Page 116 of Rule 1: Never Accidentally Marry Your Teammate
Finn who texted me yesterday, Finn who stopped texting me after I said we couldn’t return.
Well, of course, he’s a reasonable person. I wouldn’t have fallen for him if he didn’t possess some modicum of logical reasoning ability, and us not being together is definitely logical.
“Nice day,” Luke says, striving for optimism.
“Uh-huh,” I say faintly. “Really...pretty.”
Luke gives me a sympathetic look.
“Shit,” Troy says.
Luke frowns. “Dude. We’re not supposed to scare him.”
“I’m not scared,” I say, because I don’t want to admit that the prospect of seeing Finn does crazy things to my body. I can probably get through the day without fainting like a nineteenth-century, absurdly tightly corseted virgin, but I’m not certain. I also thought I wouldn’t fall in the first twenty seconds of stepping onto NHL ice. Maybe I’ll drop my weights when I see him or walk into a rowing machine or something.
I mean, it’s doubtful, but I’m not confident I can make it through the day without something happening.
I look on the other side of the river, as if I can see his car approaching. But all I see are tourists and locals and...
My heart clinches. “Shit.”
“He sees them too,” Luke says.
Paparazzi stalk the front of the arena. Their cameras are pointed at me. I wonder if they’ve already taken pictures.
I hope my face looked appropriately bland. Because I don’t want to see it plastered on magazines with articles about how Finn finally came to his senses or something.
No way.
“I don’t suppose there’s another entrance?” I ask faintly.
“Sometimes the only way is through,” Luke says.
“I think the tourist entrance will be worse,” Troy says.
“How do I—” I bite my lip, self-consciousness settlingover me.
“You look good,” Luke says reassuringly. “Very, um, casual. Which is an important quality in showing Finn that you don’t care about him.”
“Not a good quality in showing him what’s missing,” I say, then I tense. “Sorry, guys. You don’t want to hear that.”
“Nah, we just think you have crazy taste. Finn? That ugly guy?”
“Say something funny,” Luke tells me suddenly.
“Way to put pressure on a heartbroken man,” Troy says.
Luke chuckles.
Troy’s eyes widen. “Dude.”
Luke’s chuckle loudens. “Ha, ha, ha.”
I blink, then I start to laugh. “He, he, he.”
Luke elbows Troy, then glances at the paparazzi. Troy blinks.
“Oh.”
