“Evan came over for dinner last night,” she says, and everyone gasps.
“He flew in from Dallas to have dinner with you?” Allison asks when Vivienne starts looking around the room.
“Is he still here?” Vivienne says, her mouth and eyes both opened. “I was checking him out. He looks like he has a good one.” She puts both hands to her crotch area.
“Oh my God, is he here?” Alison gets off the bed and runs into the bathroom while Karrie starts running upstairs to where my office is.
“He’s not here,” I shout at them and then look at Zoe. “Dude, twin secret.”
“Sorry.” She shrugs. “I don’t think I can do this one alone.”
“Get out,” I say, getting out of bed naked and then having Allison look at me. “What I wouldn’t give for your legs.”
“I’d kill for her ass,” Karrie says. Walking into the walk-in closet, I grab a thong, then slide on yoga pants and a camisole with a built-in bra.
When I come back out of the closet, they are still there talking about their bodies as they stand side by side. “I thought you guys were starting breakfast?”
“Oh shit, yeah,” Karrie said. “I forgot.” She turns and walks out of the room, but now we all follow. And just when she hits the last step, the doorbell rings.
“Seriously, it’s like Grand Central Station in here,” I say, and Karrie goes to the door. When I get to the bottom, I look around the corner and gasp out in shock.
“What is that?” I ask while she comes into the house with the largest bouquet I’ve ever seen in my whole life.
“Are those Fleur de Venus?” Vivienne asks of the flowers in the round cardboard box; the light blush pink roses look like a dome.
“Where is the card?” I ask, and they all look at me. Karrie goes to the living room and places the flowers on the center table, and I walk to it, grabbing the white card tucked behind the side.
I open it up, and I can’t help the smile that comes over my face.
Have a great day, sweet Zara
E
“What does it say?” Zoe asks.
Vivienne jumps up. “We need a drink for this,” she says, running to the kitchen and then coming back with the bottle of prosecco and four glasses.
Karrie walks to the front door and brings in five boxes of food. “We stopped on the way here.”
“We have Danishes, muffins, scones, croissants, and doughnuts,” Allison says, taking a box and opening it, and then opening the rest and placing them around the huge bouquet.
“He paid over a thousand dollars for those flowers,” Zoe says, and I look at her when she turns her phone around. “A thousand.”
“Oh fuck,” Vivienne says mid pour.
“You need to start at the beginning,” Allison says, grabbing a glass from Vivienne, then going to the couch and sitting down. “And don’t leave anything out.”
I shrug. “There really isn’t anything to say. He was in Jersey for his game tonight,” I start. Sitting down on the carpet in front of the fireplace, I wait for the four girls to sit on the couch and give me their attention. “He showed up at my work and bought two suits I’m sure he didn’t need.”
“Did you charge him?” Vivienne asks.
“He paid for the suits,” I tell her, and she cocks her head, “but I didn’t charge him for my time.”
“You charge Matthew double,” Karrie says.
“That’s because he is the worst person to shop for. He returned five suits I bought him last year. Five,” I tell her, holding up my hand.
“Anyway,” Allison says, “go on.”
“So he shows up and then he about lost his shit with Roman.” I remember that part.
“What do you mean by lost his shit?” Allison asks. “Like ‘dude, watch it’ or ‘dude, you best fuck off.’”
“More like the second one,” I answer and see her eyes widen. “Anyway, after he held the door open for me and helped me get in his car,” I say shocked, “then when we got here, he told me to stay seated so he could help me out.”
“Wait, what?” Vienne says. “Like holding the door open for you?”
“Asshole,” Zoe says sarcastically, and I glare at her.
I don’t bother answering her. Instead, I just continue. “Then we came here, and he was all like can you cook, and I was like can you build a house.”
“I walked in, and I think they were about to kiss,” Zoe says almost with glee in her voice.
“Shut up,” Karrie says, grabbing the bottle to fill her glass up.
“We were talking about what we were going to eat,” I tell her, and I’m not lying.
