Chapter 13
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
HARPER
I’m sitting at the breakfast bar with a cup of tea and writer’s block when Zac comes stumbling in. “You’re home early.” I glance at my watch. “Or is it late?” The sun rose about twenty minutes ago.
Noodle glances at him from his spot at my feet, and I swear he shakes his head at him in disappointment. I can feel the judgment from up here.
“I thought you’d text me last night. Come out with us.” His bloodshot eyes tell the story of his night, and I’m grateful I didn’t. Besides, I’d met my monthly alcohol consumption at lunch.
“Nah, long day. I fell asleep before the game was over. Congrats on the shutout, by the way. Good game.” I conked out on the couch and woke up a few hours ago. A little hung over, but more from the company than the champagne, if I’m being honest. None of which my roommate needs to know about.
“What did you and Decker do all day?” He looks around the apartment, stretching his lean body to peek down the hallway.
“Looking for something?” Or someone is more like it. I suspect he’s checking to see if I’m alone.
He stumbles down the hall to the bedrooms and is back a few seconds later. He dramatically drops to the couch and moans. “I shouldn’t have done that last round of shots.”
I make a tray of hangover supplies and set them on the coffee table. “Gatorade, ginseng, a bagel, and a shot. Should probably be of penicillin, judging by the hickey on your neck, but tequila will have to do.”
“Are you judging me?” He sounds a little incredulous, and I’m not sure why.
“Nah, Noodle has enough judgement for both of us.” He uses his ramp to get up on the sectional, sniffs Zac, and walks over to me at the other end.
We both laugh at his snub as he curls up next to me.
“I can’t believe you stole my dog,” he mumbles. I throw a pillow at him. “Ow!”
“Seriously?! You blocked twenty-eight pucks flying at you going ninety-miles-an-hour and you're complaining about a pillow? You’re deranged,” I scoff.
“Thirty,” he mumbles under his breath.
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes and focus my attention on Noodle. Without another word, he pops in the ginseng, washes it down with the shot, and drains the Gatorade. He picks at the bagel, looking at me.
“So Decker?”
Is there something he knows that I don’t know? Even more worrisome is if he’s talking to Lawson about me. His question bugs me because I don't think I know how to answer. What are we?
“What about him? Are we sharing stories now? You first. What was her name?”
“Don’t remember. Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, something like that.”
I laugh so hard Noodle judges me too. “Did you have sex in the Mystery Machine?”
He chuckles and throws his arm over his eyes. “Hell, I don’t know. She was with some guy named Fred who wore a scarf, and it went downhill from there.” He squeezes his eyes shut to block out the light or the memory.
“I bet she went down.” Now I’m the one making comments under my breath. I can’t believe the antics of these guys. “You really don’t know her name?”
“Nope.” He gets up and grabs another Gatorade and sits next to me to pet Noodle. “You know whose name I know? Decker. What did you guys do yesterday?”
“Why? Are you reporting to Lawson?”
“No, I promised not to. What you do here is none of his business. He’s only checked in once your first week, and I told him you were fine. That’s all he gets. But since I’m your roomie and all, I’m entitled to a little more scoop than him, don’t ya think?” He wiggles his eyebrows and winces at the movement.
It’s not like I’m keeping secrets or anything. I want to live my life under my terms without Lawson having to worry about me. But it would be nice to hear why Zac's hackles are up about Julian.
“We went to lunch. He took me to this super cool cafe that looked like it was closed from the street but was filled with celebrities. I drank too much champagne, and we went back to his place.”
I watch his shoulders tense and his jaw tighten. Noodle notices too and crawls into his lap, serving as his therapy dog.
I shake my head in disbelief. “Where I fell asleep for a few hours. He drove me home, we walked Noodle, and he left. The end.” My irritation seeps through with the way I emphasized those last words.
He stares at me like I’m a player coming at him on a breakaway. “The end?”
“Yup. The end. What’s your problem with him? He’s a nice guy.”
“He’s too good lookin’ for one. It’s not natural.”
“Are you serious? Have you seen his siblings? That entire gene pool is unreal.” My stomach does a little flip as I recall his family’s pictures. “But you can’t hold that against him. Why don’t you like him?”
“Honestly, I don’t know him. I asked Rhino since he’s repped by The Decker Agency, and he has nothing bad to say about him.”
“You asked around about him?” I stand over him with my hands on my hips. “Incredible.” I groan in frustration and sip my lukewarm tea and go back into the kitchen. I put the kettle on the stove to heat more water, slamming it around more than I should.
Zac’s behind me, his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t be mad at me, CJ. Please.” He’s begging, which is funny coming from this burley hockey player. I’m surprised begging is even in his playbook.
“Just don’t.” I raise my shoulder, and he drops his hands. “Nothing happened. I’m not his typical type of girl.” He’s just being nice to me, I remind myself. He’s not interested in me as anything more than a friend. It’s the chase he enjoys.
“Exactly.”
I spin to face him and he takes a step back. “What does that mean?” I snap back. While I agree, I’m not a model or actress, I’m also a bit offended.
“You’re different, CJ.” I glare at him and wonder how he will finish that thought. With a sigh, he says, “You’re the kind of girl you marry.”
I’m confused. Is this a bad thing? “What’s wrong with that?”
“Because girls like you make guys like us do crazy things. And I’m worried what kind of crazy Decker has in him, that’s all.” I’m shocked by his candid response. It’s not what I expected him to say, and I’m even more confused about Julian’s intentions.
And there it is, ladies and gentlemen. My ultimate problem. I’ll never understand how men think.
So me, writing a male character? I’m sunk.