“What do I say if he asks?”
She set her coffee back on the table. “That depends on how much you like him.”
“I really like Charles. I know it doesn’t appear that way, but I do.”
“Then lie.”
Georgeanne shoulders sagged and she sighed. “I feel so guilty. I can’t believe I jumped in bed with John. I didn’t even think about Charles. Maybe I’m one of those women you read about in Cosmo who screw up relationships because deep down I don’t think I’m worthy. Maybe I’m destined to love men who can’t love me back.”
“Maybe you should stop reading Cosmo.”
Georgeanne shook her head. “I’ve made such a mess of things. What am I going to do?”
“You’ll get through it. You’re one of the strongest women I know.” Mae patted Georgeanne’s shoulder. She had a lot of faith in Georgeanne’s strength and determination. She knew that her friend didn’t always see herself as a woman with grit, but then Georgeanne didn’t always view herself in an accurate or objective light. “Hey, did I tell you that Hugh, the goalie, called me while you were in Oregon?”
“John’s friend? Why?”
“He wanted to go out on a date.”
Georgeanne stared at Mae for several incredulous moments. “I thought you made your feelings clear the day you ran into him outside the hospital.”
“I did, but he asked again.”
“Really? That beats all with a stick.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
“Well, I hope you let him down gently.”
“I did.”
“What did you say?”
“Hell, no.”
Normally Georgeanne and Mae would have debated Mae’s rude rejection. Instead Georgeanne shrugged and said, “Well, I guess you won’t have to worry that he’ll call a second time.”
“He did call a second time, but I think he just wanted to annoy me. He called to ask me if I was still wrestling pit bulls.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. I hung up on him, and he’s only called once since then.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s best just to stay away from all hockey players. Best for the both of us.”
“That’s not a problem for me.” Mae thought of telling Georgeanne about her latest boyfriend, but she decided against it. He was married, and Georgeanne tended to moralize about stuff like that. But Mae felt no qualms about sleeping with another woman’s husband as long as he didn’t have children. She didn’t want marriage. She didn’t want to look at the guy’s face over dinner every night. She didn’t want to do his laundry or birth his babies. She just wanted sex, and married men were perfect. She got to call all the shots and controlled when, where, and how often.
She never told Georgeanne how often she dated married men. Even though Georgeanne apparently had a carnal weakness when it came to John Kowalsky, she could be such a prude sometimes.
Chapter Fifteen
After several hours of grueling drills, coaches and players jammed the ice for a two-puck scrimmage. By day three of training camp, the Chinooks were ready for a little fun. Two of the team’s goalies crouched inside the creases at opposite ends of the rink, alert, waiting for someone to fire a rubber biscuit at their heads.
Raw gutter talk and the steady slur-slur-slur of skates filled John’s ears as he zigzagged down ice. The sleeves of his practice jersey fluttered as he swerved through human traffic. He kept his head up, and the puck sailing close to the blade of his stick. He could feel a rookie third-line defenseman breathing down his neck, and in order to avoid getting knocked into the cheap seats, he shot a high-wrister past Hugh Miner on the short side.
“Eat that, farm boy,” he said as he put his weight on the edges of his skates and stopped abruptly in front of the goal. A fine spray of ice powered Hugh’s pads.
“Blow me, old man,” Hugh grumbled, and reached behind him for the puck. He tossed it toward the other end of the rink, then crouched again and banged his stick on the red posts and cross bar, gaining his bearing without taking his eyes from the scrum.