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I looked at him dubiously. “So, you enjoy sitting in the office all day?”
He sucked in his bottom lip like he was thinking. “Well, I don’t just sit here, I watch-”
My dad, who just entered the lobby, interrupted us at the worst possible moment. He called across the lobby, “Mind if you close up shop if you’re still gonna be hangin here, Duke?”
“Sure, boss,” Duke said while saluting him. Then he turned to me and shrugged. “Have a reason to be here now.”
My eyes narrowed to his. “What were you going to say? You watch what?”
He gave me a lopsided grin and pulled the brim of his hat lower. “Doesn't matter, Kessel.”
I felt the need to practically stomp my foot and demand that yes, it did matter. A lot. To me. But, Jacques was walking in…
“Johnny boy awaits,” Duke said without looking at me.
“Jacques,” I corrected under my breath as I turned to walk away.
_____
I did finally get the answer to why Duke was hanging around at the rink during dinner on Thursday night with Addie and my dad.
“How's it going with Jack?” Dad asked me.
“Oh my God,” I rolled my eyes, feeling quite annoyed with the two of them. “Duke is getting to you. It’s Jacques.”
His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “That guy needs to get knocked down a peg or two, honey.”
“And you think that’s the way to do it?” I asked incredulously.
He shrugged. “Duke doesn’t like leaving you there alone with him.”
I snapped my neck up to look at him. “What?”
“Yeah.” He avoided eye contact and shoved a forkful into his mouth. I stared at his salt-and-pepper head, waiting impatiently for him to explain further.
When he didn’t say anything else, I added, “I’m not alone, I’m with Igor and his coach, Miranda. Besides, I can take care of myself.”
He just shrugged again and quickly changed the subject to Addie’s current job search… but my mind couldn’t get off Duke saying that to my dad. Staying late so I wasn’t alone with Jacques was a nice gesture, but I could take care of myself. And while the independent woman side of me felt a bit miffed, my stupid heart softened.
Duke was always looking out for me when we were young, and my mind filled with a vision of him staying by my side as I slept in the weight room in the sixth grade. He wanted to puff out his chest and be the hero even as an eleven-year-old.
A little flutter of butterflies erupted in my stomach over him still caring so much about me… Because that small part of me that hoped we really would connect again and pick up where we left off wasn’t so small anymore.
I knew it was stupid to hope for all the things I hoped for back when I was seventeen. But he had said something that was true on my end too– I felt like he was it for me. He was the one… And was it really so bad to want that?
“Earth to Claire…” Addie said.
“Oh, sorry. What?”
She studied me for an extra second and pursed her lips like she was about to say something else but decided to let it go. “I was saying, you want to hit up Bullfrogs with me tomorrow night, right?”
Every summer, the staff at the rink would cut loose and hang out at Bullfrogs, which was the bar across the lake from our apartment complex. While Addie wasn’t a current Ice League employee and hadn’t been in years, she was always considered an honorary staff member, so she was always invited. Bullfrogs was a nice spot because we could walk to it— meaning, we could both drink and not worry about getting home. I wasn’t a big drinker, but after this week of starting work, Jacques being annoying as hell, and my mind trying to dissect every single interaction with Duke, I could use a long island or two.
And maybe… just maybe… Duke would be there too.
“For sure,” I answered her.
13.Duke
