Page 25 of Rookie Move
“You—really?”
“Yeah. It started about two years ago—when I was in trouble at school. I wanted her opinion, so I called her. At the time, she’d just applied for the job on the Bruisers. And afterward we stayed in touch.”
Leo’s head spun. “Dude. You never told me that.”
“It wasn’t meant to be a secret,” DJ said. “But, honestly. It’syouwho never talks about her. Like, never.”
Leo felt himself getting irritated at his brother. Did DJ and Georgia talk about him behind his back? “Does she mention me?”
“Never,” DJ said immediately. “And that’s my point. You two treat each other like the other one is dead. It’s weird.”
“No, I don’t,” Leo said immediately.
“Uh-huh,” DJ said. “When’s the last time you mentioned her to me or the parents?”
Leo leaned back against his pristine, unused locker and banged his head into the expensive wood. “I don’t know.”Never.
“Do you ever think about her?”
“Sure.”More often than I’d like to admit. “What the hell difference does it make? What’s your point?”
“My point is that neither of you is over it. If you were, you’d be able to say her name out loud. You’d talk to her once in a while. You’d ask what she was up to.”
“But you do that, apparently.” Leo was not enjoying this line of conversation. “So fill me in. What’s the 411 on Georgia?”
On the other end of the phone, DJ cracked up. “God, the two of you...”
“You going to tell me or what?” Leo growled.
“Fine.” DJ chuckled. “She works in PR for the Brooklyn Bruisers.”
“You’re a funny, funny man.”
“She lives a few blocks from the office with Becca, the office manager. Um, no pets. Travels with the team. Loves Ed Sheeran’s music, unfortunately. But she can still do all the lyrics to Eminem’s ‘Rap God.’ Seriously, very few women can—”
“Off topic, little bro.” He’d forgotten that DJ and Georgia had a relationship based entirely on their mutual love of music.
“Fine. She’ssingle...”
Keep talking.
“That’s what you really wanted to hear, right?”
Leo sighed. It probably was. “Is she...” He didn’t know how to ask. “Is she okay, though?” That was the real question—the thing he needed to know before he could accept whatever fate the gods of the NHL doled out.
DJ was quiet for a second. “Yeah. I mean, she doesn’t walk around afraid all the time. It’s not like that. She took a whole lot of judo and tae kwon do, starting in college.”
“Yeah?” That made him smile. Georgia was an incredible athlete, and he could only imagine how well that would translate to the martial arts. His girl in a gi on the attack? She’d be fierce.
“Yeah. She’s doing well. Good job, and a temporary promotion that she’s trying to hold on to. Nice friends. But sometimes I think she’s a little lonely.”
Leo didn’t know what to say about that. “Happens to the best of us.”
“Uh-huh.” There was a hint of snark in his brother’s voice. “You talk to her yet?”
“I tried. She kinda blew me off. And then it got weird because Amy showed up out of the blue.”
“What?” DJ yelped. “You land in New York, and the first person you call isAmy?”
