TRIPPED

by Jacob Chance

  “Do you actually remember anything I told you?” I snark. Crap. Why did I ask him that? I sounded a little pathetic, even to my own ears.

  “You’d be surprised at how much I remember,” he replies while I avoid making eye contact with him. He scratches underneath one of Chewy’s ears. “How long have you had him?”

  “I got him the July after high school graduation.” Chewy helped get me through the worst time of my life. If it wasn’t for him and his adorable underbite I’m not sure how I’d have pushed through.

  He nods knowingly. “See, I knew you didn’t mention having a dog.”

  “You didn’t mention being interested in dog grooming,” I retort.

  “I wasn’t. This job kind of fell into my lap.” He doesn’t elaborate.

  I let out a sigh. “Well, as much as I hate to admit it, you did a great job on Chewy.”

  “I accept tips.” He smirks. His dimple peeks out, teasing me.

  “Don’t push your luck. Be happy with the compliment.”

  “If you don’t want to tip me with money, there’s something else I’d be happy with.”

  My mouth tightens in a doubtful expression. If he makes a sexual reference, I’m going to junk punch him. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but go ahead and enlighten me.”

  He leans closer and husks, “Go on a date with me.”

  Scowling, my eyebrows form a V on my forehead. “Fuck no. That’s never going to happen.”

  “Never say never, Piper. I bet you said you’d never speak to me again and yet here we are.”

  “Thanks for reminding me of the error of my ways.” I shove my hand into my pocket and pull out a five dollar bill, slapping it onto the counter in front of him. Cradling Chewy’s fifteen pound body in my arms, I set him down on the floor. “Come on, little guy.” I tug on the leash and he responds.

  “Wait up,” Donovan says, catching up with me. “You’re leaving?”

  “Yep.”

  “But you didn’t book Chewy’s next appointment.”

  “I call when he needs one.”

  “What if I’m not here or I’m booked up? Don’t you want to make sure he gets the best groomer?”

  “I’ll be sure to ask for Karen.” I mention one of the groomers I’m familiar with.

  “Ouch.” He grabs his chest. “Chewy, your mom is a cruel woman.”

  “It’s a good thing we’re leaving then.” I pick up the pace of my stride, expecting Donovan to stay back and return to work, but of course I can’t be that lucky. He follows me outside and all the way to my car.

  What is he playing at?

  I click the remote to unlock the doors, open the passenger door, then situate Chewy on the seat. Closing the door, I turn and find Donovan all up in my space. Placing both hands on his chest, I try to shove him back, but he’s unmovable, like a brick wall. “What’s your problem?” I snap.

  “There’s no problem. I just wanted to escort you to your car.”

  “You can go now,” I tell him.

  “You sure you won’t take me up on the date offer?” He looks at his watch. “My shift ends in ten minutes.”

  “Are you being deliberately obtuse? How can you be so clueless about our situation?”

  He shrugs, the purple collared shirt he’s required to wear for work only emphasizing his broad shoulders. “What can I say? I’m an optimist at heart.”

  I scoff at his reply. It’s easy to be that way when no one ever says no to you.

  “Take your optimism somewhere else. It’s wasted on me.”

  He raps on the passenger window. “Chewy, come on. Help me out.” Chewy gives a single bark as his reply. “See? He loves me already. You know, dogs have great instincts when it comes to people.”

  “Maybe you should ask him out then.” Stepping by him, I scurry around the front of my car and open the door. I’m behind the wheel and closed inside in a split second. Starting the engine, I slide my sunglasses down over my eyes and shift into reverse. Aiming a brief glance at Donovan, I make sure I’m not going to run him over—as tempting as that scenario might be. With his arms crossed and a contemplative expression on his face, he doesn’t look nearly as cocky as usual. Good. He has ego to spare.

  Backing from the space, I drive off without looking his way. Blowing out a long exhale, I pat my dog’s head. “He may seem like a nice guy, Chew, but trust me on this, he’s a heartbreaker. You won’t be seeing him again, and hopefully neither will I.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Donovan

  Jeremy walks into the kitchen and stops. “Did someone die? You guys look so serious.”

