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I nod noncommittally.
“Way to show your school spirit.”
“Go, wolves.” I say woodenly.
“Why am I surprised? As usual, Ash, you’re allergic to fun.”
“Nope. I have plenty of fun. I think I’m just allergic to you.”
Booker interrupts our middle-school-style battle of barbs and hands Koz a drink. “Come on, man. Bus leaves in twenty,” he says, then turns his attention to me. “Good to see you, Ash. Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Same to you,” I reply as they turn to leave, stopping at the counter to collect Ethan.
The hockey guys are gone and most everyone seems to have gotten their drinks and gotten on the road, because Drip is relatively quiet once again. I turn back to my textbook, but then I pause. Koz accused me of being allergic to fun. He’s wrong. I’m definitely not. I have lots of fun. All the fun. But maybe I could stand to be a little more spontaneous.
Before I can think better of it, I pull up my conversation with Catlover99 and take the plunge.
Seriousley617: I’ve been thinking...do you want to meet up sometime? Like, in-person?
I hit send and my heart starts to pound.
***
Koz
I file onto the bus with my teammates, but my mind isn’t on the hockey game we’ll be playing in a few hours.
It’s on Ashley, and it shouldn’t be, for about a thousand reasons.
First off, we don’t really get along. We drive each other nuts. I know exactly what to say to make her crazy, and she always returns the favor.
And if that weren’t enough of a reason to steer clear, she’s my teammate Ethan’s ex. They dated for years, though I never could figure why. They’re total opposites. I mean, Ashley and I are pretty dissimilar, too, but it’s not the same. She and Ethan don’t even belong on the same planet. They have nothing in common and, honestly, he was a shit boyfriend and she’s better off without him.
Did I ever picture myself fulfilling that role?
Yep. But that’s never gonna happen. Ashley will only ever see me as her ex’s annoying friend. As the guy who kicks her ass at Call of Duty (sometimes). As the guy who beat her at Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble on the same night, even though we were both pretty wasted. As a jock who’s not worth her time.
Which means I should stop wasting my time thinking about her.
I take my seat next to Booker, who’s got his earbuds in and his eyes closed. It’ll take a little over an hour to get to St. Marc’s, so I should take Book’s cue and chill out. But I’m wired from the coffee I got at Drip and annoyed at Ashley for no good reason. Palming my phone, I pull up the WolfChat app, and smile instantly.
Instead of being infuriated by Ashley, I can be charmed by...ok, I don’t actually know her name, but her handle is Seriousley617, and she’s seriously adorable. Not that I’ve ever seen her, but that’s beside the point. Despite my crazy schedule, messaging with Seriousley617 is the best part of my day. Unlike Ash, she’s sweet and chill. She’s got this great energy and the texts and videos she sends always make my day better.
So far, our chats have been mostly banter and a little flirting. Nothing serious, but definitely intriguing. I click on our earlier convo to see if she’s responded or sent a ridiculous video in return.
Seriousley617: I’ve been thinking...do you want to meet up sometime? Like, in-person?
Damn.
My gut reaction is yes. Hell yes. This girl has been on my mind for weeks now. We’ve been talking for a while and meeting up really is the next logical step.
My fingers hover over the keypad, itching to say yes…
But what if meeting in person ruins it all? What if we’re better online than in person? Or, horror of horrors, what if she hates hockey? I’ve purposely kept that part of my life on the downlow. I haven’t hidden it, exactly. I’ve just kept it quiet, and with good reason. Freshman year, I dated a girl and I thought things were going great until I injured my ankle. While I was warming the bench and waiting for my sprained ankle to heal, she hooked up with one of my teammates. Turns out she was more interested in my jersey than my face, my personality, or my dick.
It sucked at the time. I was pretty torn up for a while, but it taught me a valuable lesson: relationships are hard, especially with a schedule as crazy as mine. And considering I’ve been drafted by Quebec City, that schedule’s only going to get crazier after I graduate next year. So, I want to be with someone who wants to be with me, someone who likes me for me, as cliche as that sounds.
And unlike Ashley, the girl of my fantasies for way too long, Seriousley617 actually likes me. She gets my humor and listens when I need to vent. And I love listening to her, too. I look forward to hearing about her day, or watching the 400 TikToks she floods my feed with.
