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“We should’ve had this conversation sooner, Kitten. Please don’t shut me out. I’m not some random guy you hooked up with at a party.”
“I’ll tell you what,” she says, our faces only a few inches apart. “If we end up in the same city after the NHL draft, then we can see what happens. I grew up with a dad who traveled from city to city and was never home. I can’t handle the constant disappointment that will come from you never being around.”
“We don’t even know if I’m getting drafted. Do I have a good chance? Yeah, of course, I do. But there is no guarantee.”
“It’s a definite, Dean. My dad said there’s no way you won’t get picked up. You have a few teams who want you. You could end up anywhere.”
“We still have the summer together.”
“No, we don’t. You have to go back home to help your mom, and I have an internship waiting for me.”
When the line by the soda machines gets longer, I set the cups into a carrier and pull Kat toward the cash register. She grabs a few bags of snacks and cakes from the counter and adds them to our order.
“We can still be friends, Kitten. Don’t let sex change our friendship. I need you in my life.”
“I need you, too,” she whispers, out of breath. “But I want you in other ways that I never did before. I can’t handle seeing you with other women. In that regard, our relationship has changed.”
“Then, I won’t even talk to another woman.” I hand the cashier money for our sodas, still focused on Kat. “Problem solved.”
A smile turns up the corners of her mouth. “You’re cute.”
“And you’re beautiful. I missed you so much, Kitten. I don’t care if I have to remain celibate for the rest of my life if that means I can have you in my life. We can go back to being friends.”
“I don’t deserve you, Dean.” She leans into my side, and I hook my arm around her back, balancing the sodas in my other hand.
I bend down to kiss her on the forehead. “You deserve better than me.”
“Stop saying that, Dean.” She looks up at me with sadness in her eyes. “You’re incredible. I wouldn’t be friends with you if you weren’t worthy of my time.”
“You’re the daughter of my childhood idol. I doubt I will ever feel worthy of you, Kitten, but I would spend the rest of my life trying to be the man you need.”
“My dad has nothing to do with our friendship.”
“He kinda does. If someone hadn’t told me that Nick Baldwin’s daughter was on the women’s ice hockey team, I never would have met you, but I had to see you play for myself.”
“And…”
“You didn’t disappoint. I would know that slapshot anywhere.”
She laughs. “That’s one of the few things I got from my dad. I sure as hell didn’t get his looks.”
“Good thing,” I say with a smile.
She nudges me in the arm with her elbow. “I missed you, too, Dean. I’m sorry for being a bitch.”
“Don’t worry about it. I forgive you, Kitten.”
Once we get back to the rec room, the entire place is buzzing from the latest air hockey tournament. As per the usual, Theo and Tucker are commanding the attention of everyone around them. The Baldwins have a natural magnetism that brings people to them, the same way Kat drew me to her all those years ago.
Watching her on the ice had a strange effect on me. At first, I was attracted to her, because what man wouldn’t want Kat? Then, our relationship shifted to something more than I had ever imagined. I never thought I would be the type to have a best friend, let alone one who’s a girl.
Why did I have to fall in love with her?
Kat tears open a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and shoves a handful into her mouth. She chases it down with her disgusting soda.
“You have the worst taste in food,” I tell her.
“Nah, I have excellent taste,” she mutters between bites.
