Page 28 of Slapshot
Lex laughs.
“He was just leaving,” I say as a beat-up truck pulls to the curb.
Pax rolls down the passenger side window. “Ready, Vonne?”
“Oh my god, I’m freezing. I left my coat at home. I’m going inside.” Vivian rushes away.
“You want to come home with me?” Lex asks as he takes one step toward Pax’s truck.
A surprised chuckle escapes my lips. “No.” I take a step toward the bar. “And that’s never happening again.”
He smiles and continues to the curb where he opens the passenger door before calling back, “Night, Kaitlyn.”
* * *
On Sunday, Vivian and I meet at The Green Bean to study. She’s a sophomore art history major so we don’t have any classes together but studying in my dorm is nearly impossible. Any time I’m there at the same time as Chastity, I’m hyper aware of every sound and movement next door. It’s not just the sex that’s hard to overhear. Every phone call or movie night. I can picture them so clearly because that was me.
I’m researching a class project for my digital marketing class while Vivian reads over her notes for a medieval art quiz.
“Do you know of any local businesses that I could use for my project?” I ask after I’ve spent fifteen minutes scrolling through local Burlington businesses and am ready to pull out my hair. Boring, boring, and boring. How many maple stores does one town really need?
“What’s the criteria?”
“It’s pretty open. Local, non-chain. But most of the popular downtown places have already been claimed. The Biscuit, Tito’s, The Green Bean…” I trail off listing the businesses my classmates swooped up while I was still snarling at the idea of writing a marketing plan for anything Vermont-related. “I’d like to use it for the internship interview, so it needs to be good.”
My dream job is working at the premier marketing firm in Boston, Hawthorne Marketing. They have internships every summer for junior and senior college students. That’s my in to secure a job for after graduation.
“What about Vino and Veritas?” Vivian suggests.
“The gay wine bar and bookstore?”
“Yeah. Have you been? It’s such a genius idea for a business, and the place has a great vibe.”
“I haven’t, but it would be more interesting than trying to write a detailed marketing plan for some mom-and-pop café.” And she’s right, it’s a genius idea which means the marketing should be a snap.
“I’ll even come with you to research. They have this bartender, Rainn...” She looks to the ceiling with a dreamy, faraway look.
“Are all the bartenders gay?”
She shrugs. “No idea. He was hard to read, flirting with guys and girls.”
“Well, I guess you can ask tomorrow. Are you free?”
“For this? Absolutely.”
* * *
The following evening, I’m waiting for Vivian to pick me up outside of the arena. She’s fifteen minutes late and not answering her phone.
Paxton and Lex walk out of the building. I’ve managed to avoid any one-on-one encounters with Lex since I kissed him Saturday night, but it looks like my good fortune is about to run out. Curse Vivian. She’s probably changing clothes for the tenth time, deciding what to wear while I pretend to look busy as Lex nods his head goodbye to Pax and heads toward me.
“Hey,” he says when he’s close.
“Hey,” I say back in an uninviting tone.
“Looks like I was wrong today.”
“About?”