“He had his arm around her shoulder the whole time.” I roll my eyes now when Allison snickers. “And was like join us for dinner.” Karrie slaps her leg, laughing. “Wait, wait, it gets better,” Zoe says, laughing. “He told her to sit down and eat.”
Karrie and Allison both sit up straight. “So fucked.”
“He wants me to go watch the game tonight.”
“You hate hockey,” Zoe says.
“Then he wants me to visit him and attend the casino night his team is hosting,” I tell them, and the doorbell rings again. I get up and go to the door and unlock it, and I’m shocked when I see two people at the door, and one is carrying a huge fruit basket.
“Oh, my God,” someone says from behind me. I reach for the fruit basket and then hand it to Zoe so I can take the big white box that is handed to me.
I thank them and close the door, walking into the living room. “If you don’t want to date him, I will,” Vivienne says. “Well, not really date. I don’t date. I will have sex with him for you.”
I know she is joking, and I know this because that is what she does, but it bothers me. Zoe places the fruit basket down and hands me the card. “There is no room for anything on this table anymore.”
I open the card and everything in me flips—my heart, my stomach, everything.
For my sweet Zara.
I hand the card to Zoe ’cause I don’t think I would be able to talk without it sounding all giddy. I open the box and let out a huge laugh. There is a Dallas jersey, a T-shirt, a sweater, and a baseball hat. The card has my name on the top, and I know he wrote this one himself.
Just in case you venture out tonight, here are four tickets. Also, it might be bad luck if you don’t wear my jersey!
E.
“Oh dear,” I say out loud and then hand the card over to the girls while I go get my phone from upstairs. I pull up his name, but I don’t know if I should call him or text him, so I walk downstairs. “Should I text him or call him?”
“He sent you flowers that cost a thousand dollars, a fruit basket, and seven hundred dollars’ worth of merchandise,” Vivienne says. “You need to go and see him naked.”
“NO,” Karrie and Allison both shout.
“I’ll go with you tonight.” Zoe comes to me, and I know she is trying to support me. “I can work while the game is on.”
“What if Matthew and Max find out?” I look at Karrie and Allison.
“Well, rumor is you’re a couple, so let’s just go with that. It’s a rumor,” Alison says, looking at Karrie.
“Yeah, totally,” Karrie says, and I look at her. “But what if it had nothing to do with Matthew and Max? What if he was just a normal guy who asked you out on a date? What would you do?”
“I would go,” I answer truthfully. Hands down, without a doubt, I would go.
“Then fuck what the guys have to say,” Allison says.
“For the record, I’m a hundred percent against this whole dating thing,” Vivienne says. “Off the record, I think you should fuck his brains out.”
“Call him and tell him you’ll be there tonight.”
“Or …” Karrie says, “you show up and surprise him.”
“That is so good,” Allison says. “I remember when I wore Max’s jersey for the first time. He about lost his mind.”
“Guys, isn’t this too soon?�
�� I look at them. “I mean, two days ago I sent this man a tweet to make my ex jealous.”
“No,” Zoe says. “You sent him a tweet because you were angry he lied to you.” I think about it. “And then you thought maybe he cheated on you.”
I look at the women in the room who all nod in agreement. My head spins with everything going on, but my gut is looking at the box with his jersey in it and telling me to go to that game.
Chapter Ten
Evan
“Warm-up starts in ten minutes,” one of the guys say, and I stand to put on my chest protector. I really need to focus on the game, but the whole day, my mind has been absent. Last night after she told me good night, I ordered her flowers that apparently last a year. I have no idea if it’s really true, but for the price I paid for them, they better.
I expected her to text me at least a thank you, but I got nothing. Not even a phone call. I even sent her four tickets to the game tonight and nothing.
“You look crabby,” Denis says to me, putting on his jersey. “Did you not sleep okay?”
“Yeah,” I say gruffly, “I’m fine.” I grab my jersey and then pull it over my head. I finish getting ready to go and stand in the hallway, waiting for the signal to go on the ice. They usually let the home team skate for a minute or so before they let us take the ice.
