Page 67 of The Puck Stops Here
He gave a slow nod. ‘But it’s just for you, yeah?’
‘Of course.’
He breathed a little easier. ‘Okay.’
He settled into the sofa and took a swig of beer as she set her phone back on the coffee table and perched beside him. Far enough away not to touch, but not so far, he couldn’t catch her perfume. Subtle. Tropical. Deeply appealing.
‘You good to dive right in?’
‘Are we still talking about the interview?’
She pursed her lips, her pointed stare enough to see him shifting in his seat.
‘Okay. Okay, yes, I’m good.’
She took up her notepad and pushed her glasses up her nose. ‘So, tell me about your school life?’
He gave a bemused snort. ‘School?’
She flicked him look. ‘Sure.’
‘What about it?’
‘Did you enjoy it?’
‘I enjoyed aspects.’
‘Like?’
‘I enjoyed seeing my buddies. I enjoyed sport. I enjoyed playing hockey as much as playing hooky. You don’t seem surprised by that? Has my brother been telling tales already?’
‘More reaffirming what I’d already read about you, that academia wasn’t really your vibe. That it was questionable whether you would get the grades required for college.’
‘Wow, you don’t pull your punches.’
‘I didn’t think you’d need me to.’
Ordinarily he didn’t. But then ordinarily he didn’t care what the other person thought. Astrid however…
‘I don’t.’
‘He said he had to make you study with him?’
‘That’s fair.’
‘Because you’d rather be out with your buddies?’
Not quite how it was. It wasn’t the homework he was avoiding, but the home.
‘Something like that.’
‘It can’t have been easy though.’
She cocked her head, her posture softening. Had she read his freaking mind?
‘Your school lacked resources, and your home life was hardly conducive to study time. That would have been tough for any kid.’
Her honeyed eyes were full of compassion and it sent his skin crawling on the inside. He didn’t need compassion over his past. And he certainly didn’t want it.
