Page 89 of Big Stick Energy
Darcy:I do. Just busy!
Zoe:As in… getting busy?
Darcy:You’re fishing.
Zoe:As your best friend, I’m just doing my job.
I hit thecallbutton. “Can I ask a paranoid question?” I ask when she picks up.
“Sure?”
“Are you the only one who’s curious? If there’s gossip from that bonfire photo, I need to brace myself.” The idea of the whole team gossiping behind my back makes my skin crawl.
“I haven’t heard a word. I mean—Chase saw the pic and said, ‘That looks cozy.’ But since I haveliterally no informationabout just how cozy it really was or wasn’t… the conversation died there.”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath. “I’d freak out if people whispered about me all next season.”
“I get that,” Zoe says softly. “I really do. Hockey players are supposed to have sex lives. But a woman involved with someone at work…”
“… Is a skank,” I finish.
“It’s a terrible double standard,” Zoe says mildly. “Which means that if you two are busy falling in love, I can see why you probably need to keep it quiet for a while. So…”
“So…?”
“ARE YOU?” she practically shouts. “I’m dying here. Have you done anything a best friend would be legally entitled to hear about, under the best friend code?”
I let out an awkward laugh. “There may have been some, um, friskiness.”
“Omigod!” Zoe hoots. “Oh. My. GOD. That’s incredible? Wait—was it incredible?”
“Shh,” I warn.
“Don’t shush me. Chase is at some celebrity golf thing with his agent. I need answers.”
“Well…” My face is blazing already, and I haven’t said a word. “Being with Eric is next level. Those fantasies I had about him? They were not misplaced.”
Zoe lets out a dramatic sigh. “Wow. That’s… wow. I’m almost sorry I asked.”
“Why?”
“Because my boyfriend isn’t here for me to jump on. And because I don’t know how I’m going to keep my excitement bottled up inside.”
“Zoe!” I yelp. “This is in the vault!”
“I know, okay? I won’t let you down.” She lets out another dramatic sigh. “Did he put on the tux yet?”
“Nope. That’s tomorrow night.”
“So, that bow tie thing might happen?”
I say nothing, but my heart pounds so loudly that Zoe can probably hear it. Either that, or my silence is a dead giveaway.
“OH MY GOD!” she squeals. “He tied you up?”
“Shhh!” I say again. “The whole neighborhood probably heard that.”
She only laughs. “Wow. You’re my idol. And here we thought that DM was a disaster. It was the smartest thing you ever did!”
