Page 105 of Big Stick Energy
Hi, I telegraph.You see how awkward this is? Did I call it or what? Now go play some hockey.
He doesn’t look away, though, until Zoe nudges him. She’s about to give a clinic on edgework or world domination or whatever else we need to win the Cup this year.
I go back to proofreading.
“Where’s the biscuit?” my boss asks, rooting around in his lunch bag.
My pen pauses mid-page. “I didn’t get you a biscuit.”
“But Iaskedfor a biscuit with my soup.”
I don’t even look up. “Sir, you also told me last week that your doctor said you need to stop eating those biscuits.”
“Oh, sothenyou were listening?”
“Yes.”
“Surprised there aren’t two biscuits in here, then,” he says. “Most of the time lately, it seems like you want me dead.”
“Maybe. I’d like to win the Cup first, though.”
He laughs. Then he balls up the paper bag and throws it at me.
And misses.
“Late lunch? Early coffee?” Zoe asks, arriving at my desk with the flushed cheeks of someone who skates for a living.
“Definitely.” I check my inbox one last time, then push back from my desk. “We can’t eat here, though.”
“Why not?”
I tilt my head toward the captain’s workstation, where Eric isseated with his feet on the desk, leaning back in his ergonomic chair like a king.
Calder—who has so far survived the roster cuts—is perched on the visitor’s stool like a page at the foot of a knight.
Zoe glances over and smirks as she follows me out of the office area. “Office hours, huh? What a scam.”
“He said he wants to act like more of a professional.” I sigh.
Zoe hoots. “He already acts more professional than the entire cast ofSuits. You didn’t fall for that, did you? He’s there foryou. He misses you!”
I’m already shaking my head as we glide down the escalator toward the lobby. “You’re reading too much into it. He just spent a couple weeks lifting weights and running stairs in Colorado. Now he’s back, and he sees me and thinks—wouldn’t it be so convenient if Darcy was still my friend with benefits?”
Zoe looks thoughtful. “I don’t know. This feels bigger than that. I’ve never seen him moon over anyone. Maybe he wants to try for more. Didn’t you tell me he said he really likes you? Right before you shot him down?”
“He did. But then he specifically invited me over to hisapartment. For sex.”
“Oh,” she says softly.
“I mean—his intentions are clear. We have lots of chemistry. He wants a sexual partner. And he’s a fantastic human being. But he’s notmyfantastic human being, and I can’t live like that. He doesn’t date, Zoe. You know this.”
“His track record for dating isn’t great,” she admits as we get onto the next escalator.
“There is no dating. There are only hookups with gorgeous women. The minute they catch feelings, he very politely cuts theline.” And now I’m suddenly thinking about the beautiful evening we spent on his boat, and I ache.
“The thing is,” Zoe says slowly, “Chase said he seemed sad in Colorado. It was hard to get him out the door for anything fun.”
I tense up immediately. “I don’t think I want to hear about whatever fun they had in Colorado.”
