Page 33 of You Had Me at Hockey

Chapter 9

Sara

I’m talking to Kaylee via video chat. She’s been my best friend since high school. We started college together too, but then I dropped out and moved to New York. I miss her so much. She graduated and now works in Washington for the federal government. She still helps me with my videos, giving me feedback and ideas even though she’s not here to physically help me shoot them anymore.

“So it definitely goes down as the worst first date in the history of first dates,” I finish, having heard all her news and then related my abysmal evening with Josh Heller.

“Wow. Well, it’s not theworst. The worst would be if you had actually died.”

“I guess. Although then I wouldn’t care.”

“One day it will be a funny story,” she says. “You and Josh can tell your kids about it.”

“Ha ha. He’s never going to want to see me again. And I don’t blame him.” I sigh. “You know I’m too much for some people.”

“People who can’t handle you aren’t worth it.”

One corner of my mouth lifts. “Thanks.”

Her face on the computer screen smiles. She’s so pretty—light red hair, freckles, green eyes. We were both kind of uncool in high school, but her “Carrot Top” nickname became “Ginger Ninja” as we bonded and our confidence grew. “Ask him out,” she says.

“I can’t handle rejection.”

“Yes, you can. You don’t like it, but you can handle it. You’ll live through it.”

“I want him to do a video with me. I want him to teach me to skate.”

“Oh, that would be fantastic! A hockey player teaching you to skate—perfection!”

“I thought it was good. But he wasn’t enthused about it, and now, well…” I’m trying not to be too down about how things turned out. I find if I keep my expectations low, I’m not disappointed, but somehow even though I didn’thaveexpectations for Josh and me…I’m still disappointed.

“You never know,” Kaylee says. “He sounds like a good guy.”

“He is. He’s a little…uptight and serious, but he actually has a sense of humor, and he’s very polite and considerate. Which is so weird when I watch him play hockey, because he’s like a totally different person, spitting and ramming people into the boards and yelling at the refs.”

Kaylee grins. “I have to watch a game. I need to see this guy.”

“There’s a game tonight, if you can find it on TV.”

“I’ll look!”

“When are you coming to the city again?”

“Hmm. We should plan something. I’d love to come for a weekend and see a show and you can take me out to one of your swanky clubs.”

“We could go to a hockey game!”

She laughs. “Yeah, that would be cool.”

I pull up the Bears’ schedule on my computer and we find a Saturday home game two weeks away. “I’ll get tickets!” I tell her.

“And I’ll get show tickets for Friday night. I can’t wait to see you!”

“Same!”

With that planned, we end our chat and I sit back into the couch cushions. I feel better after talking to my friend and having something to look forward to.

It’s Sunday afternoon and I don’t have anything specific planned other than working on a video and taking care of business stuff. I forgo a spin class at Ignite, as I still feel really exhausted from last night. It’s snowing lightly and the streets are wet and slushy, so I don’t even want to go for a walk. Normally I’d be eager to head out and be among people, even if just at a coffee shop or museum, but today, with the fireplace on, my apartment feels cozy and comforting. And I want comfort today.

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