Page 84 of Hot for the Hockey Player
CHAPTER TWENTY
Gabrielle
Maverickdroppedthekidsoff just before six, and while Damon asked if we could invite him to dinner, Maverick declined, saying he had dinner plans with his new friend Man.
Did he mean Manpreet Patel, the whittler?They were friends?Since when?
Maverick did, however, follow the kids back into the house, where they talked excitedly about getting to actually weld and solder stuff, as well as try out the laser cutter.Marco was particularly thrilled by the fact that he got to handle the welding torch and wear the welding helmet that he said made him look like Iron Man.
Laurel came out of her room just as Raina and Marco were getting ready to leave.She said hello to Maverick, then got that look on her face again.That same secretive smile as earlier, before she glanced at me.
Did she have a crush on Maverick?
Last week she said she thought Honor might, but didn’t see the appeal.Had things changed since then?Oh god, please no.
Raina gave me a wink before she and Marco ducked out the door, Austin with them.
“Mom, Maverick’s going to start his own podcast, and he wants me to help him,” Damon said, washing his hands in the kitchen sink.“Says he’s not ‘techie’ and could use someone like me who is.”
I glanced at Maverick, who actually managed to get a little color to his cheeks, twisted his mouth, and glanced at the floor like he was kind of embarrassed.It was a sexy look.
Who am I kidding?Every look of his was sexy.
“Can I help him?”Damon asked.“If I finish all my schoolwork, can I?I think it’d be really cool.Especially since he wants to focus on topics like the guys at my school.”
I narrowed my gaze, not understanding.
“I did another interview today,” Maverick clarified.“With another female sports podcaster, and we chatted more about what’s going on in the league right now, which is similar to the bullshit the kids at Damon’s school are listening to and practicing.”
My brows shot up.
“She suggested I consider launching my own podcast, focused onpositivemasculinity.Be the antithesis to all the alpha-bro-dude podcasts out there poisoning the minds of young men—like the ones in Damon’s class.”
“Formerclass,” Damon corrected.
I hardly recognized my kid.He was so chatty and upbeat now.And he’d only been doing homeschooling for one day.Was the high school on the island that bad?I didn’t really know any other parents whose kids went to the school.Besides business, I kept to myself.It was safer that way.
Maverick shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and bounced his shoulders.“But I have no idea how to do any of the editing or anything like that—”
“But I do,” Damon cut in.
“And I’ll absolutely pay him,” Maverick said with a nod.“But I think it’d benefit both of us.My first guest is going to be my friend, Man.”
“Do you mean Manpreet Patel, the guy who whittles spoons?”I asked.“How’d you meet him?”
“I went to his house and asked him to teach me to whittle a spoon, and he agreed.I was there for like three hours today just chatting with him.Then he invited me back for dinner.He’s making his wife’s dal turka recipe.I have no idea what that is, but I’m very excited.”
I think I’d exchanged all of ten or twelve words with Manpreet Patel in the years I’d lived on the island.And they were one day at the farmers market when I asked him what wood the spoon I picked up was made from.He told me cherry, and that was it.
Did this mean Maverickdidn’twant me to come over later?If he was going for dinner at Man’s house, maybe this was his subtle way of telling me to stay home.
“I’m going to chat a bit more with Man about the podcast tonight, but I’m hoping we can record the first one maybe on Friday, then work on the editing together over the weekend.”
Damon’s head bobbed enthusiastically.“Sounds good to me.”He turned to me.“Do you think there’s a way I could claim working with Mav on the podcast as like an elective credit or something?”He dished himself up some spaghetti—Laurel had already done so—and he joined her in the dining room.
“Uh … I, ah, I can email your homeschool teacher and ask,” I said, flustered and confused.Did I go to all of this “preparation” effort for nothing?I met Maverick’s eyes.“Am I … do you not want …” When his brows lifted, I immediately averted my gaze, hating the heat that burned my cheeks.
“I’ll be home from Man’s by eight-thirty.Does that work?”he asked in a whisper.
