Puck Buddies (25 page)

“No. I saw the movie. It was hot.”

“I read the book. It was hot.” She agrees.
“I have to go.” A wide smile crosses her lips. “Let me know what you think.”

She turns and walks to the door.

“Stay.”

She spins and smiles. “The rules state I
can’t.” She waves and strolls out, leaving me wondering if I even want to open
it.

That lasts a second before I have it torn
open and am holding the paper in my trembling hands.

I swallow hard, not sure what I’m
reading. Rational thought leaves me as I lift my cell phone up and press a
name.

“I already apologized for calling you all
those names. What could you possibly want now?” Bev snaps.

“Sending you a picture, tell me what you
think. Sami Ford just dropped this off. If I want to be with her I have to
adhere to these rules.”

“Sami Ford? Are you insane? She’s got
revenge on her mind. This is a mistake. I don’t need to see the rules. I can
just tell you, mistake.”

“Wait.” I pull back the phone and snap a
photo, send it as a message, and then lift the phone back to my face.

Her phone vibrates as it lands. “Okay,
let’s see what your punishment is for killing her emotions and breaking her
heart.” She pauses while she reads. I reread them too. “No sex. If you want to
date me, you may date me. But we won’t be having any sex. You may choose to
date other
people, that is
your prerogative. No public
dates. The pressure in our lives is enough and we don’t need family
involvement. No judging me for liking hockey, I like it. No telling anyone
about the rules. No telling anyone we have anything beyond a thing. This
expires on January 31, 2016.”

“Yeah.” I sigh, not sure what to say
about it all.

“She is the woman. Like I bow before her.
So you will be allowed to spend the year with her, dating and hanging out. But
you can’t have sex and you can’t tell anyone, and she’s going to break up with
you anyway. That’s her conditions for playing her? This is genius. She’s
fucked. She’s the Jedi of bitches. You’re fucked too. You can’t have her but
this is the one way you can sort of have her?” Bev starts to laugh. “I guess
you need to ask yourself if the juice is worth the squeeze?”

“Oh, she thinks she can play this one and
I won’t win her over? I’m going to squeeze that berry until I get only the best
juice. It’s going to be worth it.”

“You realize that part about dating other
people is a test, right? You can’t date anyone else. You’re going to be sex-free
for a year.”

“I know that.” I sort of guessed it
maybe. “That’s a long time but that’s only if she can hold out for the year.”

“You’re actually going to accept this
challenge?”

“Yeah.” I smile at the private joke the
word is for me.

“Then I guess all I can say to that is
welcome to being a man for the first time.” She hangs up and I sit on the sofa,
not sure how the hell to start this but certain I can use the next ten months
to win over the girl I love.

Sami

“He agreed. He sent flowers with a note
telling me he’s cool with it all. He tried to deliver them himself, but he
wasn’t allowed in the building.” I stare at the rules again. They seem strict.

“This is unhealthy. I don’t agree. I
think you’re making a huge mistake. That’s my honest opinion.” Linda sounds
tired.

“And that was the other thing; I’m going
to go it alone from here on out, Linda. I think I’m done playing games. I don’t
need someone shrinking my head anymore.”

“You’re firing me?” She sounds worried.

“I am. You’re the best, and I’ll always
recommend you. But I’m done. I feel good. I’m not depressed. I’m not worried. I’m
carefree.” I sit back and smile at the card he wrote to me.

“And what about when things are bad?”

“I might start talking to Nat.
Or maybe Carson.
I don’t know. I’m not sure. But you’ve been
an amazing sounding board. Thanks.” I wait for her to spaz, but she just clicks
the phone off.

I smile and put it down, hoping she’s
okay. She’s spent a lot of her life worrying about mine with me. She might need
a hobby to fill the time.

Flipping the card in my fingers, I
wonder if I’m making the right decision. But that’s the beauty of the whole
thing: I don’t know. It feels crazy and different. In my world different is
almost always better.

I have no intention of giving my heart
to Matt Brimley. I have no intention of giving my heart to anyone.

But I can have some fun and be young
and stop worrying about the future. I’ve told my parents all the right things
to buy me time. And now I’ll have Matt Brimley without worrying about him
hurting me.

It’s the best of both worlds.

Obviously not the end of
Sami and Matt.