Page 62 of Slap Shot Surprise
“A couple times. Mostly just about setting up the automatic payments to my bank account from his. He’s being really generous.”
“Good. He can afford it.” She picked up the iced mapleFrappuccino I’d brought her and sipped. “Anything new between the two of you?”
“Nope.”
“You mentioned he stayed the night at your house.”
“On the couch. It was late.”
“Still. It’s not like he couldn’t afford a hotel room,” she said suggestively.
“Ari, stop it. We’re friends. I offered to let him sleep on the couch so he didn’t have to drive all the way back down to his parents’ house. He’d already been on the road so much that day.”
Her eyebrows rose as she sucked on the straw. “And he stayed on the couch the entire time?”
“Yes. Then left in the morning without even waking me.”
She sighed as she set the plastic cup down. “That is not romantic at all.”
“Becauseweare not romantic at all. Although,” I said, swirling the ice around in my matcha latte, “he did give me a very nice hug before saying good night.”
“That’s it? A hug?”
“Yes. And a kiss on the forehead.”
“He’s a regular Boy Scout now,” she said with a giggle.
“Listen, I’m glad. If he’d tried things with me, I don’t know that I’d have the willpower to say no. And by respecting my boundaries, he’s proving that he’s a good guy. That’s important to me. We’re talking about the father of my child.”
“I get it, and I’m glad he’s turning out to be a gentleman. I’m just a romance junkie, and I like it when things get spicy.”
“Well, you’ll have to find another story to get invested in, because thisone stays sweet.”
At least, it did in real life. In my fantasies of Joe, which I entertained almost every night, usually with a toy that required batteries, it was a five-alarm fire.
But that was my little secret.
“Did you guys talk about dating other people?” Ari asked.
“No, it never came up. He actually told me at the wedding he’s just coming off a bad relationship and isn’t looking to date anyone. He claims he’s a bad boyfriend.”
“How would you feel if he did date someone?”
I shrugged. “Not much I could do about it. And it’s bound to happen sooner or later. I don’t want this baby to mean the two of us have to stay single forever.”
“Just out of curiosity, would you date someone while you were pregnant?”
“I don’t think so. It would be weird.” I sipped my drink again. “But I tell you what, now that I know what good sex is, I am never settling for less.”
“Good.You shouldn’t.”
“I just hope somewhere out there is a guy who can put the puck in the net as well as Joe Lupo.”
Ari laughed. “It was that good, huh?”
I closed my eyes and shivered. “It was that good.”
“Well, I don’t care what you say, I’m not giving up hope on the two of you. Having a baby together might make him rethink his priorities.”
