said couldn’t have been that bad. Why not go?”

I had the evening free. As we got further into the semester that would probably be rarer—courses and my research project would make things pretty busy. So maybe I should take this chance while I could? “I convinced myself he wouldn’t want to see me, so I’m a little confused.”

“Okay, pretending this is still the insurance agent. Do you like hockey?”

I rocked my hand. The game was fast and exciting, especially in person.

I didn’t like the fights, and when your boyfriend was on the ice, the hits into the boards were pretty stressful.

But for this game I wouldn’t know anyone playing.

Except maybe Daniel and I didn’t really know him.

“I like some of it. I’ve never been to an NHL game though. ”

“Ticket prices are astronomical. I’m envious that you get a chance to go. If you like hockey at all, it’s definitely worth it. Bet he gets good seats. Maybe he’s in a box.”

“As an insurance agent?”

“Business expense. Taking a client.”

She had a point. This could be my only chance. “It might be fun—to see what it’s like.”

“You’re okay going with your ex? Is he good company at a game?”

I had no idea. “I never went to a game with him. Like, not to sit with him. He was always playing.”

“You’re making it really difficult to be objective about this. Trying to think insurance agent, but I would absolutely take your place if that was an option.”

I was not going to pass on this invite to Andrea. This wasn’t a couple of free tickets, it was sitting with Josh. He’d need to concentrate on the game, not have someone fangirl all over him and distract him.

“Maybe he just wants to thank me. And he trusts I’ll let him focus on the game.”

“Good point. If you’re not going to get pissed if he’s not paying attention to you, and you’re comfortable with him after being exes, then why not go? Have you got something better to do?”

“Not really.”

“What’s the downside?”

I couldn’t explain. It wasn’t something logical, but emotional. I had hurt feelings that hadn’t totally gone away. Some anger that was settling on my parents instead of him. And something warm and mushy when I thought about spending time with Josh. And that feeling worried me.

Why? He hadn’t given off any vibes that he wanted to pick up where we’d left off. He was a wealthy hockey player now and had women wearing his jersey and probably vying to sleep with him. Thinking he wanted anything more with me was delusional.

And even if it wasn’t, I wasn’t making promises about anything if I went.

It was fine. All fine. Just going to a hockey game, maybe to thank me for helping him out the other day. I texted back sure .

But I wasn’t.