Page 17 of Leo and His Love Bunny

“You don’t have to apologize for anything.” He pauses, like he might want to say something else, but he doesn’t. “I’m actually the one who came up with the whole you and I are together thing, so... I thought I should follow through on that. I don’t like to lie. Actually, I’m a poor liar, and I don’t want to be one.”

Wow. Okay, so I know this guy has to be a ladies’ man. He’s one of the most popular players on a very successful hockey team, and I know he’s had his share of women throwing themselves at him. The little bit I’ve seen can only be a drop in the bucket. But he doesn’t sound like a liar when he says it. And for some reason, his honesty makes my heart flutter.

I tell myself it’s the honesty and not biceps which flex as he shifts the cat in his arms. I point to the chair and the couch. “Take your pick.”

“This is going to sound weird, but do you mind bringing the parakeet in here? I mean, if you have a thing about parakeets in your living room, it’s fine, but Goalie here will be a lot happier if she can keep her eye on him. I...don’t think it’s because she wants to eat him.”

I laugh, because that is the impression I have gotten as well.

“Of course not. What’s the point in having him if you can’t admire how beautiful he is?” I walk back out and grab the cage. It’s better to have my eye on him anyway. I set him down on the coffee table, and then because I’m weird, I see that Leo has seated himself on the couch, so I slide down the wall opposite the couch and sit down on the floor. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been more comfortable on the floor. I suppose this shows how nervous I am.

“I’m sorry about my comment about your biceps. If that had been a man speaking about a certain aspect of a woman’s anatomy, there would have been a big uproar. I don’t like the double standard, and I don’t like to be involved in that type of thing. I am truly sorry.”

“It’s okay. I guess... You’re right.”

He clamps his mouth closed. And I get the feeling that it really did bother him that I noticed his biceps. Maybe when I get to know him better, I can ask him why. After all, isn’t that why he has them? For women to notice?

“I assume you were nervous. When I first started in the league, at a few of my first press conferences, my mouth ran like diarrhea. It was embarrassing some of the things I said.”

“I remember that,” I say, laughing a little, and hope he doesn’t get offended at that. “I think you might have gone on about the tires that you just purchased for your lawnmower. It was quite a story,” I say, because it is still hard for me not to laugh about that. He had gone on for at least five minutes about how difficult it was to buy tires for his lawnmower and then about how there actually was such a thing as quality for lawnmower tires, and it had been all the news the next day. I can’t even remember whether his team had won or not.

“Someone should have shut me up,” Leo says, and it’s adorable the way his face darkens.

“I’m kinda glad no one did,” I say, meaning it. “At least, not that I enjoy seeing you embarrassed, it’s just that made it so that you understand how my mouth could run today. You know?”

He nods. “I think a lot of times some of the things we think are the most terrible things that could ever happen to us turn out to be things that we can use to learn and grow. Because you’re right. I would have no idea how you could possibly say anything like that about my biceps, if I hadn’t had the very same diarrhea of the mouth at one point.”

I love that he’s able to put himself in my shoes and understand where I was coming from and doesn’t get mad or blame me. But he apparently seems to think that he could have done the same thing.

He is so easy to be with.

I look away as the parakeet says, “Love bunny. Love bunny.”

This can’t be any more embarrassing.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I brought the cat for a reason, and I never even mentioned it.”

“Really?” I ask, surprised. I guess I just assumed he walked around with his cat in the evening. I didn’t know.

“Goalie has been working on her therapy certification for a while, and now that it’s the off-season, we’re going to start cracking on that again. I thought that maybe we’d come and she could get a little practice in.” He pauses, a delicate pause for such a big man, but it doesn’t feel weird. Then he says, almost gently, “And I thought maybe you could use her.”

My eyes widen. This has been the worst day of my life. I was practically bawling in agony at the mess I’d made out of everything, and then Leo shows up at my door, and I all but completely forgot that I am even having any kind of problem at all.

“I think she did her job. Since you walked in, I totally forgot about what a terrible day I’ve had and how I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to have a worse day. Not to mention, I have no idea what I’m going to do.” I want to drop my head into my arms and bemoan my situation, but instead, I run my fingers down the leg of the coffee table. Somehow the smooth coolness soothes me.

“Do you have a thing against cats in your apartment?” Leo asks.

“No. Absolutely not. I don’t have time to have a pet, I work too many long hours, but you can let her down if you want to.”

The cat jumps down and comes over, rubbing herself against the coffee table, and my hand instinctively goes to her silky fur. Better than the coffee table.

“It’s good to see that Goalie hasn’t lost her touch. She usually is very good with people. But she’s terrible at taking tests, Iguess. Since she seems to freeze every time we try to take our certification exam.”

“A cat who freezes during tests. I’ve never heard of such a thing,” I say, giving him a little smile, to let him know that it’s endearing that his cat has such a human quality. “She’s still a great companion, I’m sure. If I had more time, I might get a cat.”

Goalie, for her part, can’t seem to take her eyes off Trixie.

“I’m gone a lot too, but a cat is a good pet for a busy person. Goalie does just fine when I’m on the road. Although my buddy, Pete, stops and checks on her if I’m going to be gone.”

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