Page 39 of Crazy Pucking Love
It was a weak argument—one I was having with myself, which made me worry about my mental state—but the more I thought about it, the more I decided that if I went there tonight, she’d show up.
And then maybe I could figure out a way to keep Megan in my life without ruining everything.
Chapter Nineteen
Megan
The celebration over the Bruins win was wild and loud enough that my ears buzzed, even after we exited the pub.
Stuart and Carson insisted on coming with Vanessa and me to walk us home. Which was either very chivalrous of them, or they thought they could get a little action-type reward for it. I suspected a bit of both, because they did seem like nice guys.
The glowing coffee-mug-shaped sign for the diner caught my eye and I nearly tripped over my feet. Even though I swore I wasn’t going to fixate on Dane anymore—and regardless of the fact that he hadn’t been in there either of the times I stopped by this week—I wanted to go in and see if he was seated in a booth.
I wanted to play sugar packet field goal and drink too much of Larry’s extra-strong coffee. I squinted, and I swore I could see Dane’s outline in the booth he frequented, a lone hockey player settled in for a long night of not sleeping.
Then Stuart put his hand on my back, breaking the spell and reminding me I was making new friends and exploring other potential boyfriend options. I quickened my pace, shaking off the night that could’ve been if Dane had cared to text or call.
When we neared our building, Vanessa bumped her shoulder into me and whispered, “Yay or nay?”
As surreptitiously as possible, I whispered, “On inviting them up?”
Vanessa shot the guys a smile and covertly thumbed out what I assumed was a text on her phone.
My pocket buzzed a second later, and I glanced at the screen.
Vanessa:You know what they say. The best way to get over someone is to get under someone new.
My nerves formed a tangled knot in my gut. This was all the rage in college, right? Nights where you met cute guys at a bar and hooked up. At a whopping 72 percent, it was the norm.
Sidenote: I’m going to go ahead and rule out statistics as my major now.
I didn’t want to come across as the naive young freshman girl who thought she’d find the perfect boy her first year of college, but then again, I was over caring what other people thought.
In terms of tonight, what didItruly want?
Would a fun, no-strings night with Stuart make me feel better? I wasn’t sure I was even attracted enough for that, and the last time I had sex had been almost a year ago, and I’d been pressured into it. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the asshole made me sound like a clingy, needy girl afterward.
But not every guy was like that—honestly, I should’ve seen it coming because he’d been kind of a jerk from the beginning—and maybe I could loosen my expectations and attempt something more realistic? Temporary connections with an equally temporary thrill that’d leave me plenty of time to focus on my education. In theory, it sounded like a pretty good idea. But I dealt in proofs.
The buzz of my phone distracted me from my internal debate.
Vanessa:You’re not into it. I got your back, girl.
We arrived at the dorms, and Vanessa spun. “Thanks so much for walking us home, boys.” She glanced at Carson. “You’ve got my number, yeah?”
He nodded.
Vanessa hooked her arm through mine. “Megan and I are going to call it a night, but we enjoyed watching the game with you, and thanks so much for dinner.”
Stuart glanced at me, maybe wanting me to give him my number, but the truth was, I didn’t want to give it to him. Instead of playing twenty questions with myself, I should’ve just looked at the guy, because it made it very clear that he wasn’t the one for me, as a temporary thrill or a potential boyfriend.
With the silence seconds from reaching the about-to-get-awkward stage, Vanessa tugged me toward the door. She waved good-bye, and then we were inside the stale-smelling hallway of our dorm.
“Thank you,” I said as I unlocked the door to our room and pushed inside. I kicked my shoes toward the closet and reached for my earrings. “I know you wanted to spend more time with Carson—you two seemed to hit it off.”
“I wasn’t all-in yet, but I thought maybe we’d see where the night took us. Maybe kiss a little. But like I said, I got your back. From now on, I’m all about girl power.”
“We can form our own A-Force.”