  I shake my head. “Nah, we’re talking about chicks.”

  “Oh, that explains it. Say no more.” He mimes zipping his lips. “On another note, anyone want to go to the women’s hockey game tonight?”

  I perk up at the offer. I haven’t seen Piper since I groomed Chewy three days ago. This could be a great opportunity to watch her in action. “Yeah, I’ll go.”

  “I just realized I haven’t been to a single game of theirs,” Marshall says.

  “Me either,” I add.

  “Why not?” Jeremy looks surprised.

  “I don’t know. It never really occurred to me. Does that make me an asshole?” Marshall asks.

  Jeremy nods. “It’s a little assholish, for sure. Shouldn’t you guys be supporting the women’s team? They’re Terriers too.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” I tell him. “I’m not going to make excuses for why I never go, although, I can come up with a bunch of them. But it’s good if we support them.”

  “We should be,” Marshall agrees.

  Climbing the cement stairs, we choose three empty seats next to the aisle. Many heads swivel our way and we can’t help but notice. “Guess it’s more obvious that we haven’t been to a game yet than we imagined,” Marshall says.

  I scratch the back of my neck. “Well, this is fun.”

  Marshall tugs his cap lower. “Yeah, not awkward at all.”

  “I don’t know what you guys are talking about. This is freaking fantastic. I’ve never had so many attractive girls checking me out before.” Jeremy beams, basking in the attention.

  I nudge Marshall’s arm, pointing a couple of rows down to the left in front of us. “Isn’t that Clover and Maddie?”

  “Jackpot.” He starts to rise and I tug him back down.

  “Maybe you should ignore her so you won’t screw things up.”

  “How can I screw it up?” he asks.

  “Dude, when has Clover been easy for you to please?” I question.

  “I get what you’re saying, but I may not have an opportunity to see her again anytime soon. Go big or go home, right?”

  I shake my head. “Hell no. I think you need a new motto. How about tread lightly and say little? It kind of has a nice ring to it, don’t ya think?”

  “I’ve never really liked playing it safe,” he states.

  I grip his shoulder. “I get that. But, dude, it’s all about the finesse.”

  “You know, as convincing as you just sounded, I’d consider taking your advice if you had one iota of relationship experience. But you have less than I do.” He’s only saying this because he doesn’t know about my history with Piper, and I’m not about to fill him in on the details.

  “That doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m talking about. I just haven’t practiced it yet,” I reason.

  “You can be your own test dummy,” Marshall tells me. My hand falls from his shoulder as he stands. “Wish me luck, boys.”

  Sighing with dread, I anticipate the painful interaction he’s about to engage in. “You’re gonna need more than luck.”

  The crowd gets louder, shouting, and my attention is redirected back to the battle on the ice. A player from the other team has Piper against the boards. Their sticks clash and lock up as they fight for the black disc like it’s made of pure gold. Piper shifts her weight, gaining some space between her and the opposing team’s player.
Swiping the puck, she skates full speed, shooting the disc into the back right corner of the net. Cheers erupt from every inch of the arena. I find myself hooting and hollering along with Jeremy.

  Piper glides by, gazing into the crowd until she finds me. Her challenging, dark gaze is saying take that, asshole. I grin back until she looks away. Her teammates surround her, giving out a slew of high fives.

  For the remainder of the game, my focus remains on Piper. I’m amazed at how much she’s improved since high school. I always knew she was talented, but now her level of play is top-notch. I want to be down on the ice with her. It’ll never happen in a competitive situation because we’re on different teams, but that would be one of the hottest things ever. The two of us working together, playing our favorite sport, would be incredible.

  Sweat trickles down my face with no way to wipe it away. It’s the third period of our first game and there’s no score. It’s only an exhibition game, but we still want to be dominating. Unfortunately, our play is lukewarm at best.

