Page 32 of Replay (Toronto Blaze #3)

Josh immediately changed plans and promised we’d do easy. Easy was a steakhouse, with prices that made me blink, but the guy was making bank so maybe that was another perk of dating him for a while.

“Order anything you want. This isn’t like when we went to Tony’s.”

I laughed, remembering our most extravagant date from high school. “Right. You only had an appetizer because everything was so expensive. You didn’t need to take me there, you know.”

“It was our anniversary. I wanted to treat you.”

“It was sweet.”

Josh’s smile was blinding. “Sweet is good, right?”

I nodded. Sweet, funny, considerate—he was all of that. Even though Josh had money and fans—here came another one to get his picture or autograph—being with him was easy. There were no tense silences, no effort to keep the conversation challenging or interesting.

We both ordered steaks, and Josh insisted on an appetizer to share. I agreed to split a bottle of wine, and we joked around, making up stupid descriptions for the expensive wines.

“Bouquet of dirty socks with a note of cheese.”

“Elements of goldenrod and ragweed, inspiring memories of allergy season.”

The waiter sniffed when he heard us, but Josh ordered one of the expensive wines and he left with our orders.

“He wasn’t impressed by our wine descriptions.” Every waiter in the city was going to hate us.

Josh shrugged. “I ignore that stuff. I’m never going to impress anyone with my brains, but I play the sport I love and make a shit ton of money at it, so I don’t worry about what other people think.”

I cocked my head. “Josh, you need to get over that. You are not stupid. But do you really not care what people think, or do you just try not to?”

A corner of his mouth quirked up. “It’s more true than it used to be.”

“Good. Ignore those people who judge you.”

“You never did. And I always liked that.”

“Why would I judge you?”

“You’re really smart.”

I reached across and covered his hand with mine. “Josh, school is not the only measure of intelligence. I told you that.”

He twisted his hand so ours were twined together. “I try not to be down on myself, really. But repeating a grade in elementary school didn’t help. And until I got good at hockey, I was the short, stupid kid with the bad clothes.”

“That left a mark, I get that. But look at what you’ve accomplished. You finished high school.”

“With your help.”

“But you did the work. I didn’t take your tests or do your homework.

I helped, but that was because mainstream classes didn’t work for you.

And now you’re playing hockey professionally—so many people want to do that and can’t.

You’re doing it and you’re one of the best.” I thought back to my conversation with Nora.

I wasn’t sure I was that smart outside of books.

“I know how to study and take tests. You may notice that there’s not a lot of jobs outside of school where someone does that.

In fact, most people are no longer affected by school at all.

It doesn’t matter if school was a challenge for you. When it comes to life, you’re winning.”

“Yeah, but?—”

“No buts.”

His cheeks turned pink. “Coach complimented me today.”

“I’m not shocked, just so you know. What for?”

“For the idea of starting Mitch in goal. Cooper told him it was me.”

“See?” I squeezed his hand. “You’re not just a good player. You get the game. You were the guy who figured that out.”

The waiter came back with our drinks. I reluctantly pulled my hand away. There was something comforting about being close to Josh. He and the waiter did that tasting thing, and then the waiter poured the wine. I took a sip and sighed.

“Good?” Josh was watching me.

“Very good. Thank you.”

He took a sip of his own wine and set it down. “I want to ask you something.” He looked serious.

“Okay?”

“We’re together now, right? Boyfriend, girlfriend, exclusive? We didn’t say that last night, and I want everything clear.”

Any walls around my heart that were still up crumbled. This guy… “Yes, if that’s what you want.”

“Thanks for giving me a chance, in spite of how things happened in high school.”

“It was partly my fault, and mostly our parents. Why don’t we just agree that it’s the past and done?”

Our waiter returned with our appetizer, deep fried calamari. I reached for a ring. It was hot, shockingly. I dropped it on my plate and shook my fingers.

“Impatient.”

“Hungry.”

Josh used a fork to pass some more rings to my plate. “Give them a minute to cool off.”

“I’ll try. Why don’t you tell me what it’s like, achieving your dream and doing exactly what you always wanted to do.”

Josh looked down for a moment. “Sometimes I can’t believe this is really my life.”

I listened as he told me a couple of stories. It wasn’t just training and playing games, and even if I wasn’t the biggest hockey fan ever, it was fascinating.

I was finally able to handle the calamari and dipped it in sauce before dropping it in my mouth. Mhmmm. Good. “How does Nashville compare to Toronto?”

Josh served himself some calamari. “It’s different. In some ways, Nashville is more like Halifax than Toronto—smaller. But hockey isn’t as big there. They like football best.”

A man stopped at our table, just after our steaks arrived. “Are you Josh Middleton?”

Josh smiled and agreed, taking a selfie with the guy while his food grew cold. When the guy moved on, I asked, “You didn’t have all these people approaching you at dinner in Nashville?”

His brow creased. “Is it bothering you?”

“Not really. I like seeing how much people admire you. You worked hard for this, and you deserve it. But your food is getting cold.”

“Next time I can take you somewhere that won’t happen.”

I reached out for his hand again, reassuring him. “I don’t mind. I just hope for your sake that you can eat your steak before it’s too cold.”

“Cold food isn’t the worst thing. It’s people like this who make it possible for me to play for a living, so I’m okay with it.”

Another patron slowed as he walked toward the restrooms, and I glared at him so he kept walking. Fortunately, after that, no one bothered Josh until his meal was done and we were pondering dessert.

“You want something?” Josh asked after signing a napkin for a couple of kids who raced back to their own table. “The chocolate cake looks good.”

I licked my lips. Some of the desserts sounded really good, especially the cake. But I was already full from the calamari and the steak. I had ideas for how to end this evening, and a bloated stomach didn’t play a part in that.

“I don’t think I want anything more to eat. I’ll just fall into a food coma, and that will be the end of this date.”

Josh’s eyes shot up to mine. “Oh yeah?”

I nodded. “Want to come back to my place instead?”