“Do I have to want something to speak to mygirlfriend?”
I still haven’t gotten used to those words on his mouth, no matter how fake they are and how many times he says it. Only two people have ever called me their girlfriend: Augustus and my two-week boyfriend in middle school, Ryan. To hear anyone say it, it’d be insane, but coming from him it’s even more strange.
“My bad. What’s the matter,honey?” I amend. He shudders at the pet-name which makes me equally as uncomfortable.
“Okay, chill. We’re nineteen not ninety,” he says shaking his head. “Our first game is coming up, it’s only a friendly but I can’t play yet. So, I was thinking that we could go together, to watch. Everyone will go insane when they see me on the bench.”
I can’t help but laugh at his confidence. “How are you so sure everyone will go ‘insane’?”
“Because women love to scream my name,” he whispers. I fight off the heat on my face as I push away from him, skating backwards.
“You’re disgusting, you know,” I shout, even though we’re not that far away.
“You can stop acting like you don’t like me. It’s not cute anymore, Wrenny,” he whines.
“Who said I was pretending?” I grin. He opens his mouth before closing it again, shaking off whatever he was going to say. “And you calling me Wrenny isn’t cute either.” I groan at his insistent use of the nickname Kennedy introduced him to.
“Watching you act like you hate it is the best part of my day,” he says proudly, grinning at me with that ridiculous face of his. I roll my eyes, but he can’t see because I’m in the middle of turning. Then a thought pops into my head, reminding me why I was thinking of him in the first place.
“Oh shit,” I say, tumbling towards him.
“What? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just forgot to ask you something and it’s kind of late notice,” I explain, frustrated with myself for not asking earlier. “Can you pass me my guards? They’re in my bag.”
Miles turns to look in my gym bag and pulls out my white guards for my skates. I glide to exit the rink, holding onto the railing as I slip them on before sitting down on the bench, finally being able to breathe. He slides next to me, wonder and curiosity dancing in his eyes.
“What’s up?” Miles questions.
“My dad invited us to this gala event at one of his hotels. He said he wants to meet you, but I know we said we’d discuss the whole family thing, but it slipped my mind. It’s in three days. No one from NU should be there but my dad knows we’re ‘dating.’ You can totally say no if you’re not comfortable and I can just make an excuse,” I ramble, my hands doing most of the talking.
“I’ll come,” he replies quickly. “Should be fun, right? Evan goes to galas all the time. Isn’t it like the Oscars for people who have boring jobs?”
“Yeah, sort of,” I laugh.
“Do you think he’ll like me? Your dad,” he asks, wearily.
“Definitely. He likes everybody,” I say truthfully. He draws back a little, clearly hesitant. Without thinking about it, I touch his knee reassuringly. “I’m not just saying that, either. He’s a very nice guy and he’s probably my favourite person to ever walk the Earth. He’ll probably call you ‘son’ the second you meet.”
That makes him smile. I really am not just saying it. My dad is one of the friendliest people I’ve met. Sometimes, he’s a little too friendly which is why I often question how he’s managed to stay in the hotel business for so long. He’s nice and he’s kind but he won’t let people walk all over him, that’s for sure.
“Another thing….” I draw out when the thought comes to my head. “Usually with these events, my dad books me a suite to stay for the night to save me travelling back home late. When I told him about you, he got us a room. Obviously, you don’t have to stay the night but just so you know.”
His face lights up. “You think I’m going to pass on going to another fancy hotel with you after seeing that gym?”
“I feel like there was asliverof a compliment in there for me,” I say, squinting my eyes.
“There was, Wrenny. There was.”
I roll my eyes, again, at his use of that name. I grab my bag and stand up before slinging it over my shoulder. “Wear something nice and I’ll pick you up at three.”
“You got it, Wrenny Rainbow,” he says with a commander’s salute.
“Hey, you've already got 'baby'and'Wrenny,' so please don’t tell me that’s going to be a thing too.”
“Oh, it already is.”
*
