“What did you think of the game?”
I paused.
She laughed. “They played like crap. Justin was moping all the way over.”
“Well, I haven’t watched hockey since high school, but the score was kind of a giveaway. As well as Josh’s responses. Lots of groaning.”
“So how do you know Ducky?”
I was going to have to ask him about that nickname. “Josh and I went out in high school. We ran into each other a couple of weeks ago. I helped him get his car home from the arena when his knee was injured, so he invited me to the game.”
“But you’re not dating again?”
I shook my head, and checked that Josh was deep into a conversation with someone on his other side. The guy had a loud voice, and no one was paying attention to us. “We’re supposed to be trying the friends thing.”
She studied me, as if testing my sincerity. “Ducky is a nice guy, so that shouldn’t be difficult. You must be from down east, right?”
I nodded.
“You’ve been in touch since you broke up?”
“Oh, no. It was not a good breakup. I hadn’t spoken to him for five years.”
“That bad, eh? If that’s the case, how did you run into him again?”
I felt my cheeks get hot. “It’s embarrassing.”
She leaned in. “It can’t be as embarrassing as some of my stories. Like the last time I brought a guy home to the condo Justin and I share. The guy and I had been dating for a couple of weeks. I hadn’t told him who my brother is because this is such a hockey town—thank goodness Johnson is a common name. Anyway, the guy stayed over for the first time, and when I got up in the morning he wasn’t in bed with me. He was in the kitchen with Justin, asking for an autograph.”
I giggled. “That sounds…”
Jess rolled her eyes. “Really bad. It was the end of that relationship, obviously, and a new rule that I don’t bring guys home until I know they aren’t hockey fans.”
I checked on Josh again. “Okay, I can do one better. I had to leave my housing situation and moved into a new place about a month ago. Two weeks later, I’m in the living room watching a show on my laptop. It’s about eleven p.m., and my roommate comes in making out with a guy.”
Jessica’s jaw dropped. “No way.”
“Yep. I’m trying to break for my room, but then Josh recognized me, and well, we ended up rehashing our breakup and…”
“Did they hook up?”
I shook my head. “We, Madeline and I, kind of ganged up on him. I told her that he broke up by text.”
“That is so high school. And not cool.”
“Exactly.”
She looked over at Josh, hands waving as he discussed something hockey connected with the guy beside him. “Then how did you get from that to here?”
“He showed up on my doorstep with donairs, apologized, explained that our parents worked on him, and well…he’s hard to say no to.”
Her brows raised.
“No, not like that. Like a sad-eyed puppy.”
She looked around me again. The movement caught Josh’s attention.
“Oh, sorry. I got caught up in talking?—”
