Page 26 of Cherry Picking

But I watched the performance, didn’t I? It feels like a minor social crime not to acknowledge it.

Evie

caught the game with your old man. is that your usual level of talent or should we call it a fluke?

I drop the phone into the cup holder and merge back into traffic.

It buzzes before I’ve cleared the next mile. I make myself wait for the red light at Eastern before I reach for it.

Briggs

I’m generally considered a good player, yeah

It takes a ridiculous amount of willpower to keep the phone down until I’m parked in my own lot. But car accidents are a leading cause of accidental death, and I refuse to become my own cautionary statistic for the sake of a hockey player.

Evie

don’t let it inflate your ego, but I might have actually jumped out of my seat

Briggs

did you now?

Evie

I will deny that under oath

Briggs

too late. I have a witness. he likes me, he’ll testify

Evie

depends on how lately you’ve annoyed him, I’m sure

Briggs

fair. jury’s still out on that

Evie

he explained icing to me three times. I’m fairly certain it’s a made-up rule

Briggs

it is. the whole sport is just a high-speed hallucination

Evie

knew it

I lean my head back against the stucco of my terrace. A coyote howls somewhere out in the dark, the sound thin and lonely. The February cold has finally come up off the dirt, so I drag the blanket off the back of the folding chair and wrap it around my shoulders.

Evie

your dad claims you used to be faster

Briggs