I stand there leaning against the concrete wall, debating whether I should call her. I mean, maybe she’s sick, or maybe she got busy. I have no idea, and when the guys start moving, I turn my neck right and left and then run till I glide on the ice. I look around while I skate in the out zone, and I see the spectators are still trickling into the arena. I skate to the corner, grab a puck, and then wait in line for my turn to skate and shoot on the net when I hear a soft knock on the glass. Usually, I never look up because there are always home team fans knocking away, but this time when I look up, I’m shocked to say the least.
There, dressed like she threw up Dallas merchandise, stands the woman who has taken over me. Standing there in tight jeans, wearing my jersey and the baseball hat with her hair in a ponytail, she looks so fucking beautiful. She smiles at me, and I want to get off the ice and ask her why she didn’t call me or text me. I want to ask her if she is okay and if she is staying for the game. I’m about to mouth something to her when I get nudged in the back. “Dibs,” Corey says from behind me, and I turn and put my whole glove in his face, pushing him.
“What? There are two of them. You aren’t going to date both of them,” he says, and I look over Zara’s shoulder and see that Zoe is sitting in the chair behind her typing away on her phone. They are dressed the same, and if you didn’t know better, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart, but I’d know Zara anywhere. Her eyes light up a different color when she is really happy, whereas Zoe’s stays the same. I skate and do my turn, and I shoot it to the back of the net. Jari doesn’t even try to stop it. I skate the bench and see her walk over. Everything that I went through all day—the worry and everything—made this moment so much better. I see that the reporters are looking over, so I only look at her and shake my head just a touch, so she sees it. She looks behind me and then looks down and turns around, going back to sit next to Zoe in the seats I got them.
I skate off the ice and go into the back to look for Tristan, our public relations guy. I see him in the corner in his suit as he types away on his phone. I walk to him, and he looks up. “What did you do?”
I look at him, pulling my eyebrows together. “There are two girls outside.”
“I’m not your pimp, and this isn’t a rock concert where we bring groupies in the back,” he says, and I push him as he laughs. “You know those tickets you got me this morning?”
“You mean the reason for my six a.m. phone call?” he asks me, and I shrug.
“Yeah, that,” I say. “I want you to bring them in the back when the game is over.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” he says, and I look left and right to make sure no one can hear.
“It’s Zara Stone,” I say, and he puts his head back and moans.
“I’ve been dodging reporters since Sunday,” he hisses, and now he sees all the guys coming back from the ice. “Why can’t you date a nice girl?”
“She is a nice girl,” I tell him.
“Why can’t you date a girl who isn’t going to end up with you in the hospital?” he says. “Matthew, I think you can take, but Max? Dude, that guy is a beast.”
“No one is going to be beating anyone. Jesus,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s just a hockey game. Then a date to her ex’s wedding.” When he folds his arms over his chest, I don’t tell him she might be coming to Dallas for the casino night because I think he might literally lose his shit. “Can you just please make sure she comes back after the game?” I lean in. “Undercover.”
“Why do I suddenly feel like a pimp?” he says to me, and I laugh, looking him up and down.
“Might be the suit, man.” I look him up and down and see he has a velour suit this time.
“You shouldn’t insult the man you need something from,” he says, turning and walking away from me. I go back into the room, and I sit down and listen to Coach’s speech, forcing myself to focus on the game at hand.
We get up and head for the ice now. “Ready, boys?” Paul, the captain of the team, shouts to pump up the guys. “Let’s take their home away from them,” he shouts. The music starts playing, and the boys head to the ice. I skate on the ice with the lights off to get in our zone. The lights flicker, and we head for the bench. I take a sip of water and then go and line up on the ice for the national anthem.
I take my helmet off and stand on the blue line with my guys. The spotlight comes on when a lady comes out and starts singing. I force myself not to look where I know she is sitting, so I don’t make a fool of myself. I don’t even know when the singing stops until I hear claps and then put my helmet on. I skate to center ice and look to the side. Denis is on one side, and Paul is on the other.
