Page 84 of Good Vibes Only
“Didn’t need it. You’re amazing.”
“Istillwant to see you use it, though,” she said, coyly biting her lip. “Next time, promise?”
“Yeah, I promise.” I snickered.
We stared at each other, smiles anxiously fleeting, because webothknew I had to start getting ready or I’d be late for the morning skate.
“I don’t wanna say bye!” she said, frowning.
“Me neither. But I gotta get moving,” I said. “Hey, you want to keep talking while I get dressed?”
Her eyes lit. “Sure!”
I set my phone up on the wardrobe so we could still see each other. We joked around and made small talk while I hopped out of bed, cleaned up, and hurriedly tore through my suitcase for an outfit. We liked talking to each other so much, we didn’t want to hang up once I finished dressing—instead, I took her with me as I left the hotel room.
“So whatisa morning skate, anyway?” she asked as I made my way down the hallway. “Is that what you guys call practice?”
“Nah, we call practice ‘practice,’” I chuckled. “We do morning skates on gamedays only. We skate around a little, shoot a few pucks, maybe. But we don’t go hard in the morning skate. It’s more of a free style, just to stretch out the legs, so we’re loose and ready for the game later, ya know?”
“Aaaaaah, okay, I get it now,” she said, smiling.
I’d never been with a girl who I felt so comfortable around—we could be silly, funny, sexy, whatever we wanted. Most of all, around McKayla, I didn’t feel like I was “Showtime, the professional hockey player” or whatever. I felt like I wasmyselfaround her; just a regular guy.
I liked her.
I liked her alot.
Which I already knew. But a sudden realization struck me as I made my way to the elevator—that I wanted her to know how much I liked her, and cement it to everybody else, too.And before I could stop and ask myself if it was a good idea or not, I opened my mouth and started asking her a question.
“Hey, McKayla?” I asked as I stepped into the empty elevator.
“Yeah?”
“Would you be my girlfriend?”
She blinked at me, her face blank. “Seriously?”
Shit.Did I fuck up? Did I ask too soon? I felt exposed and vulnerable, which totally sucked, but I wasn’t going to turn back now.
“Yeah, er, seriously,” I murmured.
She covered her mouth and giggled.
Ah shit.My ears burned red hot.
“What?” I asked, embarrassed.
“Nothing! It’s just … I dunno …” she trailed off, unable to say.
The elevator dropped, which didn’t help the sinking in my stomach. I was sure she didn’t want me. I just needed to hear her say it, to put me out of my misery.
“C’mon, what is it?” I asked.
“I don’t think anyone’s ever actuallyaskedme to be their girlfriend before. It’s always been a situation where we eventually sort of stumble into it.”
“Well, if stumbling is how you prefer things …” I gulped, hoping things could still be salvaged.
“No no no! No more stumbling.” She vehemently shook her head. “I prefer this. Truly. So much.”
