“I’m not looking for a relationship. I’m just here to finish school.”
Ouch.
“Then that’s fine. Doesn’t mean we can’t be friends does it?”
Not what I want to say, but if I can get my foot in the door, then I have a chance.
“We can be friends.”
She sounds so guarded. Whoever hurt her really did a number on her and it makes me furious. I keep all of that out of my voice though. She’s cautious enough already.
“Then friends call each other and hang out.”
I don’t think she agrees.
“Didn’t you have a game tonight?”
“Didn’t think you followed hockey.”
She sighs. “With everyone at the house talking about it, it’s not like I can ignore it. I’m assuming you guys won since there’s a big party going on downstairs right now.”
“We won. Three to one.”
“It’s odd to hear such small scores. I grew up with football and the scores could be massive compared to yours.”
“Hockey’s more brutal than football so it’s harder to score.”
“I think the football guys would fight you for that opinion.”
She isn’t wrong. “Here’s the thing. Put any of the hockey players on a field and we’ll be able to play, take all the hits, and still score. Put a football player on skates and ask them to do the same thing, do you honestly think they could?”
She pauses for a long moment. “No.”
“Exactly.” I crack open a bottle of water and down the rest of the pizza on my plate. “So, youarefeeling better?”
“I’m fine.”
When she doesn’t say anything else, I try again. “Christa said you start work on Monday. Nervous?”
“A little, but it’ll be good to have something to do outside of school and studying.”
“You’ll get to meet lots of people.”
She sighs. “I guess.”
“You sound tired.”
“I am tired. I’ve been working on a paper all weekend and my eyes feel like sandpaper. I need to sleep, but I can’t since someone demanded I call them.”
“I didn’t demand. I asked.”
“Okay, you asked.”
“that your not so subtle hint to tell me to get the hell off the phone and let you sleep?”
“No. I’ve been trying to sleep for about an hour and can’t get my brain to shut off so I can sleep.”
“How about I hang out on the phone with you until you feel sleepy?”
