“I got a ride with Jamie last night,” Josh said, coming out of the bathroom. “Would you mind dropping me off at his place after we eat?”
“No problem. Let me hit the head and we’ll go.”
Twenty minutes later, we were sitting at a diner drinking coffee and flirting with a waitress who had to be seventy if she was a day, and who had more energy than I’d ever had.
“So, how was it?” I asked him once she was gone. “You find women any more attractive than you thought you would?”
He chuckled. “Actually, I find women extremely attractive. I love women. I just don’t normally want to have sex with them. Margot might be an exception. She’s absolutely delightful.”
I nodded. “Yeah, she is.”
“So what are you going to do about her?”
“What’s to do? She plays this game with me where she gives me hope, lets me get close, and then she either friend-zones me or ghosts me. It’s getting old.”
“Have you two ever talked about it?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve tried. This is all her. I don’t know what she’s afraid of, whether it’s Gracie or—”
“Who’s Gracie?” he asked.
“Her daughter.” I pulled out my phone and scrolled until I found a picture of Gracie and me at Ian and Everly’s wedding.
“Oh, she’s beautiful,” Josh said, smiling. “Look at that sweet face… Are those scars?”
I nodded. “She and Margot were in a car accident last year. She went through the windshield and even though she was in her car seat and wasn’t hurt otherwise, a shard of glass from the window sliced off most of the skin of her face as she went through.”
“Sweet Jesus.” He grimaced, staring down at the picture.
“Ian got her hooked up with Coach Rousseau’s wife, who’s a plastic surgeon, and she’s done a handful of surgeries so far. The last one was a few weeks ago and Gracie’s doing great. You can hardly see the scars now.”
“Poor kid.”
“Yeah, so Margot has her hands full. And I get it. She’s been through a lot. Gracie’s dad walked out pretty much right when she told him she was pregnant, and she’s been on her own ever since.”
“Tell me how you know her? Jamie didn’t give me any details.”
“Margot is best friends with a woman named Everly. Since they were little. Everly just married Ian Campbell, who’s one of my teammates and closest friends.”
“Okay, I got it now. I know most of the guys on the Sidewinders because of Jamie and Viggo, but I lose track of the wives, girlfriends, and kids.”
“There are a lot of them.”
“So, don’t you like Gracie?”
“Like her? I adore her. She’s my buddy. We’re seriously best friends. I bought her a phone for her birthday—it’s just one of those that you buy minutes for, not like an iPhone or anything—so she can call me. And she does. Almost every day. Usually just to tell me what she had for breakfast.”
Josh laughed. “She sounds great.”
“She is. Margot’s done such a good job with her. But it’s taken a toll on her. She’s never been able to count on anyone but herself and Everly since she had the baby, and she’s gun-shy with men. I’m not exactly prime husband or dad material, but I’ve been trying to do better so—”
“Wait, why would you say that?” he asked, interrupting me. “Why aren’t you dad or husband material?”
I laughed. “You don’t know me. I’m a bit of a…player. I go through women like, well, you know what I mean. I had a girlfriend for about a year, Jen. She was great, but I think my curiosity about men freaked her out. She told me she’d always worry that I was going to leave her for a guy. I guess she thought I was in the closet or something.”
“Are you?” Josh met my gaze.
“I don’t think so. This is the third time I’ve fooled around with a guy and—no offense—it was fun, but it’s not my preference. I was far more into Margot even though I enjoyed everything.”
“Kind of how I felt, except the opposite. It was fun experimenting with a woman, but I’m still a hundred percent gay. And, I got to fool around with a pro hockey player, which is going to make all my friends jealous.” He grinned as our waitress delivered our food.
“Glad to be able to give you bragging rights.” I dug into my breakfast, unsure if I was proud or weirded out at the thought.
We ate and shot the shit for about an hour before I dropped him off at Jamie and Viggo’s house.
“It was great meeting you,” he said. “I’ll be in town for another week, so maybe I’ll see you again.”
“Good to meet you too,” I said, shaking his hand.
He patted my shoulder. “Go talk to Margot. You two are definitely into each other so there’s no reason to keep pretending you’re not.”
“I honestly don’t know what to say,” I admitted. “I like her and I told her so a couple of months ago.”
“She’s afraid of something—you need to find out what it is.”
“You think I should ask her out on a date? Like, a real date, not hanging out with our friends and stuff.”
“Absolutely. Be sweet and romantic but not over-the-top and, if you think it’ll help, tell her no sex. One casual date, just the two of you, to get an idea how that would feel in light of your current friendship and this new twist we added on Fantasy Night.”
I nodded. “That’s a good idea. Thanks.”
“I think Margot has feelings for you, but there’s something holding her back. Whether it’s because of Gracie or not, I can’t be sure, but my gut tells me it’s probably a little more deep-seated than that.”
“You’re probably right. It’s weird because we’re pretty good friends, in general. We’ve hung out dozens of times, we’ve gone out drinking, and of course I spend tons of time with Gracie. She used to talk to me, about everything, and then she kind of stopped. I wish I knew why she doesn’t trust me.”
“My advice is to ask,” he said. “But not right away. Take her out and be a little old-fashioned. Hand-holding, chaste kissing, maybe do something where you can walk around together. It’s hot as balls right now, so I don’t know what, but not just dinner where you’re across the table from each other and are forced into communicating. Be more subtle. She needs a little finesse, my friend.”
I sighed. “I know; that’s what’s hard. And I’m not sure I know anything about finesse.”
“Be yourself, but be cognizant of the fact that she’s special to you and apparently gun-shy.”
“The guy who left her, Gracie’s dad, did a number on her self-esteem.”
“There’s your answer. So good luck and let me know how it goes.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“Take care, Tore.” He got out of my car and waved.
I watched him go into the house and then turned my Ferrari toward home. I needed to shower and change into something casual, but then I was going to ask Margot to go out on a date with me, which was something I hadn’t done in a long time. Jen and I had started dating without any formalities, and beyond that, I didn’t really partake in the ritual of dating. I hung out and hooked up. Dating itself felt like so much work.