You Had Me at Hockey (Bears Hockey #2) - Kelly Jamieson Page 0,15
finishes up and we all climb into the little cars, which are kind of like brightly colored inner tubes with seats. My knees are up against my chest—okay, slight exaggeration—but I manage to cram myself in and operate the joysticks.
Bumper cars. Jesus.
Chapter 6
Sara
I am such an idiot.
I got all excited about the bumper cars and dragged Josh to them without even asking if he wanted to, or waiting to see if he was willing. The look on his face is grim annoyance. Shit.
So much for my newest friend.
I’m too much for a lot of people. But I can’t be something I’m not.
Bam!
Someone bumps my car from behind, jolting me out of my moment of self-rebuke. I immediately grab the joysticks and back up and go after them. I manage to nudge them, but we’re all sliding all over the ice. People are laughing, and my woes disappear as I try to head toward Josh.
He’s cruising around, evading people with all the ease and confidence of a Formula One driver. When I try to bump him, he jerks the wheel and I instead bounce off the wall. And he laughs.
Well, good. At least I’ve got him laughing again, even if it’s at me and not with me. Well, maybe it is with me, because I’m laughing too, chasing him and trying to bump him, hitting other cars while he expertly slides around. Then when I’m bumped into the wall, the tables turn and he comes at me.
He’s grinning, and I try to get out of the way but I can’t move fast enough, and wham, he bumps me. It’s not that hard, not like he’s trying to injure me, and I laugh more, the kind of helpless laughter that you can’t stop, that makes me weak and keeps me from being able to drive this damn little car. He bumps me, then pushes me along the ice, and I give up, giggling away.
Then I discover that I can make my little round vehicle spin. I lean back, the buildings whirling around me as I twirl lazily, the sky a patch of pearly gray. When I stop, Josh is watching me with a big smile.
When I hear the beep meaning our time is done, I pull my phone out to take a few selfies, maybe for Instagram later.
When we’re back on dry land, I’m breathless from laughing. Josh’s cheeks are flushed from the cold and his eyes sparkle. Shaking his head, he says, “That was the craziest thing I’ve done in a long time.”
“If that’s the craziest thing you’ve done, your life is sad.” I tuck my arm through his and we start walking.
“Can’t argue with that,” he says.
Aw. “I’m sorry I made you do that. At first you didn’t seem very happy about it. I should have asked.”
He’s silent for a few seconds. “That’s okay,” he finally says, his tone gruff. “It turned out to be fun. I, uh…like spontaneity, as long as it’s carefully planned.”
I choke out a little laugh. “Okay, good to know for the future.” Strolling past the skaters wobbling around the ice, I wave toward them. “They must look amateurish to you.”
One corner of his mouth hooks up. “Not really. They look like they’re having fun.”
“Sometime you can teach me to skate. Don’t worry! I won’t make you do it right now.” Wait, that would be a great idea for a video! I file that away.
He chuckles. “You know we’re going the wrong way to get to the subway station.”
“True. I thought we could just loop around behind the library. Oh.” I pause. “I did it again. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. So this is the library?” He gestures at the big stone building.
“Yes. Do you want to see the front?”
“Okay, sure.”
“I don’t know much about the history of the building, but I like the lions in front.” We round the corner onto Fifth Avenue and continue toward them. “They’re called Patience and Fortitude. Those are things I need to learn, so I’ve always remembered that.”
“Patience and Fortitude.” Josh nods thoughtfully. “Those are good things for us all to have.”
Damn. I like this guy, despite his desire to plan his spontaneity.
“Right?” We wander past the big stone steps to admire the other sculpture, pausing for a few minutes there before continuing on.
We turn the corner and walk the two blocks to the subway stop. Once we’re inside, we pause, stepping out of the way of people rushing past. We’re going to different trains.