The One You Can't Forget (The One, #1)

twenty-nine

Emyln

I meet up with Val and Rosa at the ice cream parlour Val works at. Conveniently, today is her day off, but that doesn't mean she's not able to get me a large waffle cone with strawberry cheesecake ice cream for free. Which she does. She also makes a remark about how someone else who plays a significant part in my life seems to be enchanted by the stuff. Of course, they laugh at me when I start blushing furiously. Now I know how Hains felt when we went out last night.

"Knock it off," I warn them through my smile.

"Aw, come on, sis," Rosa says, taking a lick of her mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. I wrinkle my nose in disgust – who in their right mind could possibly like that shit? Mint and chocolate is a couple that was never meant to be. "We're just teasing you."

"Yeah, Rosie," I reply, rolling my eyes. "I know. And now I know how poor Hains felt last night while we were making fun of him for being underage. Remind me to apologize to him tonight after hockey."

Val snorts. "Please – like you're going to have a chance to apologize to him. We all know what the two of you are going to do after hockey's over." She glances at me and makes a kissy face.

I frown at her. Though that's something I wouldn't mind doing with Hains, it's not what I had been planning on. After hockey I actually wanted to go to his house and see his mom – I haven't seen her for years and I would like to play catch up. I want to know how she's doing after the shit Hains's dad pulled. The three of us would be good together, talking about past problems. Maybe there'd be some laughs.

"Someone's lost in her daydreams," Rosa says.

I shake my head. "No, I'm not. I was just thinking about what I actually want to do after hockey."

"Which is...?" my sister presses.

"I was thinking of asking Hains if I could see his mom. It's been years and she was always so nice to us when we were kids. On top of that, I haven't been to his house since I lived here."

When I'm finished speaking, I look between the girls and see two different reactions, one that is null because I was expecting it and one that concerns me greatly. Rosa looks impressed with me – I've always been the reckless one, so it's not surprising for her and Val to think all I wanted to do after hockey was hook up with Hains. It's probably something I would have done if the circumstances had been different between him and I. But they're the way they are, so I'm going to take things slow and get to know him better than ever before I do anything like that. Val's reaction is the one that concerns me. She won't make eye contact with me to express her approval of my plans (not that I care, but it would be nice to have support from my sister and one of my best friends), nor will she stop picking at the nail polish on her fingernails.

Just like what Hains said about his mom needing his college funds for a lawyer during the divorce, I find Val's behaviour suspicious. She knows something I don't.