  I noticed Piper in the stands before the start of the game. Her red, shoulder-length hair called to me like a beacon in the crowd. No matter how much I’ve tried to concentrate on what I’m doing, it’s not working. I’m glad it’s not affecting my level of play. Then again, we can’t seem to score, so maybe it is. We’re running out of time and we’re all aware of the pressing need to get some points on the board.

  I pass the puck to Marshall and he takes the shot. The goalie deflects it with his stick, but Marshall gets a hold of the puck once more. This time he hooks it into the net before the goalie realizes. Thank fuck. It’s always nice to draw first blood and get a score up there. The crowd erupts with vigorous cheers and jubilant celebrating.

  With this being an exhibition game, I try to keep my excitement to a minimum and stay focused. We’re only up by one goal and there’s plenty of time left to play. Anything can happen.

  As the game continues, we can’t seem to find our rhythm, and lucky for us, the opposing team can’t either. The clock ticks down the final seconds with Marshall’s goal being the only score of the night. Our play wasn’t what we hoped for, but the crowd cheers wildly and is still happy with our narrow victory. Marshall, Shaw, and I fist bump and then Jeremy joins us.

  “That wasn’t the worst game we’ve played,” Shaw offers.

  “No, but it might be one of our weakest wins.”

  “It doesn’t even count, though,” Jeremy says.

  “Maybe not technically, but they all count to us,” I tell him as we slowly skate toward the open doorway. Glancing up, I search the rows of seats for another glimpse of Piper. I find her standing with some friends. Our eyes meet and her smile falls away. I wish she didn’t look so miserable every time she sees me. Jesus. We’re both older and wiser than we were when we got together. Shouldn’t we be able to at least be civil to one another? When I say we, I really mean Piper. I have no problem being nice to her. In fact, I want to be more than nice to her, if she’d only let me.

  “Thanks for having me over for dinner,” I say.

  “Don’t thank me, it was Perri’s idea,” my brother replies, tipping his head toward his girlfriend.

  “Then thank you, Perri.”

  She waves her hand. “No thanks needed. I figured you could use a home cooked meal.”

  “You have no idea,” I tell her.

  Nolan looks at me like I’ve got two heads. “Are you forgetting I lived in that frat house too?”

  “No, but the food situation is worse than ever. I’ve been eating too much takeout. It’s bad for me and my training.”

  “You know, there’s a simple solution for that,” Nolan says.

  “Tell me, oh wise one.” This should be good.

  “It’s no ancient secret. You need to learn how to cook for yourself,” my brother states.

  “I don’t want to learn how to cook. I don’t really have time to invest in anything else. I’m tapped out between hockey, school, and work.”

  “I bet you have time to get laid,” Nolan snipes.

  “I’m sure I could find time for my favorite hobby, but actually, I haven’t been hooking up with anyone lately.”

  “Are you sick? Terminally ill?” Looking concerned, Perri places her palm on my forehead. “You don’t feel warm.”

  Nolan barks out a laugh.

  “Ha ha. You’re so funny,” I droll.

  “Seriously, what gives?” Perri questions.

  I look at Nolan. “Bro, your girl is awfully concerned with my sex life. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  Nolan smiles. “You’re right, she’s my girl. She can ask you anything she wants. I gotta be honest, I also want to know what’s going on with you. Not hooking up isn’t normal for you. Is something wrong? I know I like to give you shit, but I’m here if you need to talk about anything.”

  “You can talk to me too. I can give you the female point of view,” Perri offers.

  I glance between them. “Guys, there’s nothing wrong with me.”

  “You’re not acting normal,” Nolan says.

  I laugh loudly. “I’m being called out for acting weird all because I’m not screwing random chicks. How fucked is that?”

  “I agree it’s odd, but this is you we’re talking about.” Perri gestures at me like I’m some anomaly.

  “You guys really know how to make a fella feel good about himself.” My sarcasm is thick as a brick wall.

