Page 71 of You Had Me at Hockey

“She interviewed me for her podcast,” Josh says.

“Which aired Thursday night!” I remind him.

“I have to listen!” Layla says.

“Didyoulisten?” I ask Josh.

“Yeah. On the plane coming home.”

“We’re getting tons of good feedback. Tons of listeners!”

He smiles down at me. “That’s great.”

For a few seconds, we’re alone, his warm gaze and smile enclosing me in a bubble of privacy. But that’s an illusion.

“I’ll have to listen too,” Lilly says. “What’s your podcast called?”

“Random Acts of Sara.”

“That sounds fun.”

I shrug. “I’ve done some fun interviews. My YouTube videos talk about a lot of different shit. How about you? What do you do?”

“I’m a dog walker. That’s how Easton and I met. That was his dog Otis I had the other day.”

“He’s cute.”

“He’s adorable. I love him. I’m in the process of opening a doggy daycare. I also work for Colton and Layla.” She waves a hand toward Layla.

A server arrives with a tray loaded with shots and offers us one.

“Those are from us!” a woman calls from the table in the corner, part of the group. “Kamikazes!”

I meet Josh’s eyes. “That’s Nadia,” he says. “Igor Barbashev’s wife.”

We each take a shot glass, and the server moves over to Kaylee and James, who also pick up glasses. We wait until everyone has one, and Nadia shouts, “To the Bears! Drink!”

We all down our shots.

“Oooh, that was pretty smooth,” I say. “What’s in that?”

I guess Nadia could hear me, as she shouts back, in a Russian accent, “Vodka! Also orange liqueur and lime juice.”

“She and Barbs are crazy,” Josh mutters in my ear.

“We order more!” Nadia calls. She waves to the waitress then circles her finger to indicate another round.

I’m happy to take another shot and toss it back.

“Easy there,” Josh says. “I don’t want to have to carry you home again.”

“I was not drunk that time. And I’m not a lightweight.” I clap my hand to my chest with an affronted look. “I can hold my liquor.”

He eyes me skeptically. “You are literally a lightweight. You probably weigh half what I do.”

I narrow my eyes. “How much do you weigh?”

“Officially? Two hundred eighteen.”

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