Page 6 of Replay (Toronto Blaze #3)

Everyone Would Want to be his Friend

Katie

The air felt cooler as October grew close, and I was down for it.

The city absorbed heat in a way I wasn’t used to—walls of high rises, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and no breeze.

I was looking forward to winter when sweating wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

I loved the life of the city, but the heat made going out less appealing.

I walked home from class rather than taking the subway.

Living this close to the university was good for my pocketbook, and my fitness.

I was careful with my money. Mom and Dad were covering my additional costs, and I would hate to ask them for more.

I’d never had a job other than tutoring, so I didn’t have an easy way to increase my income.

Plus, being a TA while working on my master’s was going to be demanding as it was.

Thanks to the afternoon sun, my shirt was sticking to my back as I approached my new building. I shifted my bag on one shoulder so I could grab my keys. How did the damned things always fall to the bottom? I’d just managed to hook the key ring on a finger when I heard my name.

“Katie!”

The keys fell as I jerked. What the…Josh?

I turned around and there he was, weaving through people in the crosswalk as he made his way across the street toward me. I blinked, but no, he was still there. What the hell?

“Were you meeting Madeline?”

After that awkward night and the conversation in the kitchen the next day, I’d assumed she wasn’t interested in Josh anymore, but maybe she’d changed her mind.

She might not have his number, but she knew the bar where the players hung out.

Josh was out of luck though. Madeline worked long hours, and I rarely saw her before eight on weeknights.

Josh pulled his brows down into a frown. “No. Why would I be meeting her?”

“Because…” Never mind. Wasn’t going to ask Josh about his hookups.

I didn’t want to think about them. Or anything Josh-related.

I waved a hand. “Okay, then why are you here?” Was there someone else in the building he was hooking up with?

Had I accidentally found myself in hockey hookup central?

Would I be running into Josh constantly as he visited the puck bunnies?

Damn, I knew it. There was always something when a rental was too good to be true.

“I came to see you,” he said, as if that was a thing.

“Why?” We damned well didn’t have any plans together. I hadn’t thought I’d see him again. Except, for example, on the bus that had just passed by behind him with his face on it. Damned hockey players.

He held up a bag with the name of a pizzeria on it. “Thought you might want this.”

“Pizza?”

His big grin crossed his face. “Nope. Donairs.”

On cue, my stomach rumbled. “Donairs? Real donairs?”

He nodded. “Some people from Nova Scotia run this place. It’s the real thing.”

How had I not known about this? I was new to the city, but priorities ! I eyed the bag in his hand, noting the name for future reference. “And you brought me some?”

He bit his lip. “I was hoping we could share them? I wanted to talk to you.”

What did he think we had to talk about? But…donairs. The smell was wafting into my nose, and god, I’d missed them.

But did I miss them enough to ask him up to talk? I wasn’t afraid of him. He might have hurt my heart, badly, but he wasn’t a bad guy. I’d tried to hate him, but it was difficult. He was like a golden retriever, all happy and friendly, and just didn’t understand why I was upset he’d peed on my bed.

That analogy was getting weird fast, so I nodded and opened the door.

He followed me, and in the elevator the smell of the donairs filled the small space.

I almost grabbed the bag from him to start scarfing down some of that back-home goodness but was proud of my restraint.

We reached the eighteenth floor and the doors opened.

He followed me to our condo and waited while I opened the door.

Once inside, I kicked off my shoes and headed to the kitchen. This time, Josh wasn’t mouth-locked with my roommate and knocking into the wall. Instead, he toed off his own shoes and followed me to the island separating the kitchen from the living room.

I dropped my school tote on the island and pulled out some plates. “What do you want to drink?”

He unwrapped the food bag and reached inside. “Oh, whatever. Water’s good.”

I shrugged and pulled out a beer for myself. Not everyday I got to eat a donair. Josh set two wrapped sandwiches on my plate, and two on his.

I passed him a water bottle. “So how did you find this donair place?”

“I looked it up.”

Well, duh for me not doing the same. Hadn’t even occurred to me. I’d seen gyros and shawarma, but though they were close, they weren’t the real thing. Then I moaned as I took my first bite. It was sooo good.

I looked up, wiping sauce from my chin, to find Josh staring at me. I rubbed my chin again. “Sorry, I should be more careful.”

