Page 37 of Snowballed

“Shhh,” he says.

It’s funny to see a big guy like Wags reduced to a blushing mess. He continues in a low voice, “I’ve liked her for ages. She’s so much fun and well, you can see how cute she is. We’re friendly at parties and stuff, but it’s never gone anywhere. She always seems to have a new boyfriend.”

This is the most I’ve ever heard Wags say on any subject. He has got it so bad. I can’t help smiling as I watch Zoe make a feeble poke-check.

“So, can you help me?” he asks.

“Me? How can I help you?”

“I figure if you’re going out with Zoe, you can get the inside track on Marie Josée. Maybe we could all do stuff together. At least tip me off when she’s between boyfriends.”

“Hold up. I’m not going out with Zoe.”

“You’re not? But…” He squints at me. “You like her, right?”

I do like Zoe. At first, she drove me crazy, but the more I know her, the more I respect her. But do Ilikeher? Zoe is cute, but what’s really attractive about her is her energy and drive. She’s passionate and alive.

“It takes me a long time to figure out if I like someone,” I confess.

Wags scoffs. “Really? Because I think you know right away if you’re attracted or you’re not.”

“I don’t agree. It’s when you get to know someone that real attraction develops. Inner spirit is as important as outer appearance.”

“The guru of California speaks.” Wags mocks me.

“Trust is important.”

I watch the practice and make notes while Wags ponders this.

“Sounds like you’ve been burned before,” he says.

I nod. I’m not going to spill my relationship issues but yes, I have been burned. It began in high school when the first girl I dated turned out to be more interested in my famous parents than me. Then I found out that my second girlfriend thought I was “hot” but boring. After that, I didn’t date for a long time. And when I did, I only went out with people I already knew well. Like Lauren, who was part of my friend group in high school. We went to different colleges, but we started hanging out last summer when we were both back in L.A. I already knew she was a decent person.

“Attraction is the easy part. Finding the right person is harder.” I watch Zoe make a nice pass out of the zone. I can see her smiling even through her face shield.

“Again, you surprise me, Goody. You’re certainly no player. Well, you still spend a lot of time with Zoe. Anything you can do for me would be greatly appreciated.”

“You play Moo U hockey. Isn’t that enough?” I ask.

“Marie Josée has a thing against hockey players. In her freshman year, her boyfriend cheated on her, and he played for us.”

“Who was it?” Whoever it is, my opinion of him just went down.

“Oh, he’s long gone. He got cut for not training hard enough and fucking around too much.” That would be a big temptation at Moo U where hockey players are a big fucking deal. People treat me a lot differently here than they did at ASU.

Practice finishes, and everyone skates off. Wags leaves for his class.

Zoe looks up at me, and I motion her over. We meet at the visitor bench.

“Thanks for coming,” she says.

“Do you want to talk now or later?” I ask.

“I don’t have a class right away, so now is fine.” Zoe takes off her helmet and towels her wet hair. At least she’s working hard. Maybe not working smart though.

“Well, first off, you’ve got to work on your skating.” I look around the empty rink and frown. “This would take me all of five minutes to show you on the ice. Maybe we can figure out a time to do that.”

“Meyers. Goodwin. Now is not the time to socialize.” The assistant coach skates over to us. “What’s going on? Why are you watching our practices?”

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