Page 87 of Pucking Matt
Dylan jokes, “Mommy issues?”
I point at him. “Don’t post shit about my mom.”
He puts his hands up in surrender. “Only kidding.”
Grey does his slapshot and it doesn’t meet mine. I hear clapping from the stands. When I turn to look at the noise, I see Maddie at the glass. I inhale, glad she’s not clapping for me.
“I’m heading out,” I call out. I look over at Crew and mention, “And it has nothing to do with Maddie.” I point in her direction and then lock eyes with her. Now this is just awkward. All the feelings I once had for her are completely gone.
When I’m walking into my house, Christian isn’t playing video games. Zack isn’t in the kitchen. Alex is probably in his bedroom. It’s quiet in the house for once. I take a quick showerand then get started on my homework. I have a paper due and I need to study all the muscle fiber groups, their functions, and exact locations. It’s still daylight out, so I don’t call Amber until I’m a few hours deep into studying and need a break.
I press a few buttons until I see my face on the screen, and now I’m trying to find my best angle. It rings once. Twice. I’m starting to wonder if she’s going to ignore me, and then she picks up on the third ring.
“You’re calling a bit early,” she says with her phone in her palm.
“Is it a bad time?” I ask.
She looks into the phone and shakes her head. “No, but I need to grab something. I’ll be right back.”
She disappears, leaving me with a view of the ceiling. I set my phone up against the pen holder and lean back in my chair, staring at the labels of muscle fibers.
“Okay,” she says, putting the phone where I can see her taking a seat at her desk. She’s opening her laptop when I lean into the phone. I put my eye in front of the camera as she laughs.
“Hi,” she says sarcastically.
“Hi, Amber. How was your day?” I ask, leaning back enough for her to only see my face.
“My day has been hectic with work. How was yours?”
“It’s better now.”
She pauses at the sound of that, glancing at me. “Whatever it is, I know you’ll have no problem facing it.”
I nod, happy that someone has trust in me. I watch as she sets up her paperwork. I finally lean back and play with the pen in my hand.
“So,” I trail off. “The dumb thing is happening this weekend.”
“This weekend?” she echoes.
“Yeah. You can stay the night, right?”
Her laugh bubbles in her chest. “You want me to spend the night with you?”
I shrug. “You don’t have to, but it’ll give you the full experience.”
She nods. “The full Matthew Pearson experience?”
I click my iPad shut and say, “Like I said, it’s dumb. You don’t even have to come. It’s that dumb.”
She’s watching me on the screen. “I said I’m going to come, so I’ll be there. I can stay overnight too as long as you promise not to murder me.”
I glance at her, not in the mood for jokes. “Right.”
“But first,” she says. “You have to tell me what it is.”
I chuckle. “If I tell you, you might change your mind.”
“Matt, I don’t like surprises unless it’s Christmas morning.”
