I swallowed hard and looked down at the desk, not wanting to make a scene in front of Darla. When I heard his footsteps fade, I looked up at Darla who was staring at me with her eyes as wide as they could possibly go.
“Don’t ask.” I sighed, dropping my head into my folded hands on the desk. “And you have bread hanging off your bottom lip.”
“You know by saying don’t ask, that means I’m definitely going to ask.”
“It’s nothing. Let’s drop it.” I sat back in the chair and crossed my arms.
“Or we can pick it up.” She giggled.
“You’re strange, Darla, but I like you.” I peered at her out of the corner of my eye.
“I like you too,” she said quickly as she took another bite. “Now spill it.”
“It’s nothing. He’s just… someone I used to know.”
Darla didn’t say anything. She just sat, staring at me and chewing loudly. It was then that I realized maybe she could give me information.
“How long has he been an EMT? Do you know?”
“Hmm…” Her eyes drifted up to the ceiling as she pulled her brows in, thinking hard. “It’s hard to tell because he may have worked for other companies before, but he’s been coming here for about a year I would say. Yes, definitely a year because he was at our holiday party last year. He came with one of the nurses he was dating.”
My stomach rolled. Not a jealous roll, but an annoyed, I-Can’t-Believe-He’s-Moved-On-With-His-Life-Like-Nothing-Happened kind of roll. This hospital was roughly thirty minutes from my house. He’d been thirty minutes away from us for at least a year. Had he ever thought about us? I supposed he could have assumed we stayed in Minneapolis, but he knew my mom was my only support system. He had to have known I’d go home. Then panic started to set in.
What if he’s going to stop by? What if he’s going to force me to talk to him, or worse, try to see the girls?
For a moment, I started to seriously consider quitting this job, saying “screw it” to my degree, packing the girls up, and moving far away.
“Hey! Did you hear me?”
I jumped as Darla’s bellow brought me back to reality.
“I’m so sorry, Darla. What were you saying?”
“You weirded out for a minute there. Does it bother you that he was dating someone?”
I scoffed. “No. Not at all.”
It bothers me that he still lives in Minnesota. I would prefer somewhere like… North Korea.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, they broke up shortly after the holiday party. Apparently the girl he was with was caught making out with someone else in the bathroom at the party. Then she quit. That was it.” Darla reached in her lunch bag and pulled out a bag of cookies.
I swear all Darla does is eat.
“Anyway, that’s all I really know—other than he’s hot!”
I coughed, backwashing a mouthful of water back into my bottle.
“Sorry. You don’t think he’s hot?” She waited for my answer, but I was too busy choking. I just shook my head no. “That boy makes me want to turn into a jaguar.”
“A what?”
“A jaguar. You know, a woman who goes after younger men?” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“You mean a cougar?” I laughed.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s it. I knew it was one of those feline animals.” Shoving a cookie in her mouth, a devilish grin slowly crept across her face.
“What?” I asked nervously, unsure I wanted to hear the answer.
“I was just thinking about that sexy, young man and what he could do to this old *—cat.”
She giggled uncontrollably.
Barf.
“Okay, I’ve heard enough.” I stood up and walked around to the other side of the counter.
“Where are you going?” Darla was still chuckling.
“To chat with the woman in one about her urinary tract infection. That’s gotta be more fun than listening to you purring like a cat.” I stuck my tongue out at her and walked away while she continued laughing at herself.
“Well, well, look who decided to show up!” Viper called out as I walked into our locker room at The House. Our first practice started in ten minutes and I’d barely made it on time.
Good start, idiot.
I stayed at Kacie’s until the last minute. Actually, way past when I was supposed to leave, but it wasn’t my fault. Sophia and Fred took the girls out for doughnuts unexpectedly. Kacie and I don’t have a lot of alone time, so when she chewed on her bottom lip and gave me a little look with those sexy green eyes, suddenly, nothing was more important than burying myself inside her one more time.
“Shut it, Sally.” I glared at him. “I told you I’d be here and I am.”
Big Mike and a few of the other guys were putting their pads on and lacing their skates up. I went around the room shaking hands and getting filled in on everyone’s summers.