Blocked (Boston Terriers Hockey #3) - Jacob Chance Page 0,55
do with vinegar?”
“I have. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
I keep my expression as blank as possible. I’m waiting for her to catch on to the fact that I’m pretending I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve read countless articles online and even some books about how to raise a well trained dog. But the more aggravated I act with Buddy, the more likely she’ll be to help me out. Which means plenty of time in Maddie’s company. It’s a genius plan, if I do say so myself.
I bump the back of my hand into hers as we walk. “Are you hungry?”
“Actually, I am. We’ve been so busy, I hadn’t noticed. But now that you mentioned it, my stomach feels like it’s going to eat itself.”
I tug my phone from my pocket and hold it out to her.
She looks at my phone like it’s a bomb about to go off. “What do you want me to do?”
“Take it and order pizza from wherever you want.”
“What’s the code?”
“I don’t have one.”
Her eyebrows jump on her forehead. “That’s unexpected,” she confirms her surprise.
“Why? Should I have one?”
“I assumed you would. I mean, doesn’t everyone?”
“I don’t know about everyone, I can only speak for myself. I’ve never had one because there’s nothing on my phone that I would care if anyone else saw.”
“No naked pics of you?” she prods.
“Not yet. But I can remedy that if you’d like.” Her cheeks pink up and it reminds me of the color her hair used to be. “What happened to your pink hair?”
“I got sick of it and wanted a change. I’ve tried a few other colors, but keeping it my natural color is the easiest.”
“I liked the pink, but I love the blonde. It’s who you were meant to be. You’re naturally beautiful. You don’t need to change your hair.”
“That’s sweet of you to say. I think it was a phase I was going through. Teenage self-doubt and all those painful things we have to endure to get to this point.”
“You seem different to me.”
“How so?” Her eyebrows dip downward in contemplation while she watches me.
“You’re more confident all around. You’re not afraid to say what you want to and to be heard.”
“Thank you. I’ve worked hard on getting to this point. I worked with a therapist when I was at U.N.H. and she helped me grind through a lot of my issues that stem from my mom. Although, I don’t want to blame my mom alone. I’m complicit too because I chose to let her affect me the way she did.”
“Hold on a minute.” My hand lands on her arm, stopping her. Sliding it down to her dainty wrist, I continue until our fingers are slotted together. “I don't know that you chose to do anything when it came to your mom. You were a child and she was an adult. She should’ve known better. I think things in life affect us how they will and we just do the best we can to get through them to the better times. And hopefully we grow from the bad experiences and something positive comes out of them.” I lean forward, peering into her eyes. “That’s what you did.” I squeeze her hand.
Her eyes instantly seem extra shiny. Is she going to cry? Oh jesus. I was trying to make her feel better, not worse. I don’t think I can take it if she cries. It’ll break my heart.
“Thank you.” Her whisper is hoarse. “It means a lot to me that you understand what I’ve been through. I know plenty of people who have had it worse than I did, so I’m not going to feel sorry for myself. But it does give me a sense of accomplishment whenever I speak my mind or stand up for myself.”
She’s an amazing human being. She always finds the good in a situation.
“I’m really proud of you, Maddie. I know admitting you needed help had to be difficult.” Leaning forward, I press a soft kiss to her forehead. “Come on,” I tip my head in the direction we were walking, “let’s get this little bugger to do his business.”
She slaps her palm to her forehead. “Oh no. I forgot to order the pizza.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Maddie
Spending today with Shaw has been the most fun I’ve had in a long time. He’s still so easy to be with. In fact, in some ways, it feels more comfortable than ever before. Of course, that probably has more to do with me than