Jay offered to drive me home, but today’s the nicest it’s been in weeks, and since I don’t know when it’ll be this comfortable again, a walk seemed necessary.
“You want me to come over?”
“Do you want to come over?” I counter, and Zeke laughs.
“You just like to be difficult, don’t you?”
“I don’t want you to come over unlessyouwant to. Obviously, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing you tonight, but—”
“I want to come over,” he cuts me off. “I need to wait for Jere to get home, though, because my car’s still fucked.”
“I told you I’d look at it.” I smile. “I just need to wait until Monday so—”
“So, you don’t run into any of the guys. I know. They’ve been asking me why I haven’t taken it to a shop yet.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That I don’t trust them to not overcharge me for fixing my car.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“Plus, I’d much rather watch my beautiful girlfriend work on my car than some sweaty old man,” he continues, and I feel my cheeks heat up. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to being a girlfriend. But I do know I like hearing it.
“No argument here. I look way hotter fixing a car than those guys.”
Jay taught me how to fix cars when I was a little girl. I think part of him knew I’d have to figure things out on my own, so he wanted to prepare me for any obstacle I might face. It was also a way to get me out of my house so I wouldn’t see my mom when she was high.
“Did you enjoy your first hockey game?” He changes the subject as I round the corner to my street.
“I don’t know why I didn’t go to one sooner,” I reply. “You look even sexier when you play hockey; I didn’t think it was possible. It obviously doesn’t hurt that you won the game.”
“I hope you realize this means I expect you at all my home games.”
“I wouldn’t miss them. What have you been up to?”
“Oh!” I can hear the excitement in his voice, and I know he’s changing his position, probably sitting up straighter, because that’s usually what he does when he’s excited to tell me something. “So, last night, after Ember drove me to see my mom, she came over to the house to see Declan.”
“Are you sharing gossip with me?” I switch the phone from one ear to the other.
“Obviously. Isn’t that what couples do?”
“It is… carry on.”
“Anyway, she told him she loved him, and they haven’t said that. But he didn’t say anything back, so she left and then missed the game today, and after the game, he told me about all of this—”
“He didn’t say it back?” I ask. “From what you’ve told me, he seems just as in love as she is.”
“I’m getting to that,” he says. “So, I talked to him about it and basically helped him realize that he does, in fact, love Ember and was just scared to tell her, and he’s over there now and—”
“Are you really waiting for Jeremy to get back, or are you hoping Declan comes back to fill you in.” I chuckle.
“They’re two of my best friends, Stewart. I just want them to be happy.”
“And it doesn’t hurt that you’ll have a new story to share with your mom,” I respond.
Zeke told me about Ember and Declan a while back and how his mom was obsessed with their love story. I guess when you’re stuck in a boring hospital day in and day out, it’s exciting to live vicariously through someone else.
“This will be a new favorite,” he says. “Especially now that my mom’s met Ember, she’ll be rooting for her even more.”