Page 66 of The Chemistry Coach
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“I have a question.”
Daisy swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to focus on where her hand rested on Connor’s thigh.“What’s your question?”
“You had every opportunity to meet me.Patrick or Roxie could’ve introduced us.Why did it take a decade for me to learn you existed?”
She’d considered that for a long time, and she came to the same conclusion she had about meeting the entirety of the Freeze.It would’ve crushed her to blow up her whole life for an asshole.“It was too risky.What if I met you and hated you?Or what if we met and hit it off and then broke things off and I wrecked friendships over it?I felt safer keeping you at a distance.Admiring you from afar.It let me shape you into who I thought you should be.Which issuperfucked up.”
Connor patted her hand and placed his own on the steering wheel, allowing her to continue running her fingers up his leg.
“That makes sense.I’ve met a lot of important people in hockey, and quite a few of them disappointed me.It’s that whole ‘don’t meet your heroes’ thing.”
“Exactly.”
“But you met me, and I must not be that bad since you agreed to this date.”
“Ha.I don’t recall being asked on a date.I lost a bet.”
“I would have asked you eventually.”Connor pulled into a strip mall and parked.
“Hmm,” Daisy answered, exiting the vehicle.He circled the car and reclaimed her hand, dragging her toward an old-fashioned ice cream shop where they ordered ice cream in waffle cones and ate at a tiny table.
“So,” Connor asked, “how do I compare to imaginary Connor?”
She couldn’t help but tease him, “Oh, you know, you’re okay.”
“Nothing to write home about then?”
“Your words, not mine.”She gave him an exaggerated wink, making him laugh.
“Being unenthusiastic about your activities at first probably didn’t win me many points.”
“Yeah, I was pretty certain your apathy crushed any lingering curiosity.It reminded me that you weren’t this perfect person.But also, I had an unfair advantage when building you up in my head.My opinion wasn’t based on the hockey blogs.”
“I’m sure Patrick loooved telling you how shitty I am.”He kept his tone light and teasing.
She bumped her shoulder against his.“He did.But he also told me to ‘woo’ you.”
Connor gasped and held a hand to his heart.“We’re on our way to being best friends already.”
“I know you don’t like each other.”
Connor licked chocolate brownie ice cream off his spoon, and Daisy’s brain went offline for a few seconds.What was it about his mouth that had her out of her mind?Being jealous of a spoon was creepo behavior.She needed to get it together.
His words barely registered when he said, “I’d be pissed if I had you and then some other person caught your eye.Especially if I worked with that person.I’d lash out too.”
She shook her head, attempting to clear the lust from her brain before she answered.“That would never happen to you; you’re the only one who’s ever gotten under my skin like this.”
“Ooo, you like me,” Connor sing-songed.
Daisy elbowed him.“Don’t make fun of me.It was a close call there for a minute.When I stumbled on you trying to cheat at a team-building activity, I didn’t think I would be able to help you.You gave me horrible existential dread.The one time I cared about the outcome for a client, and boom.I was handed a guy I had idolized for years, and he wouldn’t give my activity the time of day.”
“Hey!I was coming to terms with the fact that I knew nothing about the boys I was supposed to be taking under my wing.I couldn’t have told you a single fact about either of them and hated myself for it.There was all this pressure to perform and bond with them and be a role model after years of being on a level playing field with my teammates.I failed.That’s a hard pill to swallow.Nobody likes admitting their shortfallings.”
“They never expected you to have all the answers.They’re great people.”
“I know that now.But then?I was sitting in a room full of people I had disappointed.You, when I didn’t play your game.And Hazy and Lover, who I couldn’t help like I should have been able to.”
