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She’s being me in this situation.
I’m usually the one being nonchalant and casual after a hookup.
I don’t like being on the receiving end of it.
I pull a page from Alexsei’s playbook and climb over the back of the seat next to her and sit down in it. Hard.
She sits up straighter and gawks at me. “What are you doing?”
“I need to ask you why you left without a word to Alexsei.”
“I had to work. I didn’t want to wake him up.”
“And since then?”
“Since then, what?” She fidgets with her earring, which is a little crescent moon. She also shifts her thigh away from mine.
“Alexsei's a great guy. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
She instantly stiffens. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Why aren’t you talking to him?”
Her jaw drops. “He hasn’t reached out to me.”
I run my hands down the front of my jeans to tug them down. They aren’t sitting right now that I’ve climbed over an arena seat. “Because you left in the middle of the night.”
Her eyes narrow. “Did he send you to talk to me? Because that’s stupid.”
“No, of course not. But he likes you.”
“Then he can tell me that himself.” She turns resolutely back to the ice and watches the game. She picks up her drink and takes a noisy slurp. “How did the two of you become friends, anyway?”
I let my gaze drift to the ice as well. I seek out Alexsei and find him immediately. He’s skating fast, catching up with a Beavers player and stealing the puck from him. He’s powerful in his play, passionate. He’ll take heat and not get riled up, but if someone goes after his teammates, he’s quick to defend them. He’s the most loyal guy I know.
“We both were at Ohio State and as part of my grad school scholarship, I had to tutor athletes. For some unfathomable reason, they put Alexsei in Organic Chem his freshman year.” I still don’t understand the rationale behind that. Especially considering he didn’t even graduate. He went pro after two years of college.
The corner of her mouth turns up, but she doesn’t look at me. “Ah. He wasn’t excelling?”
“He wasn’t even on the grading scale. But we hit it off.” It wasn’t an instant click for me. I thought he was being nice to me so that I would do his work for him so he could stay on the hockey team. But Alexsei genuinely liked me, in spite of my general asshole-ish-ness. “I don’t always relate well to people and not everyone… likes me.”
Now she does turn to me. She gives me a grin. “You don’t say?”
I glare at her, but she’s unfazed. “Shocking, I know. But Alexsei just did for whatever reason and he adopted me as his token nerd friend.”
“Nerds aren’t usually as bossy and annoying as you.” Her gaze momentarily drifts to my mouth, then lifts again.
She’s still mad I wouldn’t kiss her.
Good. Let her stew on that. She’s definitely a girl who likes a challenge.
“How did you meet your best friend?” I ask her.
“In college, like you did. Only Dani was the quiet one whose mom told her to find the loudest, chattiest person in the room and talk to her.”
I almost grin. “And she picked you? How odd.”
“I know, right? I still don’t understand it.”
