Page 69 of In His Skates

“How long does your period last?”

“Two days, usually.”

“Am I going to be in pain for two fucking days?”

“No. It’s usually only bad for the first day.”

I relax against the pillow. “Thank God. This is the worst.”

She rolls her eyes. “There’s a reason men aren’t responsible for birthing babies. You wouldn’t last an hour in labor.”

“Give me a break. Women only feel pain by choice. You can always ask for drugs.”

“Not every woman can have an epidural. Besides, they only give you one when you’re close to delivering the baby.”

I frown. “How do you know all that?”

She shrugs. “I played a pregnant teen at the beginning of my career.”

“Oh yeah. I remember.”

She tilts her head. “You remember? Are you saying you actually watched that episode of Emergency Room LA?”

Fuck. I had to open my big mouth. “Maybe.”

She sits on the edge of the mattress and touches my arm. “What else did you watch?”

I look away, embarrassed as hell. “Everything.”

“No way!”

“I’m not lying.” I glance at her and find her staring at me through slits.

“You hated me. Did you just want to see me crash and burn?”

I could lie and say hell no, but I don’t want to play games with her. “Truthfully, yes, but only in the beginning. Once I saw how talented you were, I wasn’t hoping you’d suck.”

She blinks fast and doesn’t say a word for a couple of beats. “Wow. I didn’t expect that from you.”

“What can I say? I’m full of surprises. How about you? Did you ever watch any of my games?”

“Of course.”

Stupid hope surges within my chest. Maybe Leigh cared about me as well, even when she was supposed to hate me. “Really?”

“Don’t let that go to your head. I love hockey, and I never missed a Minnesota Menace game. So whenever you were playing them, I had to suffer watching you on my TV.”

“Oh.” Disappointment floods through me. And here I thought she cared about how my career was going.

“Are you mad?”

“No, of course not.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m not mad. At least, I’m not mad at you. You had every right not to root for me after what I did to you at graduation, and all the other stupid shit I pulled while we were growing up. I was an ass to you.”

Her expression softens. “But you’re not an ass to me now.”