Page 14 of In the Net
“Veikko, bro, you’ve really gotta learn how to read facial expressions,” Carter’s saying.
“What do you mean?” the Finn asks.
Felix laughs. “Dude, that girl at the bar Saturday night. She was, like, catastrophically into you.”
Veikko frowns. “No she wasn’t. She said she was trying to avoid hockey players.”
Carter huffs a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head. “She said, and I quote,I’ve heard hockey players are trouble, and I’m trying to stay out of trouble this semester.”
Veikko nods, like he’s just been vindicated. “Exactly.”
“She said it while stepping so close to you that her tits brushed against your arm, with a smirk on her face, making eyes at you that basically begged you to take her into the nearest empty closet,” Felix adds.
“Then why would she say she’s trying to stay out of trouble? If I’m a hockey player, and hockey players are trouble, and she wants to stay out of trouble … clearly, she does not want me.”
Felix closes his eyes and rubs them with the heels of his hands. “Oh, Veikko, Veikko, Veikko. We really need to get you to understand flirting.”
“I think you’re wrong about this,” Veikko replies, a serious expression on his face. “If I see her again, I’ll ask.”
This draws uproarious laughter from the rest of the guys, to which Veikko only shrugs his shoulders.
Felix claps his hands. “Alright, I’m fucking starving. I’ve got the image of a big, greasy burger in my mind, and I want to get one into my stomach.”
Jamie lets out a disapproving hum. “The season is just around the corner. I think we need to start being more mindful of our diets. We should go to the ramen place instead. We’ll get protein and vegetables without a pile of grease along with it.”
My lips hitch into a grin. Ever since the beginning of this year, Jamie’s sort of become the dad of the group. Really stepping into Lane’s shoes in more ways than one. He keeps the younger players on track and makes sure the guys in the house are making good decisions.
I haven’t told him this yet, but I’m planning on talking to Coach soon and suggesting that he make Jamie team captain this season, instead of me.
Felix groans about Jamie’s better judgment, but Jamie puts his foot down, and we all head out in the direction of Chiyoda Ramen.
It’s probably the restaurant in town we go to the most, all because a couple years back, Hudson struck up an unlikely acquaintanceship with the notoriously misanthropic owner, Kazu.
But now that we know him and he knows us, he’s pretty cool. In his own way.
When we walk past Last Word, the café-bookstore downtown, Jamie suddenly gets quiet and introspective, a strange demeanor radiating from him.
I step up just behind him and nudge him with my shoulder. “What’s on your mind?”
He tilts his head thoughtfully. “How do you think you would describe your ideal girl?”
I scrub my hand over my jaw, feeling the prickly stubble that’s accumulated after skipping shaving for three days. “Like, to date?”
He nods, a bashful look on his face.
I pull in a deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking. “I don’t know. I mean, she’d have to be smart. Well-read. Not just well-read, but able to form interesting opinions about what she reads. If we’re really talking ideal, I’d love to be with someone I could talk literature and stuff with. I’d like her to have a sort of forceful personality. Someone who treats me for who I am as a person, rather than who I am as a hockey player. Someone witty, who forces me to keep up; like we kind of sharpen each other, you know?”
“What about physically?” Carter asks, falling in step with me and Jamie and joining the conversation. “Like, what hair color do you find most attractive?”
I shrug. It’s not something I’ve ever really thought about. I find all kinds of women good-looking. “I dunno. I mean, I’ve kind of always thought red hair was attractive.”
For some reason, this makes Carter erupt in a peal of laughter. When I quirk an eyebrow at him, he just clasps me on the shoulder.
“What?” I ask.
“Sounds like someone we know,” Carter replies, a wide grin dominating his face.
I scrunch my brow. “Who?”
