Chapter 11 #2
“You just moved in recently, you said.”
“Yes, beginning of September.”
“Where’d you live before?”
“East Van. Tiny little place.” I swallow a sigh. The condo I moved to after Cole and I broke up. “I wanted some outdoor space and to be closer to our office and the arena and stadium so I moved to Yaletown. Even though I nearly had a breakdown about spending that much money.”
“Oh yeah, places are not cheap here.”
We chat more about how long he’s lived here and how long he spent in Abbotsford, then we climb back on our bikes and cycle farther, stopping again at English Bay Seawall.
“Another gorgeous view,” I remark as we walk our bikes along the path. A seagull cries above us, wings stretched out against the blue sky.
“How’s your butt?” Jayden asks.
I grin.
“I mean, I know it’s gorgeous.” His smirk is unreasonably charming. “But is it sore?”
I laugh. “I’m fine.”
“Okay. We have a lunch reservation at one o’clock. So we can have a break there.”
“Where’s lunch? The Teahouse?”
“Yeah. That okay?”
“Absolutely. And I’m hungry, so let’s go!”
The ride along the Seawall is breathtakingly beautiful, so much blue with the sky and the ocean.
Then we head off the path and into the park to lock our bikes up at the Teahouse.
I try to fluff my hair up so it’s not all flat from my helmet before we go inside.
We’re seated at a window table with a view of the bay and mountains. I let out a happy sigh.
Jayden smiles.
“There’s just something so… satisfying? I’m not sure that’s the right word. About being around all this beauty.”
“I think I know what you mean. It gives me energy.”
“Yes! And it feels good to use some muscles. I guess you do that every day.” I make a face.
We both order salads, hearty ones with lots of good stuff.
After a few uncomfortable moments on the beach, things feel easy again. I’m still annoyed at myself for failing at my plan, because he’s only made himself more attractive to me since then, adding to my belief that he is someone I could fall for and therefore someone I should stay far away from.
But I’m here. Might as well make the best of it, right?
“I worked up an appetite.” I look out the window. “I should have ordered the steak.”
“I considered that. I love a good steak.”
“Me too.”
“Hmmm. Do you like it rare… or well done?”
I look back at him. His eyes gleam, his lips quirk.
I slide my tongue over my bottom lip. “Medium.”
“Do you cook steak at home?”
“I do. I have a barbecue on the balcony. I like to hand rub my meat.”
“Oh my God.”
“What? It’s a great rub recipe. The secret ingredient is coffee.”
I’m intrigued. “That sounds good. What’s your favourite steakhouse?”
“The Original Cow is good. Also Beef it Up.”
My mouth falls open. “That’s not a real place.”
“It should be. Also, Steak it Easy. T-Bone or Not T-Bone.”
I crack up.
“That is the question,” he adds. “What’s your opinion on boning?”
I slide my head side to side, grinning like a fool. “Funny. That is some prime humour.”
“Ha!” He grins with delight. “Good one!”
As we eat our lunch, I notice a family sitting at a table across the room looking over at us. The two young boys look excited, bouncing in their seats and whispering.
“I think you’ve been recognized.” I nod at the family.
“Yeah?” He doesn’t look.
“I just saw the mom pull one of the kids back. I think they’re trying not to interrupt your meal.”
“That’s considerate.”
“I suppose fans aren’t always.”
“Usually, they are. There’s always a few that are a little, uh, over-eager. More so since we’ve been losing so much.” He grimaces.
“I guess they get frustrated.”
“I get it. We’re all frustrated. And we play for them, right? So they have a right to be pissed off. Hockey’s the only big sport in this city, so it gets a lot of attention.”
“We do have women’s hockey now.”
“Yeah! And that’s great.”
“Right? Do you go to games?”
“I haven’t, but I want to. We could do that.”
Another future suggestion. “We could. That would be fun.”
“I can call the play by play and you can talk stats.”
“Yes! I totally could.”
“You’re really into this stats business, aren’t you?”
I grin at him. “You’re just realizing that now?”
“No. I’m just understanding it more, I guess.”
“We can talk about your stats any time you want,” I say in a flirty tone.
“Stop. You’re so hot when you talk nerdy to me.”
“I guess I shouldn’t mention my math tattoo.”
His eyes widen and the corners of his mouth lift. “Seriously? You have a math tattoo? Show me.”
“I can’t show you here.”
“Jesus.” He scrubs a hand down over his face. “Are you trying to kill me?”
I laugh softly. “Maybe just a little torture.”
“You’re succeeding. We should go. Except I’m not sure how I’m going to ride my bike home now.”
“Think about the Fibonacci sequence.”
“The what now?”
“Hmm, maybe not. How about… think of dog vomit.”
He chokes just as our server approaches.
I smile up at her. “Could we get the bill, please?”
Still coughing, Jayden pulls out his phone. “I got this.”
“You paid last time.”
“I’ll pay every time.”
Every time? I want to give him a hard time about making assumptions again but, to be honest, I kind of like that he said that.
As we stand to leave, the two boys who’d been eyeing Jayden earlier approach a little bashfully.
“Could we get your autograph, Mr. Wood?” one boy says.
Jayden smiles. “Yeah, sure.”
They both have Orcas hats and a pen, and Jayden signs them for them. “You guys play hockey?”
“Yeah,” they both answer.
One boy says, “I want to be a goalie.”
“Cool. That’s an important position.”
“You’re our favourite player,” the other boy says.
“Our mom likes you, too,” his brother adds.
I hide my smile as Jayden rubs a hand over his mouth. “That’s great,” he says. “Do you come to games?”
“Sometimes, yeah. But Dad says we can’t spend that much money to go watch the Orcas lose all the time.”
Jayden winces. “Well, hopefully, we start winning more.”
He chats with them for another minute, then we leave the restaurant.
“They were so sweet,” I say as we walk down the steps.
“Cute kids. Even Mom likes me.” He smirks.
“Do you have a hard time finding a helmet that fits?”
“What… oh. My big head. Got it. Nothing wrong with a big head.”
We’re at the bike rack where we locked our bicycles. I shake my head at him. “Do you always have a dirty mind?”
“Well… probably. But I think you do tend to bring out my dirty thoughts.” He says this with lowered eyelids as he looks at my mouth.
And my belly flutters.