He cleared his throat. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ve missed them too.”

There was silence while we enjoyed the first of our sandwiches. I took a long swallow of beer and sighed. There wasn’t much better than a donair and a Keith’s.

I pulled back the paper on the second one. “Have you been back home often? To enjoy these?”

He licked sauce off his thumb. “I was back for a week this summer. You?”

“I ended up going to Dalhousie, so I lived at home till my last year. Just moved to Toronto in time for this semester.”

His head tilted. “You stayed—and you’re still in school?”

I shifted, sitting a little taller. “Doing my master’s now.”

That big grin was back. “That’s great, Katie. How long will that take you?”

“I’m working as a TA, so I’m going to spread it out over two years. This is my first year.”

“The University of Toronto is the top school in Canada, right?”

I nodded. I was proud that I’d been accepted at U of T. I’d done well at Dalhousie, back in Halifax, but this was a more competitive degree. Plus, the distance from family was good. They loved me, but sometimes the expectations were smothering. “How did you know U of T was the best school?”

“I remembered you talking about it. You didn’t get in before? I was sure you would.”

I set down my sandwich, appetite gone. “I did. But there was a lot going on back then. It wasn’t a good time to leave.”

He stared at me. His mouth dropped open and I knew he was going to ask. Not something I wanted to discuss.

“So, why are you here, Josh?”

His mouth closed and his shoulders lifted on a long sigh. He picked up the wrappers from his donairs and smoothed them out before folding them again. I waited.

When there were no more papers left to deal with, he rubbed the back of his neck and finally gave me a sheepish smile. “I came to apologize some more.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Yeah, I do. I called my mom. And when I mentioned you, she wasn’t very nice.”

As I would have predicted. Still, the donairs didn’t sit as well in my stomach.

“She didn’t talk like that before, when we were going out, but you were right. She doesn’t like you. So, I’m sorry I didn’t know. And that I did something stupid, breaking up with you like that.”

It had been more than five years, and I’d moved past that whole agonizing time. But there was something warming in my chest after that apology. Josh believed me.

He was super close to his mother—his father had died when he was young, and he didn’t have siblings.

It was to her credit that she’d done a pretty good job raising Josh on her own, but she did work the guilt and “poor lonely me” thing a lot.

Josh was too nice to see anything but love when his mom overstepped, but I’d seen her through clearer eyes.

I wasn’t sure she’d like anyone Josh dated.

Not unless it was someone quiet, meek and willing to settle near Mrs. Middleton.

If someone asked her, she’d say she would be happy to see Josh settle down with a nice girl, but she wouldn’t want to be usurped or replaced.

She hadn’t liked me because she thought I was a threat back then.

I wasn’t biddable, and I didn’t plan to stay.

She would not be happy to know Josh was here with me, even though we were no longer dating. Which the petty side of me liked.

“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate that you checked it out and let me know you believe me.”

He nodded. Looked down. “And your parents don’t like me?”

Again, golden retriever puppy, shocked that someone had slapped his nose. “What are you talking about?” My parents had always been kind to Josh. They hadn’t been thrilled that I had a boyfriend—what they called a distraction —but they had nothing against him personally.

“It wasn’t just my mom who told me it would be better for you if we broke up.” He held up his hand. “Sorry, I meant if I broke up with you.”

“What the— Are you saying my parents were in on this? They talked to you?” My voice got loud and high.

His eyes skittered around the kitchen. “Um, they didn’t tell you?”

I was feeling violent again, but this time I didn’t want to throw anything at Josh.

I had different targets in mind. “No. They just told me I could go stay with Grandma and finish up at a different school.” I’d refused to go to the same school as Josh.

I wasn’t going to expose myself to Rhonda and her gibes.

Seeing Josh when I wasn’t with him? I couldn’t face it. “They talked to you?”

He huffed out a sigh that almost moved the mangled donair wrapping papers.

“Yeah. They talked to me, said you were making a very important decision, and they were afraid you’d choose based on me instead of what was best for you.

I talked to my mom, and she agreed.” He swallowed.

“When I told them I’d do it, for your sake, they said they’d explain it to you. So I sent you that text.”

I dropped my head in my hands. It was all making sense now. “No, they didn’t talk to me.”