Page 60 of Revenge Puck

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I’m not sure if she would come. She has a business to run, and it would be asking too much of her to drop everything to come here for three or four days.”

“It’s only three or four days. And I bet if she’s here, you will be less likely to lose your temper on the ice.”

“There are a lot of reasons why I wish she were here. Still doesn’t change the fact that it’s not going to happen.”

“You won’t even ask her?”

“No.”

“Have you spoken to her since leaving town?”

“She sent a text asking if I got home okay.”

“That’s a good sign. Have you responded yet?”

“No.” I was going to as soon as I saw the message, but I knew that once I sent a response, the communication between us would likely stop. I wanted to think of something to say to get her to send a response back.

God, I feel like an idiot teenage boy again.

“Then ask her to come up here when you respond. She’ll need time to prepare.”

“She’s not going to come to D.C.”

“You won’t know if she will or not unless you ask her. Did it occur to you that she was maybehopingyou would ask her to come?”

“No.”

“It’s the freaking championships!” she exclaims, reminding me of Elle’s enthusiasm for the sport. “And it’s a good thing you have a sister knowledgeable about how women think. They want men to make the first move to avoid looking clingy.”

“You’re probably wrong.”

“If I’m right, then you have to do dishes for a month. If I’m wrong, I’ll do them.”

“Deal. But you can’t trick Finley into doing them for you.”

“Fine,” she mutters. “He just loves making a sudsy mess anyway.”

“Back to Elle…”

“Cute name for a cute girl.”

“Back to Elle,” I start again. “Do you think it would be better to ask her on a phone call or by text?”

“Phone. She’ll be less like to turn you down on the spot like that, or to think too long and talk herself out of coming.”

“Good,” I say, since I wanted to call her anyway.

19

Elle

I’m not able to sleep a wink. No, I keep looking at my phone, flipping between two different text logs.

One is with Preston, waiting for him to tell me he had a safe flight. My sent message shows as “Read” but no dots have appeared to show him typing back a response.

The other texts, well, those are from Christian. The most recent one came in about an hour ago, asking if he could come over. Obviously, it’s a booty call. I guess his options aren’t as plentiful after losing the first two homes games of the championships. He must need some…comforting, and I was the first person he thought would be desperate enough to agree.

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