Page 69 of A Shot at Love
“Sydney, oh my god.” Frankie dropped her hands and kicked Sydney beneath the table. “Stop.”
“What?” Sydney innocently chuckled and shrugged. “It’s the truth!”
“Dine and dash…” Jules pondered her words for a minute then threw a glance at Frankie next to her. “Can’t say I’ve heard that one before but…I can see it.”
Scoffing, Frankie gently nudged Jules’ shoulder and frowned. “Wow, so rude. But just so we’re clear, this was a long, long time ago. I am a changed woman.”
“I think she probably paid more money for replacement keycards that year than anyone else in our entire dorm,” Sydney said, laughing again as her eyes glazed over, clearly recalling the memories. “Luckily we shared a ground floor dorm room and we, let’s just say…adapted our living room window. It wasn’t meant to open all the way but for the rest of second year, ours was the only window thatcouldopen all the way.”
“Well, just so you know,” Jules slid her hand onto Frankie’s thigh beneath the table and batted her pretty eyelashes, her cheeks flushing with the cutest shade of pink. “I would’ve never let you sneak out in the middle of the night if it were me you were hooking up with in college.”
“Oh yeah?” Frankie shifted slightly in her seat to face Jules better. Ignoring the fact that Sydney was across from them at the table, she raised an eyebrow and challenged Jules. “And how would you manage that?”
“It’s simple, really. You’d have such a good time with me that you wouldn’t want to leave.”
“That good, huh?”
An over exaggerated gagging sound pulled Frankie out of her little Jules shaped bubble and back to reality. Sydney was staring at them with a disgusted look and she pointed at the door. “Should I leave? I feel like I’m interrupting a very private moment and I feel a bit weird about it.”
“Don’t be such a prude. You’ve heard worse,” Frankie groaned and shot Jules a sideways glance with a wink.
Jules returned the wink and smiled a sweet little smile, one only meant for Frankie, and then she focused all of her attention on the other woman at their table. “What about you Sydney, are you dating anyone in Sweden?”
“Me? Dating?” Sydney waved the question off and casually leaned back in her seat, pasting on a smile that felt too forced, a little performative even. “Pfft, yeah right. My one and only true love is hockey.”
“Really? There’s no Scandinavian sweetheart in your life?” Jules still had her hand on Frankie’s leg under the table and she softly stroked her fingers across Frankie’s denim clad thigh with deliberate precision.
“Nah.” Sydney gave her head a shake and gulped down another large sip of her beer. “I’m too busy with training, games and travel. I even have a sponsorship photoshoot in a couple of weeks for some Nordic energy drink no one outside of that part of the world has ever heard of.”
She was giving off an air of disinterest but it wasn’t believable and there was something there beneath the surface, something Sydney was keeping to herself but Frankie didn’t know why. It may have been months since they’d seen each other last, but Frankie knew Sydney well enough to pick up on her tell and something was a little off.
Frankie’s brows furrowed slightly as she studied her, trying to pinpoint what was different. Sydney had always been forthcoming, never one to keep something to herself, especially when it came to dating but Frankie could sense that there was something Sydney didn’t want Frankie to know.
“Well since you’re not dating anyone, she’s cute?” Frankie proposed, nodding towards the bar where a pretty blonde bartender with a floral tattoo sleeve was wiping the bartop down and glancing in their direction, her eyes fixed on Sydney. She quickly looked away when Frankie met her eye.
“Yeah, she is,” Sydney sighed, not even bothering to glance over her shoulder at the woman in question. “But I’m only here for a few days, no point in getting into something when I’ll be back on a plane in five minutes.”
“Wow, the Sydney I know would never turn down a pretty girl who was interested in her.”
“Sounds like both of you were heartbreakers then,” Jules said, poking Frankie in her side. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun and she was wearing an oversized blue flannel that complimented her eyes so well, making them seem like an even icier shade of blue somehow.
She was gorgeous and Frankie was constantly reminded of just how lucky she was, how much she wanted to cement every moment she spent with Jules, and this one, with Sydney sitting across from her for the first time in nearly a year, was especially worth committing to memory. She didn’t know when she’d get a night like this again, a moment in time with her favourite people in a tiny corner of the world she now called home.
“Thank God Frank has found someone to settle down with though.” Sydney laughed a little and when she smiled again, Frankie knew it was sincere this time. She reached across the table to clink her glass against Frankie’s. “Cheers to a relationship that I will absolutely take all the credit for.”
“A relationship Sydney takes credit for?” Jules smirked and looked between both Sydney and Frankie, her eyes bright with curiosity and a desire to know far more than what Frankie or Sydney were willing to confess right now.
One day Frankie would tell Jules all about how Sydney had told her to go for it, to not worry about what could or couldn’t happen, and to follow her heart. But that day wasn’t today. Frankie caught Sydney’s eye and gave her head a tiny shake and Sydney just grinned, offering an almost imperceptible nod in return.
“It doesn’t matter.” Frankie shifted to look at Jules and pressed a kiss to her temple then crumpled up another napkin and threw it at Sydney, hitting her square in the face. “What does matter is getting Sydney to stop calling me Frank.”
The next morning Frankie was standing in her kitchen making coffee when she heard a groan on the couch. She didn’t have a guest bedroom, but she’d insisted on her couch being comfortable enough to sleep on so if there were ever a night where she fell asleep watching tv, her back wouldn’t hate her by the time she woke up. Frankie glanced towards the large plush couch just as Sydney rolled over and pushed herself up into a seated position. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched her arms over her head as she yawned.
“You’re making me coffee? Damn, you’re a fantastic host. Do you want my breakfast order next?”
Frankie laughed and carried two steaming mugs of coffee over to the coffee table by her couch. She set one down on a coaster in front of Sydney and pushed aside some of the blankets before settling down on the couch beside her.
“Don’t push your luck, buddy.” Frankie took a sip from her mug, letting the caffeine settle in her and she leaned back against the couch cushions with a sigh. “Last night was fun, eh?”
