He took a sip of his own wine and set it down. “I want to ask you something.” He looked serious.
“Okay?”
“We’re together now, right? Boyfriend, girlfriend, exclusive? We didn’t say that last night, and I want everything clear.”
Any walls around my heart that were still up crumbled. This guy… “Yes, if that’s what you want.”
“Thanks for giving me a chance, in spite of how things happened in high school.”
“It was partly my fault, and mostly our parents. Why don’t we just agree that it’s the past and done?”
Our waiter returned with our appetizer, deep fried calamari. I reached for a ring. It was hot, shockingly. I dropped it on my plate and shook my fingers.
“Impatient.”
“Hungry.”
Josh used a fork to pass some more rings to my plate. “Give them a minute to cool off.”
“I’ll try. Why don’t you tell me what it’s like, achieving your dream and doing exactly what you always wanted to do.”
Josh looked down for a moment. “Sometimes I can’t believe this is really my life.”
I listened as he told me a couple of stories. It wasn’t just training and playing games, and even if I wasn’t the biggest hockey fan ever, it was fascinating.
I was finally able to handle the calamari and dipped it in sauce before dropping it in my mouth. Mhmmm. Good. “How does Nashville compare to Toronto?”
Josh served himself some calamari. “It’s different. In some ways, Nashville is more like Halifax than Toronto—smaller. But hockey isn’t as big there. They like football best.”
A man stopped at our table, just after our steaks arrived. “Are you Josh Middleton?”
Josh smiled and agreed, taking a selfie with the guy while his food grew cold. When the guy moved on, I asked, “You didn’t have all these people approaching you at dinner in Nashville?”
His brow creased. “Is it bothering you?”
“Not really. I like seeing how much people admire you. You worked hard for this, and you deserve it. But your food is getting cold.”
“Next time I can take you somewhere that won’t happen.”
I reached out for his hand again, reassuring him. “I don’t mind. I just hope for your sake that you can eat your steak before it’s too cold.”
“Cold food isn’t the worst thing. It’s people like this who make it possible for me to play for a living, so I’m okay with it.”
Another patron slowed as he walked toward the restrooms, and I glared at him so he kept walking. Fortunately, after that, no one bothered Josh until his meal was done and we were pondering dessert.
“You want something?” Josh asked after signing a napkin for a couple of kids who raced back to their own table. “The chocolate cake looks good.”
I licked my lips. Some of the desserts sounded really good, especially the cake. But I was already full from the calamari and the steak. I had ideas for how to end this evening, and a bloated stomach didn’t play a part in that.
“I don’t think I want anything more to eat. I’ll just fall into a food coma, and that will be the end of this date.”
Josh’s eyes shot up to mine. “Oh yeah?”
I nodded. “Want to come back to my place instead?”
Chapter 26
Work Behind the Net