  Perri places her hand on my forearm. “Donovan, you’re a great guy in every way except when it comes to the opposite sex. Then you’re a dog.”

  “I’m not disagreeing with you. I know I’ve played the field.” I can admit that.

  “Dude, you’ve played every field there is,” Nolan jokes.

  “Well, that might be changing,” I confess.

  Perri’s eyes widen. “Holy shit. Did you meet a girl?”

  “She’s someone I knew when I was in high school.” It’s not going to hurt to tell them about Piper. Maybe they can offer some insight into how I get her to give me another chance. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since I saw her at the party. And I had fun bantering with her at the pet store.

  Hell, I’ve been thinking about her for years.

  But now it’s worse because she’s even more than I remembered. More beautiful. More sexy. More challenging. More everything.

  “Did the two of you have a thing back then?” Perri asks.

  “We had a very brief relationship at hockey camp,” I clarify.

  “I’m guessing it ended badly,” she says.

  “Extremely bad. Now she’s transferred to B.U. and she plays on the women’s hockey team.”

  “And,” Perri presses for more details.

  “I saw her at a party and she pretty much hates me.”

  “But you don’t hate her at all. You want her.” Perri nods like she’s got it all figured out.

  “You’re good at this,” I say, giving her props before answering. “Yes, I want her, but I want more than sex. I’ve never gotten over her. She’s always been at the back of my mind. Maybe that’s why I never got emotionally involved with anyone else,” I admit.

  “Jesus. You do have a heart,” Nolan chirps.

  Perri narrows her eyes at him. “Be nice. Your brother is seeking out help. We need to give it to him.”

  Nolan holds his palms up. “I know he is, I’m just surprised he cares about anyone besides himself.”

  “So, how do I get Piper to stop hating me long enough to give me a chance? I need to make her see how much I care.” I’m open for ideas. Even ones from my buttoned-up brother.

  “Nolan, do you have any ideas? You were pretty suave at wooing me,” Perri says. They both smile at each other. Fuck me. Is this really the kind of stuff I want to do with Piper?

  Absofuckinglutely.

  I’ll take all the cliché boyfriend behavior and rock the shit out of it. I can be the best boyfriend she’s ever had.

  “You
need to find a way to get her alone and do something fun. By the way, I mean innocent fun, not sex fun.”

  I interrupt, “Dude, I know that.”

  He looks skeptical but continues. “You have to show her she’s more important to you than an easy screw,” Nolan tells me.

  “There’s nothing easy about Piper. She might be the most stubborn, competitive, and perfect girl on the planet,” I say.

  “Oh my God. You’re in love with her,” Perri squeals, clapping her hands.

  “I don’t need to label how I feel.”

  She snorts. “If you want to get her back, there’s going to come a point where you’ll have to share how you feel about her.”

  “When that time comes, I will.” I’m not ready to call what I feel for her “love.” At eighteen, I thought I loved her. But what does a guy that age know about love? I like her intensely and I’m willing to commit to that.

  “You need to be thoughtful and show her you’re different. Show her you’ve matured. Even if you haven’t,” Nolan mutters under his breath.

  I nod. “I can do that. I think I can anyway.”

  Perri puts her arm around me. “Of course you can. If you need advice, call me. I’ll help you. This whole development is unbelievably exciting. I can’t wait to meet Piper.”

  “Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves,” Nolan cautions. “Give the guy some time to get his plan figured out and get it into action.”

  I raise my eyebrows and look between them pleadingly. “Can’t you guys do that for me?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Piper

  I walk into the bakery tying the green apron around my waist. I’ve been working at Relicious for over two years now. It’s like a second home to me. Papa Lou and Mama Jo opened this place in the fifties and it’s a testament to them that it’s still in business today. The baked goods are geared mostly toward religious type events, hence the name Relicious. It’s a niche that works well for them. We make one-of-a-kind cakes for baptisms, weddings, confirmations, showers, and also birthdays. Whatever the design, Papa Lou and Mama Jo can handle it. Much of their sales are based on custom orders.