I stand there with my stick down, waiting for the ref to come over with the puck. Mav, the center for the Jersey Chiefs, is there. “Look who it is,” he says, smiling. “The bachelor.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Will you accept this stick up your ass?” I ask him, and he throws his head back and laughs.
“When do you play New York again?” he asks me, and I don’t answer him. “I need to get tickets for that game. My money is on Horton,” he says. The ref comes over, and the music in the arena gets louder.
“Okay, boys, let’s get this game on the road,” he says. I get into position, bending a little and holding my stick in front of me.
I look at Mav and smile at him, throwing him off a bit. The ref looks at both of us, and he drops the puck. My stick flies out, and I win the face-off and skate past Mav. Paul gets the puck and passes it to Corey who skates it up and sees us waiting at the blue line for the pass. Once he passes the puck to Paul, Mav tries to block me, but I’m a touch faster than he is. I get in front of the goalie and try to block his view of the puck and the play. Their top defenseman tries to push me out of the way, but I don’t budge, and when the shot comes, I move out of the way a touch to see if it’ll make it behind the net, and it doesn’t. The goalie makes a glove save, and the whistles blows. My line skates off the ice for a change. As I sit there catching my breath, I make the mistake of looking up at the seats.
Zoe is still on her phone, but Zara sits with her legs crossed and her elbows on her knees, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. She watches the play, and I swear she couldn’t look more beautiful. The music in the arena turns off again, so I know the play is starting, and I shut my mind again and focus on the game. The rush is coming from both sides, and at the end of twenty minutes, it’s still a non-scoring game.
When I get on the ice for the second period, I’m ready to turn things around. I skate in a circle while waiting for everyone to get into position, and the referee is skating over. He gets between Mav and
I, and he drops the puck. I lose the face-off, and I’m pissed about it, so I start skating backward, keeping my eyes on the puck as the defense passes it among themselves. Once, twice, and then passing to the right wingers who take it into the zone. I play close to the blue line, and I wait for the pass I know is going to come. They box us in, but I skate a touch out of place, and then I see my opening. They try to pass it to the defenseman, but I intercept it. I poke it out of the zone, and I pick up speed. The defenseman is so close on my ass I can feel it, but no one else is beside me. I skate past center ice and hear everyone hustling behind me, but I’m in the zone. I watch the goalie come out of his crease and then back up. I suddenly feel someone at my feet, and he trips me. I lose my balance and end up in the boards, but when I look at the ref, he already has his arm up and is blowing the whistle. Paul goes to the defenseman who is getting up from the ice and pushes him while he tells him to fuck his mother.
I watch the referee take his arm and point at center ice and see that it’s a penalty shot. I raise one foot and get up with my back to the board. The crowd starts booing, and I skate to the middle of the ice, looking up at the replay on the jumbotron.
I watch as everyone else goes to their respective benches and then the referee comes over and puts the puck in the middle of the ice. The goalie skates left and right. The linesman stands in the middle of the ice, and the referee stands to the right. He turns and looks at the scorekeeper, then gives him a nod. He turns back and points at the puck while the linesman now points at the goalie. I skate around, going to the blue line, and then start skating the puck. I pick up the puck on the blade of my stick and skate to the right and then bring it back to the left. I skate straight down the middle, seeing that the goalie is coming out of his crease a touch and then backing up a bit when I get closer. I know the exact spot where I’m going to score. He hunches down and that gives me an even bigger window. He’s expecting me to come in and try to deke him, but I’m not. Instead, I flick my wrist and raise the puck a bit, and it flies right over his shoulder and falls in the back of the net. I raise my stick in the air and skate back to the bench, but while doing that, I glance over and see Zara standing on her feet. She is the only one in her section, and she is clapping. I smile and then go up to the bench and high-five everyone.
This Is Crazy Page 7
