Chapter 29
THE UP BEFORE THE DOWN
Winter
I make it until Thursday before I fold and BJ sleeps over.
It’s pointless to punish ourselves for things outside of his control.
And honestly, I’m-sorry-for-being-a-playboy sex with BJ ranks as some of the best sex of my life.
He pulled out the silk tie again, but this time I used it on him, which was way more fun than I expected.
And empowering. I followed it with a beard ride.
And then we had marathon sex that lasted until two in the morning.
I was spacey in my Friday morning class, and I ended up napping in the library between afternoon classes, which saved me from being a total mess during hockey practice. But it was totally worth it.
And if I’d realized how intense a full course load and daily hockey practice would be, I might not have taken that four-day sex hiatus. After the first week, spending time with BJ that doesn’t involve sleeping has become increasingly difficult.
It’s a Wednesday a few weeks into the semester, and I’m meeting BJ for lunch in the quad, but I’ve texted him three times with no reply. There’s a decent chance he’s fallen asleep somewhere.
In the summer, I often found him napping on the bench outside the arena, but here in Chicago, I’ve learned that BJ can truly sleep anywhere.
And for reasons I’m unsure of, one of his favorite napping locations is the lounger in our living room.
River says he’s been doing it for as long as he can remember.
I pocket my phone and head to the quad. It’s a beautiful afternoon, the sun is shining, and we’re having an amazing September hot spell. It should break in a few days, but everyone is wearing shorts and tank tops, soaking up the sun, and drinking iced coffees.
I find BJ passed out under a tree, using his backpack as a pillow. Instead of waking him, I set a timer for twenty minutes, place my backpack next to his, and stretch out beside him.
When our fingers brush, he slides his arm under me and pulls me closer.
“We’re not in your bedroom, in case you forgot your comforter isn’t made of grass.”
“So don’t try to get you naked?” His eyes aren’t even open.
“Not unless you’d like to become a viral video that might make getting a job in the future a serious challenge.”
“Seems like something to avoid,” he mumbles.
“I set a timer for twenty minutes. Stop sleep-talking and just sleep. I need the nap as much as you do.”
“Nothing says romance like a lunchtime snooze.” His breathing evens out a few seconds later. It blows my mind how quickly he can fall asleep. Sitting up, lying down, in a chair, in a bed, on a bench. In the middle of the quad. It’s an art.
I close my eyes, not expecting to nap, but twenty minutes later, my alarm rouses both of us.
Lovey, Lacey, and Rose are now sitting cross-legged a few feet away, their lunches spread out between them.
We have lunch-making parties every evening.
We’ll buy a huge baguette from the local grocery store and make one giant sandwich that we split between us.
I’ve learned how to make some cool vegan sandwiches since Lovey doesn’t eat anything that comes from an animal or has a face, and Lacey is a pescatarian.
I sit up. “How long have the three of you been sitting here?”
BJ hasn’t moved yet.
“Long enough to take a bunch of pictures of you two cuddled together,” Rose says.
“I wish I could fall asleep anywhere.” Lacey pops a grape into her mouth.
“Same. I’m the worst napper in the history of the world,” Lovey agrees.
“My mom said I gave up naps when I was a year old.” Rose adds chips to her sandwich.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” BJ mumbles from his supine position.
I poke him in the side. “We have class in half an hour. You need to eat or you’ll be hangry later.”
He rolls onto his side and hugs me around the waist. “I’d take a bite out of you.”
“No verbal foreplay in front of your friends.” Rose throws a pinecone at him.
He drags himself to sitting.
Lovey frowns. “You look more tired than usual.”
BJ pulls his hair tie free and his hair flops into his face.
It’s longer again, past his chin, and his beard is thicker than it was in the summer.
He gathers his hair and refastens it. “Adele is struggling with one of the combinations again, and we can’t afford to make changes to the routine.
We need to spend more time on the ice until we get it down.
A few more weeks and this competition will be done. ”
“You’ve been recording some of your practices, right? Has that been helping?” I ask.
“Yeah. It’s been good—my mom can see the progress and give us guidance remotely.
But I had to stop telling Adele I was doing it because it was psyching her out.
The stakes keep getting higher. I can handle the pressure, but it’s a lot to have a full course load and be on the ice three to four hours a day.
