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“What?” Liam asks. “Taking a shit is hardly a solution to such a complicated problem.”
I shake my head. “No. I think Mia’s ex wasn’t bluffing. He said his dad was some important person who could make me regret pissing him off. We just got blasted by one of the biggest food critics in the industry. Yolan Norvik.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“It’s like Martha Stewart saying your curtains don’t go with your couch.”
Liam laughs. “Martha Stewart references from Nolan Saulters. Can’t say I saw that one coming.”
“Fuck,” I say, skimming through the article. It’s all bullshit, of course. But I’m not sure that matters.”
“Is it really a big deal?”
“Might be,” I say. I’m firing off a reply text to Zander already–asking if he’s heard anything else yet.
“Nah, man. You were telling me just the other day how many good reviews you guys have. Booked out for days. Blah, blah, blah. You’ll be fine.”
“I think I need to spend more time at the restaurant,” I say suddenly.
“Because of the review?”
“Big food critics like this have groupies–semi-professional people with blogs or smaller followings. But they’ll want to come after they see this. It could be the start of an avalanche of bad feedback for Taste, all because I pissed off this guy’s kid.”
“If the reviews are bullshit, what difference is you spending more time at the restaurant going to make?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But if I’m right, I can’t just sit on my hands while these assholes come and try to fuck up our reputation. I could also ask my agent if he can pull any strings to get more critics to come in to Taste. Real critics. And I can help make sure we blow them away to drown out the negative noise.”
Liam makes a thoughtful sound. “What would Mia think about that?”
I shrug. “She’s my employee. It won’t really matter what she thinks, will it?”
“Come on, Nolan,” Liam says. “You and I both know this devil-may-care shit is an act when it comes to Mia. You care what she thinks. So what is she going to think?”
I was trying not to get into the details, but I’m distracted now and the words just slip out. “Well,” I say. “If it wasn’t for the conversation we had a few days ago, I’d say she would think I was trying to get close to her and convince her to date me again or something.”
Liam narrows his eyes. “Okay. Now I really need to hear it. What the hell did you say during this conversation? Because it sounds like you royally screwed it up.”
I rub the back of my neck, feeling a little self-conscious. “I told her all I wanted was a hook up. And I may have told her if she didn’t call me that night, I’d make her beg when she eventually came asking me to fuck her.”
Liam puts both his hands over his face, dragging them down. He laughs as he shakes his head. “Jesus, Nolan. You’re lucky we’re NHL players. I swear, man. Half you guys wouldn’t even be able to pay a woman to sleep with you if it wasn’t for the whole rich, famous, and good-looking thing.”
I scowl. “If you’re such a fucking expert, what would you have done?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I might have done something crazy, though. Like just tell her how I actually feel.”
“That’s stupid,” I say.
He laughs again. “You’re right, Nolan. Keep doing what you’re doing. My way doesn’t make any sense.” He picks up the resistance bands from the floor and walks over to pat my shoulder. “Seriously, though? I know it didn’t go the way you hoped the first time around. Putting yourself out there again can’t be easy. But was it easy to get into the NHL? Was it easy to open Taste? When have any of us ever let a challenge stop us?” He shrugs, then leaves me standing alone in the kitchen.
I glance at my phone again, seeing the title of the review from Marten’s dad. My mood sours even more.
I lean with both arms on the counter. Liam doesn’t understand how messed up things have become with Mia. He thinks I could just… walk up and tell her I wish I could date her? What would happen when she asks how much she’d be able to see me during the season? What happens when it becomes obvious that she’s going to be stuck here in Frosty Harbor and I’ll be flying across the country most of the year?
She would feel pressured to leave behind her new job at Taste, or I’d feel pressured to walk away from hockey. Neither of us want that, and she’s not willing to deal with dating long distance.
It would be the same shit we ran into last time.
Liam thinks he makes sense, but he just doesn’t get it. Sex is the best I can hope for with Mia. Maybe it’s not what I really want. Maybe it’ll only tempt me and make me wish I could have more. But I know damn well I’m going to at least try to get what I can with her. I’ll just have to accept the fact that there’s always going to be a Mia shaped hole inside me–one I’ll probably keep trying to fill with anything I can think of.
