Page 61 of Mr. Swoony

I shake my head. “I don’t think so, but I’m sure they have to talk. Which…”

“Fuck, you really like her.” Now Tweetie looks horrified.

Henry elbows him.

“Where the fuck have you been? He ran into her wedding and objected.” Rowan shakes his head.

“I thought it was a drunk thing.” Tweetie shrugs.

“Yeah, and then he asked her to move in with him just because.” Henry shakes his head and groans.

“Jesus, I hate this feeling inside of me. We were out shopping yesterday, and we were flirting the whole time. You know when you get those flutters in your stomach when she brushes up against you?”

Rowan and Henry glance at one another while Tweetie tries to act as if he doesn’t have any idea what I’m talking about.

“Then the text came in, and it was like freezing cold water being dumped over us. I ended up retreating for most of the night. I was never adamantly against commitment, I just hadn’t met anyone who made me want to, but I also didn’t think I’d ever be stuck in this situation. She’s nowhere near ready for a new relationship. Maybe asking her to be my roommate was a stupid idea.”

“Ya think?” Tweetie gets up from the bench and picks up his weights again.

“It’s a shitty situation you’re in, no doubt, but it’s her decision to make when she’s ready,” Henry says.

“He’s right,” Rowan adds. “You know how you hear those stories where a couple breaks up and then one of them is engaged or married to someone else, like, six months later? If she never truly loved Tristan, and it was something she felt forced to do, she might not need that much time to get past it. You might’ve stopped the wedding, but I saw her face when she stood at the end of the aisle.”

Henry nods. “Yeah, I saw it too.”

“What?” I look between them.

“She looked like she was walking to the electric chair,” Rowan says.

“She looked at Tristan, but he was busy laughing it up with his best man. Her disappointment was clear before she put on a fake-as-shit smile.” Henry brings his drink to his lips.

“And yet she was going to marry him,” Tweetie says, lifting again while the rest of us shoot the shit.

“Because she was scared to call it off,” Henry says, setting down his drink. “I’ve known Eloise longer than you guys, and she doesn’t like to see people upset. Jade’s alluded that her relationship with her dad was strained for a lot of years. Like Jade, Eloise was yearning for his attention. Then he dies after he tells her that he loves her and Tristan together and how happy seeing them together makes him.”

“Fuck, really?” Rowan asks, pushing a hand through his sweaty hair.

Henry nods. “Give her some time, man, but I don’t think you’ll be waiting forever for her to get over Tristan.”

I wonder if Henry could be right. I guess the only way to find out is to ask her.

Henry and Rowan stand and pick up their weights, spacing out to do shoulder raises.

“She sure is spending a shit-ton of time with you,” Tweetie says. “What have you guys been doing?”

I stand and put plates on the bar. “We went to the bookstore yesterday.” And then I remember what I wanted to tell them. “You’ll never believe this, guys, but they write about fictional hockey players in these romance books. Like, there’s a whole table of books with the hockey player as the leading male. I guessed they’re called hockey romances. And there’re so many books with the word puck in the title it’s crazy.”

Each of them stare at me in the mirror.

“No shit?” Tweetie says.

“Seriously, it’s a huge thing.”

I catch the door opening in the mirror and watch Easton Bailey walk in. He’s a hot shot on Chicago’s professional baseball team.

“What are you doing here?” Rowan asks.

“I just needed something different.” He changes out of his street shoes and comes over to me. “I’ll spot you.”

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