He’d have to make do with showing the girl in the phone little snippets of his soul.
Chapter 5
Cleo
“No.”
“Ugh. You’re becoming predictable, Cho-Cho.” Molly flopped onto the sofa with a dramatic poof of the cushions.
“And yet I’m okay with that, Molly. I’d rather be seen dead than in a hockey stadium.”
Molly groaned and pulled a throw pillow over her face before throwing it at Cleo who caught it with ease. “Rink, Cleo. It’s a hockey rink. Or an arena, but it’s not open top. It’s not a stadium.” She shook her head as though Cleo had committed some heinous crime. “And at this rate you’re going to die from lack of fun before we turn twenty.”
“So dramatic!” Cleo lobbed the cushion back at her friend. “I’m fine here. You know that, right? My books and I will be just a-okay without watching a dumb game where testosterone fueled jocks beat the shit out of each other.”
Molly had set the cushion next to her on the couch and leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “That’swhat you think hockey is? Oh girl. Have you ever watched a game? It’s art on ice. Six foot dudes skating… on blades… I repeat… onice, trying to get a three inch disc of rubber past a guy who all but fills the goal? Skill. Nothing but skill. Fighting’s part of the game, sure, but it’s becoming less and less prevalent.” Light danced in her eyes and her hands moved as she talked.
Cleo arched an eyebrow. “You don’t need me to go with you to drool over Finn.”
Molly turned red all the way to her ears. “This isn’t about Finn. I’m over him, remember? School girl crush. Nothing more. William would kill both of us if he ever found out I so much as had a crush on his best friend. Nope, I’m done. Maybe I’ll sleep with one of the away team to get Finn all the way out of my system, y’know, just to be certain. Plus I have an article to write. I need to be there to make sure I get all the juicy deets for the school paper.”
“Juicy deets? It’s a hockey game, not an episode of The Bachelor, Mol.”
“I think you’d appreciate the sport, Miss Hoity Toity. And I love that you say that like you watch The Bachelor.”
“You don’t know what I get up to while you’re out.”
“This is true.” She wagged a finger in Cleo’s direction before pointing it at the bookshelves. “But if that shelf of llama figures could talk, they’d tell me you don’t watch The Bachelor.”
“They’re nothing but pigs on skates.”
“Talented,hotpigs on skates. Come on, Cleo. You’re only young once, yadda yadda, all work and no play, yadda yadda yadda.” Molly stood up and crossed the room to the loveseat, where she dropped herself on Cleo’s lap with an ungracious plop and snuggled in.
Cleo lost her breath for a moment while Molly snaked her arms around her waist and gave her a squeeze. “Pleeeeeeease, Cleo? Do it for me. If you hate it, you never have to go again. But you can’t cross ‘attend a sporting event’ off your college bingo card if you don’t actually attend a sporting event. And then you can’t win at college bingo. Didn’t you know? You won’t get your degree if you don’t complete the college bingo minor, it’s in the bylaws.”
“You’re sooooo good at pep talks, has anyone ever told you that?”
Molly nuzzled her head into the crook of Cleo’s neck. “You mean I’m good at poking at your competitive nature. You like to come first in all things, including a made up game of college bingo. Hmmm… I can sweeten the deal, too.”
“I’m listening.” Cleo gave in to her friend’s hug, closing her arms around her shoulders.
“I’ll buy you nachos.”
Cleo pursed her lips and tipped her head as though she was giving it a great deal of thought. “Okay, fine. But for the record, I was leaning toward going before the nachos.”
“But only after I mentioned the bingo thing, right?”
“I really am predictable, aren’t I?”
“Well, I predicted you’d hold steady and say no, so I guess you’re turning over a new leaf. Before you know it, you’ll be draped in a hockey jersey screaming obscenities at the referee.”
“Over my dead body.”
“Never say never. The hot pigs are kinda charming. They get under your skin.”
***
Cleo wrapped her arms around her body and shivered. The chill from the ice infused the air despite the number of bodies crammed together in the stands. Molly had insisted they got there in plenty of time. She liked to try to interview some of the team pre-game, which almost never worked, but sometimes they’d throw her a quote on their way into the building.
