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Hazel Hartley, my high school tutor who had a boyfriend, who can’t stand me and doesn’t date hockey players anymore. Despite Pippa wearing a Storm jersey with the name of her fiancé, goaltender Jamie Streicher, on the back, and despite Hartley working for the team, I haven’t seen her in a jersey since high school. Tonight, my gaze catches on her chestnut hair pulled up in a ponytail, her pale purple puffer jacket. I bet she’s wearing the black leggings that always make her ass look incredible. I wink at her; she rolls her eyes. I grin; she pretends to yawn.
She’s so pretty and mean and perfect, and this is going to fucking ruin me.
I’m mesmerized. She’s so beautiful. I wish I could record this so I could listen to it again and again.
“If you really were my girlfriend, Hartley,” he whispers, his breath sending electric currents over my skin, “there’s no limit to what I would spend on you, so if we want to sell this? Let me.”
I think about what I decided earlier, how I don’t want to be anything like McKinnon. I want to be someone who Hazel’s proud to be dating, even if it is pretend.
She inhales sharply, and for the longest moment of my life, I worry she might push me off, but she melts against me, kissing me back, and in my chest, something locks into place.
There’s a beat where we glance at each other again before looking away. He’s blushing, I think.
When Rory Miller kisses me, I forget what it’s like to have my heart broken.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl as pretty as Hazel Hartley.
Rory peers down at me, and I’ve never seen care in anyone’s eyes like this. “You’re so beautiful it makes my chest hurt.” My heart pounds. “And even when we’re a hundred years old,” he whispers, “I’ll be flirting with you to get your attention.”
Rory Miller is so much more than a hockey player, but I don’t know how to say that without spilling everything to him.
If my heart is a house, Rory now lives there.
I’m in love with her, and I’d do anything to make her happy. And this look of elation on her face as she smiles up at me—it’s everything I’ve ever wanted.
Our eyes meet, and her full mouth tips up into a pretty smile. I think maybe I’ve always loved her, because this feeling in my chest isn’t new. I just have a name for it now.
“I’m so proud of you,” she says, and I memorize this moment to keep with me forever, this quiet stillness with someone I never thought I’d have. “It’s like we’re in a snow globe,” I whisper, and she smiles as I lean down to kiss her.
“Don’t look so surprised, Hartley.” His smile is gentle and crooked. “How could I not fall for you? It was always only a matter of time.”
She loves me, and one day? I’m going to marry Hazel Hartley.
“Wiring looks good,” Rory murmurs in my ear, and I stifle a snort. I’m sure he’s never looked at wiring in his life, but last night, I spotted him googling what to look for when renting yoga and dance spaces.
She once asked me what made me feel worthy and I came up with nothing, but as I wrap her in a towel and carry her to bed, my answer glows bright like the stars outside our window.
