Plié and Clout

Chapter 23: Apparently A Super Nice Guy

"With Boston, right?"

"Yeah, with the little Boston office." He nods. "Weird process, would not recommend."

"I've been considering picking up a job in Manitoba, moving to Winnipeg. They've given me a couple of offers, but I've got a lease on that apartment for another year."

"So you're off to Manitoba in a year?" He looks a little sad.

"Not necessarily. I like it here. Plus I've got the ballet thing." He nods.

"Alright, just making sure I wasn't going to have to become a Jets fan to keep up with you."

"Jets?"
"Winnipeg Jets." He mumbles over a mouthful of food. "Hockey."

"Oh." I laugh. "See, I don't even know enough hockey to name any of the teams. I know like four players. Chara, Rask. But they're all Boston."

"Old Boston too," he nods. "Marchand, Pastrnak, Backes, Coyle."

"Oh boy." I laugh. "Here we go."

"There's no team in Maine so I was a die-hard Bruins fan as a kid." He puts the end of his thumb in his mouth and wiggles at a little piece of food.

I squint at his teeth for a minute. I've kissed them, but not looked at them. There's one broken all the way in half on the bottom, the one next to it has a hefty chip. "Steph?"

"You're going to ask about the teeth, right?"

I nod, turning a little pink.

"I fell up a staircase when I was eighteen." He shrugs. "They capped them, so it doesn't hurt, but almost everyone I meet asks."

"Sorry."

"No, it's alright, I get why you'd be curious, I mean, not every guy you run across has two broken teeth."

"Yeah." I let out a little laugh. "A staircase?"

"I was really nervous and tripped, couldn't get my hands under me. It was a miracle I didn't break more of them." He rubs his chin a little. "My mom was always mad that I played hockey as a kid because she didn't want me to get a hockey smile, but I managed it anyway."

"It's cute." I shrug. His ears get red.

"You're into the broken teeth?"

"Yeah," I muster my confidence. "Like I said, it's cute."

"I've never heard that before." He smiles. "Jilly normally tells me that I should learn to whistle with them."

"Well, I mean, I would skip the whistling and go straight for holding straws there."

"Oh, I already do that. It also makes flossing easier, and I've got just a little less space to brush." He spreads his arms. "Win-win situation." I giggle at how much confidence he just got from one compliment.

"Look at you, one minute ago you were self-conscious about them and now you're cracking jokes."

"Fantastic deflection method, isn't it?" He takes another bite and I can't quite keep my eyes off him. He's mind-blowingly attractive. Also unnaturally muscular for a regular guy.

"Okay, where's your bathroom, I gotta pee." I look around. He chews and points at a door down the hall.

I hop off the counter and open the door. Ooh, that shower looks like one hell of a good time. It's got the big rainwater head on it that comes down from the ceiling. This boy is stacked.

AUGUST: Thatcher street. He's up in one of the bigger apartment blocks. The eleventh floor of twelve and the apartment is huge.

GABBY: no fucking way