Chapter Thirteen #2
“You okay?” Dash’s quietly spoken question brings me back to my senses.
“Yeah.” I suck back the tears. “I’m fine. Just…just grateful. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for all this.”
“I don’t want you to. If you tried, then it wouldn’t be a gift for my biggest fan. Right?” His warm smile has me giving one back.
“Right.”
“Okay, now that that’s all settled, and I’ll be seeing you both from the ice tomorrow, I’ll get out of your shimmery hair.”
A tickled laugh spills out of me.
“Have a good night, Ruby.”
“Yeah.” I bite my lip against a too-wide smile. “You too, Dash.”
He offers me one last heated look that I feel all the way to my core before turning and walking out the door.
A loud, feminine throat clears behind me. “What. Was. That?”
I spin around to find Alayna eyeballing me like I committed a felony. “What was what?”
She juts her chin forward, eyes bugging out. “You know exactly what I mean. What the heck kind of 90's rom-com moment was happening over here while I was resuscitating poor old Mr. Turner?”
“Al!” I hiss, peeking around her to see if Mr. Turner’s paying us any mind. Except he’s missing. “Wait, did Mr. Turner leave already?”
“See!” Alayna jabs her pointer finger at me. “You’ve been so wrapped up in your own little Meg Ryan and Tom Cruise moment that you didn’t even notice your most regular client leave the premises!”
“It’s Tom Hanks, Al, not Tom Cruise.”
“Who cares which Tom it is! I want to know what Dash-freaking-DiFranco said to you before he walked out of here looking like you handed him the keys to the city!”
“The keys to the city?” I ask, more bewildered than ever.
“You know what I mean! Like you gave him something valuable that no one else has!”
Understanding dawns. “He just gave me and Beck tickets to his games. And—how do you know who he is?”
She crosses her arms. “Funny story. I was watching the local news last night when, lo and behold, the guy who gave my friend his number was being interviewed on live TV.” She arches one dark eyebrow. “You were asked out by a pro hockey player and didn’t tell me?”
Guilt squeezes my heart. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t want to make it a big deal.”
“But Ruby, it is a big deal! It’s a huge deal! A super-hot hockey player asked you out on a date!”
I shrug. “I know. And I snubbed him."
She shakes her head, confusion written all over her face. “Why, though? You said yourself that you think he’s cute.”
“I don’t know.” I drop my hands to my sides. “I guess because he’s intimidating. And my lack of dating experience doesn’t exactly give me the confidence to think we’ll hit it off.”
“But what if you did?”
“Exactly! What if we did? Al, he lives in Utah. That’s like, hundreds of miles away.” I don’t actually know if that’s true because I haven’t looked it up, but it sounds legit.
“Okay, so he lives far away,” she says like it’s no big deal. “That doesn’t mean it can’t work.”
“Al—”
“Ruby, when are you going to drop the walls and let someone in?”
“My…walls?”
She nods. “The invisible emotional barriers you built to keep yourself safe. They’re not serving you, honey.
In fact, I’d even venture to guess they’re keeping you stuck.
Who cares if you don’t have a lot of dating experience?
I doubt Dash will. He doesn’t even seem bothered by you nearly drowning an old man. ”
“Al—”
“Okay, sorry.” She holds up a hand. “That went too far. But listen…” Taking my hands in hers, she adds, “I’m just tired of seeing you run on autopilot all the time.
You’re amazing. Good at your job. A loyal daughter and friend.
But you deserve to do something for you, and you alone.
Girl, you’re in your twenties. Going on dates with hot hockey players should be standard at our age. "
I bark a laugh, unable to help myself.
She gives me an encouraging smile. “Just think about it, all right? Accepting a date with Dash might be way more fun than you think. Even if the two of you only end up having some fun together, he could still help you gain that dating experience you say you don’t have."
A small spark of hope attempts to ignite at the thought. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
A wide grin stretches across Al’s face. “I usually am.”
“You’re as cocky as he is.”
She laughs off the comment before spinning around to head back to her station. “You never know, Ruby. That boy might surprise you.”
Or he might break my already fragile heart.
Still, my mind runs away with the idea of giving him a chance. I picture what it might be like to date him—for real. Mental images pop up, one after the other, a vivid, technicolor romance swirling in my mind’s eye. Us laughing, holding hands, even…kissing.
“Why are you smiling so big?” Alayna leans a hip against the edge of the counter beside me. I didn’t even hear her approach.
Embarrassment burns in my chest. “No reason. Just, um, happy that the workday is over.” I continue to smile like an idiot to drive the lie home.
Al’s eyes narrow as she pushes away from the counter, holding her purse strap with both hands. “Hm. Well, everything is done. Just cleaned up my station.” She stares at me a moment longer. “Want to go and grab a bite to eat?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure. Let me just text my mom.”
She nods and waits for me to shoot off a text. We’re closing up shop and out the door in a matter of minutes. But my mind is still back in the salon, reliving every heated look and flirty remark Dash and I shared.