Talking to him, really opening up to him about her childhood and what had happened, and singing for him was doing strange things to her. She’d never told anyone about her childhood. She’d never told anyone about Europe.
Why had she used Tyler as her personal confessional? Because he knew all the right questions to ask, or because he’d made it so easy to tell him? She had no idea. Admittedly, it was kind of nice. But she knew better than to stake any kind of permanence on their relationship. It was nice for right now.
Funny how things had changed so quickly now that she was sort of kind of seeing Tyler in a not really dating, but no longer just sleeping together kind of way.
When he was on the road, he texted and called her every day. She got used to hearing from him and missed him when he traveled. He told her on the phone that the next time the Ice played in Chicago she was going to have to go with him so she could meet his parents.
She told him she was horrified that their relationship had progressed to “meet the parents,” and no way in hell. He laughed at her and told her he’d kidnap her in the dead of night and throw her on a plane, but she was going to Chicago with him.
Truthfully, she was curious about his family and she was already anticipating his next game with Chicago to see if he was serious about that or not.
Today she was meeting Tara and Liz for lunch, something they tried to do at least once a week. They were eating at a midtown restaurant since Liz had a client meeting in a couple hours and Tara had an event that night she had to rush off to prepare for after lunch. Jenna had a few hours before she had to be at the bar, so this was going to be a relaxing lunch for her.
“Now that you’re married, it’s a wonder Mick lets you out of his sight,” Liz said to Tara after they ordered.
“I won’t see him at all when camp starts up in the summer. I’ll be a widow like you are now,” Tara said.
Liz nodded. “I know. This is miserable. The week down in Florida was amazing, though.”
“You are nice and tan,” Jenna said. “I’m jealous.”
“As tan as someone with my fair skin can get after I lather up with a fifty-plus sunscreen.”
“And how is my brother doing?”
Liz sighed. “Your brother is spectacular.”
Tara laughed.
“Gag. TMI.” Jenna made a face. “Not the information I was looking for. I meant at spring training.”
“Oh, his stats are great. In and out of the bedroom.”
Tara snorted.
“Is that all you think about?” Jenna asked.
“When you aren’t getting it regularly, yes. It’s all I can think about. If I wasn’t so damn busy with my own job I’d be parked at the beach house in Florida, naked and spread-eagled, ready for him after every game.”
Jenna laid her head in her hands. “I give up. I should stop coming to lunch.”
“Speaking of people getting it regularly, how’s it going with Ty?”
Her head shot up and she caught sight of the surprised look on Tara’s face, followed by the smile.
“Oh, you’re still seeing Ty? Details, please.”
“Again,” Liz said to her. “Not a big secret, right?”
“I guess not now that you’ve spilled, you blabbermouth.”
Liz shrugged but didn’t look at all apologetic, so Jenna turned to Tara. “Yes, I’m still seeing Ty.”
“And?” Tara asked.
She sighed. “It’s good. Nice. We’re having fun. That’s all.”
Tara took a sip of water. “Hmmmm.”
Liz waved her fork at Tara. “That’s exactly what I said. But let me tell you, the sparks that ignited between the two of them after the last hockey game I took her to nearly set me on fire. So I think there’s a lot more than ‘nice’ going on between the two of you.”
She swallowed a bite of food and laid down her fork. “He asked me to go to Chicago with him to meet his parents.”
“He did? Oh, my, that is big.” Tara looked to Liz, then back at Jenna. “That sounds serious.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re not serious. It really is just a fling.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought it was between Gavin and me,” Liz said.
“I thought the same thing about Mick and me,” Tara said, flashing her wedding ring. “And look what happened.”
Jenna laughed. “We are not getting married. We aren’t in love. It’s just sex.”
“Honey,” Liz said. “If a guy is casually fucking you, he doesn’t bring you home to meet his parents. He’s serious about you.”
“You think so?”
“Definitely,” Tara said. “The question is, are you serious about him?”
“I don’t know. No, I’m not. He’s not my type.”
Liz snorted. “Yeah, there are so many things wrong with him.”
“So true.” Tara lifted her fingers and started counting on them. “He’s ugly. Poor. Bad job. Zero personality.”
“Horrible hair. And that body…ugh,” Liz continued. “That smile is wretched. No sense of humor. He’s so unfriendly that kids and dogs run screaming…”