Page 66 of The Quit List
Holly is suddenly standing at Maddie’s shoulder, shooting me a little wave. She looks from me, to my sister, and back again, and makes an apologetic face. “Sorry if I’m interrupting.”
“Hello.” Maddie’s smile is impossibly bright as she turns to greet Holly. “You are most definitely not interrupting. Holly, right?”
Holly beams back at her. “Correct. I’m a friend of Jax’s. He didn’t tell me he was expecting company while he was working tonight, but he never tells me anything about his love life.” Her eyes shift to me as she says this and she waggles her brows.
“That’s because there’s nothing to tell,” I reply. “Holly, this is my sister, Maddie.”
“Oh!” she squeaks. “Sorry about that. Nice to meet you, Maddie. Are you the one married to the famous hockey player, then?”
“The best hockey player in the whole NHL,” Maddie says proudly, nodding up at the TV behind the bar. “He’s playing right now, in fact.”
“I hope he’s winning.” Holly sparkles. “I hear congratulations are in order, too.”
”Thank you,” my sister says, cradling her belly as she shoots me a curious look, clearly wondering how close I am with Holly that I would share this news with her. “Seb and I are pretty excited. All the more because we got this guy to say yes to being the godfather.”
“He’ll make a great one, I’m sure of it.” Holly says this with so much confidence, I feel it in my core and I can’t help but smile at her.
“So,” Holly says as she settles onto the barstool next to Maddie’s. “Tell me about these hockey players. There’s so many books featuring hockey players these days—I keep hearing about how hot they are, but I know nothing about hockey.”
Maddie turns on her stool. “First of all, the rumors are true. Trust me.” She winks. Horrifyingly. “And also, don’t worry about not knowing the sport. When I first started working for the Cyclones, I knew nothing?—”
“What happened to Foot Man?” I interrupt swiftly, unable to help myself. I’m much more interested in hearing how Holly’s date went than listening to Maddie waxing eloquent about Hockey Superstar Ken, even though he is pretty great.
I go on to set a cranberry and soda on the bar in front of Holly, almost as a reflex, and Maddie arches a brow at me questioningly.
“Work emergency,” Holly explains, nodding towards the now-vacant booth. She then picks up her drink. “Thank you, I’m so thirsty.”
“What kind of work emergency could a foot doctor possibly have on a Saturday night?”
“I don’t know,” she says, pulling a face. “Frostbite? A severed toe?”
“Could have to tend to a hockey player,” Maddie offers. “They have really gross feet, you know.”
“So I’ve heard.” My eyes are still on Holly, trying to gauge what she’s feeling right now. A foot emergency kind of sounds like a brush off. “How did the date go?”
She rolls her eyes. “Right now is not the time to stop being brutally honest with me. Yes, it was probably a fake excuse.” She rattles her ice around in her cup. “Which is actually… okay.”
I nod slowly, my eyes still sweeping over her face as she examines her now-empty glass. For a second, I almost forget my sister’s presence, until she suddenly clambers off her barstool.
“I need to pee! Too many lemonades for me. Be right back.”
I’m not sure if Maddie timed her bathroom break on purpose—or if nature really was calling—but either way, I’m grateful to have a moment alone with Holly.
“She seems nice.”
I can’t help but chuckle as I grab the next order and start working on a dry gin martini. “Maddie’s my favorite family member by a long shot. She plays the role of annoying little sister a little too well sometimes, but I love her to death.”
“You guys have any more siblings?” Holly blinks. “I’ve just realized I know nothing about your family.”
“Nah, it’s only the two of us. We’re actually step-siblings—her mom is married to my dad.”
“Cool. Are you all close?”
“Not really. My dad’s kind of a jackass.” I don’t know why I’m telling her this. “Mad’s mom isn’t the warmest person on earth either, but being married to my dad does not help, I’m sure.”
“That’s too bad.” Holly looks at me, biting into her full bottom lip with her teeth. “But at least you and Maddie are tight?”
“Super tight. But enough about me, tell me what happened on your date,” I say as I ring up an order on my computer for a cheesecake delivery to be made to the bar.