Page 13 of Stick With Me
“Thanks, but I want to do it on my own. I’ll figure it out.”
“I know you will,” he says, sounding more confident in me than I feel. “Where will you be staying in Chicago?”
“I started looking for places online. I’ll probably find a roommate so I have the funds to launch the rescue.”
I have enough saved to get by for now. Jace always supported me, and the money I made was mine to do with as I pleased, so I’ve built a decent nest egg. But I know how quickly that will disappear in the city. And if I’m serious about launching my rescue, I’ll need every penny to get it off the ground.
“I’ll be your roommate. Move in with me,” he offers without a second of hesitation. Just what I need—to be kicked out of one hockey player’s home and jump straight into another’s.
Ryan is not the same, the little voice in my head says, but I can’t trust it’s not the same one that steered me wrong all those years ago with Jace.
“You’d want a roommate?” I ask.
“Sure, if the roommate is you. I’ve got the space, and you want to save money on rent, right? My place is free. Problem solved.” He makes it sound so simple.
“Don’t you have a one-bedroom?” I ask, remembering teasing him for his modest setup when he first moved in. Living with him doesn’t sound like the worst option, but sharing a bedroom? A bed? No way.
“Nope, I’m actually moving to a bigger place.” His eyes ping-pong between the beer in his hand, my face, and back again. “It’s one of those brownstones. You know, the ones we used to walk by, and you’d always say how much you loved. One of those.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal.
Is he trying to persuade me with a brownstone? Is it working? At least I wouldn’t feel so intrusive knowing he has the extra space. With multiple floors, we wouldn’t get in each other’s way, especially if he had dates over. The thought alone makes my stomach dip. He hasn’t mentioned it, but there were photos of him with that model this past summer. If the online gossip is true, they were dating. Maybe they still are.
He takes my silence as an opportunity to sell me further on the idea. “I was actually thinking of getting a dog. A rescue dog. He or she can be your first rescue. Rather than paying rent, you could take care of them when I’m on road trips, so I don’t have to hire a sitter. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
For whom? I get a brownstone, a dog, and a place to live. With my best friend. And he has to give up his space and privacy for what? A dog walker? “I don’t know, I’ll think about it,” I say, mostly to move past the subject. I couldn’t really live with him, could I?
“Okay, my vote is yes, for the record.” He grins at me.
“Noted.”
His eyes dart down to his lap. “So, where are you planning to stay for All-Star?”
“Oh, I was just going to drive back and forth. I don’t have as many obligations as you, so I didn’t bother with a hotel.”
He clears his throat. “You can say no… but I was hoping maybe I could convince you to come back to Sunrise with me? I got you your own room. Well, a room in the suite I booked. I just want to spend time with you when I’m here, and your parents’ house is pretty far from the arena. If we’re in the same place, we can hang out more.” He finishes his speech, taking off his hat to run a hand through his hair before sliding it back on, this time backward. What is it about a backward baseball cap? It’s a good look on him.
It would be nice to avoid the daily drive and spend time with him, but I don’t want to cramp his style. I know how these weekends are; it’s one big party. I definitely don’t want to be Ryan’s wingwoman. That sounds worse than the possibility of seeing Jace.
“I don’t know. Don’t you have plans? I don’t want to be in your way.”
“No plans. We’ll do whatever you want. You could never be in my way. Iwantyou in my way.” He chuckles and slings an arm over my shoulders, looking down at me. His eyes take on a hazel tint from the reflection of the sunset. “You know what I mean. C’mon, Sunshine, it’ll be a test run for our future cohabitation.”
“You’re really confident about that yes,” I say. Ryan’s arm slips from my shoulders as I stand, brushing sand off my butt while glancing down at his eager face. I can’t say no to that face. “Okay, fine, let me grab a bag from my parents’ place, and then we’ll go.”
He jumps up so fast he has to take a couple of steps back to avoid falling over and pumps an arm in the air. “Hell yeah!”
SIX
Note to self:call a realtor.
Priority #1 when I get home is finding a new place. Hannah is right. I do have a one-bedroom, and before learning of her plans to move to Chicago and her need of a place to stay, I had no intention of moving. Is it over the top to get a new place? Probably. Do I have any regrets about throwing the idea out there? Definitely not.
Today is day one of the All-Star event—thedraft. This year, the league is doing things a bit differently. Rather than being broken up into East versus West, they assigned four captains, each drafting players to their team.
Sitting on the ice waiting for my name to be called, I’m reminded of the two other times I waited to be drafted, only to never make the cut. As players’ names are announced, it starts to feel like those times when my future was actually on the line. It’s inconvenient that even at the top of my game, self-doubt sneaks in.
Beck earned one of the coveted captain spots, and it’s his turn to announce his first pick. Unsurprisingly, he opts for Knolls, who stands from his seat a couple of rows ahead of me and skates to his team’s designated bench beside the stage. It makes sense that he’d be picked first—he’s a skilled player, even I can’t deny that. And Beck doesn’t have the same hang-ups with Knolls that I do. To him, we’re all old college buddies and former teammates.
The other three captains make their choices without drafting me; then it’s Beck’s turn again. This time, I’m hopingnotto be chosen. I like Beck, I really do, but I’m not trying to play on the same team as Knolls.