Which you’re aware of.” BJ empties out half his backpack and starts shoveling food into his face.
I nod. “A few more weeks and then you get a break.”
We finish our lunch, and BJ and I walk to class together. After the first couple of days, he started linking pinkies with me, which helped deter all the random huggers. People still say hi to him often, but they mostly don’t throw themselves at him anymore.
“You have practice until six, right?” he asks when we reach the psych building.
“Yeah. What time are you and Adele finished?”
“Six thirty.” He rubs his thumb along my knuckles. “Maybe when I get home, we can do dinner and jump in the hot tub.”
“We could even get in some alone time when we’re not passing out on each other.”
He grins. “It’s like we share a brain.”
“Or our genitals are communicating telepathically.”
He laughs and bends to kiss me. “Have I told you lately that you’re my favorite person?”
“You have, actually.”
He goes in for another kiss, but I push his chest and step back. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“It’s a date.”
“You’ve checked your phone six times in the past fifteen minutes. What’s the deal?” Rose asks.
Quinn is sitting in the wingback chair that looks like it belonged to someone’s posh grandmother, reading a textbook. Lovey flips through notes for one of her classes, and Rose is complaining about stats.
“BJ and Adele were supposed to be off the ice at six thirty, but it’s already quarter after seven.” The arena is only a ten-minute drive. Even with a shower, he should be home by now.
Quinn looks up from his textbook. “Adele sometimes likes to book extra time on the end of their practices without telling BJ until they’re already on the ice.”
“I know she’s struggling with one of the combinations again,” I say.
“Yeah. It’s interesting how that’s been happening more often lately.” Quinn flips his pen between his fingers.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugs. “I could be reading into things, but it seems like this year she’s having a harder time than usual getting routines down.”
“Do you think she’s purposely having a hard time?” Lovey asks.
“I don’t want to make Adele into a villain or anything, but it seems kind of suspect that the second BJ gets a girlfriend, Adele starts having more trouble with the routines.
I mean, it’s possible she really is struggling—the pressure is certainly a factor—but it seems suspiciously coincidental.
” He looks over at Lovey. “Remember how icy she was with you until she realized you and BJ weren’t actually a thing? ”
Lovey taps her lips with her pen. “Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that. It was a long time ago, though.”
“Yeah, but let’s look at this logically,” Rose says. “BJ hasn’t had a girlfriend all through university.”
“We haven’t put a label on it,” I say.
All three of them give me a look.
“Label or no label, for the sake of simplicity, you’re his girlfriend—even if in the Land of Denial, you’re pretending you’re not.
” Rose slaps her thighs. “As I was saying, BJ hasn’t had a regular boning partner for a long time.
Now BJ’s spare time isn’t just spent with his friends, it’s spent with you.
Keeping BJ on the ice is the only way Adele can get more time with him, because he’s very clear that that’s where their relationship has to stay. ”
“Does she have a thing for him?” I always assumed Adele and BJ were on the same page about their skating relationship, but maybe that was naive.
“I don’t know. It’s possible?” Quinn taps the arm of his chair thoughtfully.
He looks like a redheaded godfather. “Until this year, ice time has been paramount for BJ, but now that you’re in the picture, there’s competition.
He’s always had a hierarchy, and skating has been at the top of that, followed by school, family, and friends.
It’s shifted because of you, and that’s a good thing after what happened with Caroline.
But Adele has been priority number one for a lot of years, so maybe this is her trying to maintain her position. ”
“I don’t want to cause tension. I know how important this competition is to BJ.”
“It is, for sure. But she might be manipulating him, and he’s so focused on getting the routine down that he can’t see it for what it is,” Quinn replies.
“What should I do? Should I talk to him about it?”
Rose raises her hand. “I have an idea.”
“You always have ideas, not all of them are good,” Quinn notes.
“Hear me out before you shoot it down.” She crosses and uncrosses her legs.
“I think you can be subtly not so subtle. It’s already after seven.
He hasn’t had dinner yet. You love feeding people.
Why don’t you bring him a muffin? The ones you made this afternoon, not your lady muffin,” she adds quickly, motioning to the kitchen.
The pantry is always stocked here, which makes it easy to try new recipes.
“Those were going to be my snack later,” Quinn grumbles.
“I’ll make more, don’t worry.” I look to Lovey. “What’s your opinion?”