Page 53 of Snowballed

I’m really wondering if Rocky saw what she thought she saw. He could not care less who won a date with me.

“Okay, let’s go.” I say.

While I’m excited about the possibility of going out with Noah, I’m going to wait and see what happens. I’m not going to be the one who initiates the date conversation.

“You’re very popular,” I tell him on the drive home.

He shakes his head. “If popularity means people judging me on superficial things. then yes, I am.”

“You’re from Los Angeles. Aren’t you already familiar with appearance-driven culture?”

“I’m not an actor, I’m a hockey player. And I’m a person. There’s this idea that men don’t mind being objectified because then they get some. That’s dumb.” This sounds like a grudge he’s nursed for a long time. I feel instantly guilty because I did treat him differently because of how he looked. But I don’t anymore.

“Would you mind if people were interested in you because you’re a good hockey player?” I ask.

He laughs. “Maybe not. At least it’s ability-based. But just being on the hockey team is a big deal here.”

“Desert hockey isn’t the same?” I ask.

“We’re growing the sport. There are rabid hockey fans, but it’s not like here where people call out my name on campus and wish me good luck before games.”

It’s hard to imagine a place in the universe where someone as talented, smart, and hard-working as Noah wouldn’t be popular.

18

Noah

Even though it’s still dark out, I roll out of bed feeling good. Last night’s auction was torture, but it’s over now.

No matter how early I get up, Zoe is always up first. Right now she’s inspecting the chickens. To me, they always look exactly the same: beady-eyed and fierce. But Zoe can detect all kinds of ailments and then remedy them. She once spent half an hour telling me about chicken lice, facts I promptly forgot.

I nod, and Zoe calls out a cheery good morning. She is both a morning and evening person. I don’t know how that’s even possible. I sip the coffee that she leaves out for me.

We have a system now. There’s a chore board where we check off everything that has to be done that day. It’s because I keep forgetting stuff, but Zoe is too nice to point this out. When I walk into the barn to look at the board, Katman comes running up to greet me. I scoop him up and give him a belly rub, and he purrs in delight. I’m just about to see if there’s milk for him when Zoe walks in.

“Caught in the act. Katman is a working cat, not a baby.” But she doesn’t really sound mad, so I put the cat down and give him some of the refrigerated goat milk.

“Did you bring that saucer out here for Katman?” she asks.

“Of course not,” I lie. Cats can’t drink out of a bucket; they need something shallow.

“If there are mice in the barn this winter, I’m blaming you for spoiling him.”

“A man needs a few simple pleasures, even if he’s a catman,” I say. The tabby lifts a milky face to agree.

But Zoe doesn’t crack a smile at this. Instead she pulls out her phone. “Did you see the auction results yet?”

I shake my head. She hands me the phone, and the first thing I see is:A date with Zoe Meyers: Martin Gunnarsson.

Damn it.

“I don’t want you to go out with Martin,” I blurt. Man, I really need to finish my coffee before speaking about anything important. I have no right to tell Zoe what to do. “Uh, sorry. You should do whatever you want.”

Zoe looks straight at me. “What I want is for younotto go out with Helen.”

Helen again? I look back at the phone.A date with Noah Goodwin: Helen Hendricks. “God, how did she manage that? Do you think she fixed the results somehow?”

“I do. But I don’t think there’s an option for a judicial recount. So you don’t like Helen?”

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