Darkroom: A Moo U Hockey Romance by Kate Willoughby (reading a book .txt) 📕

Afterward, Hudson asked if Ruby and I wanted to hang out at their place until they had to go dress for their second game against UConn.

Ruby shook her head. “I have to study, but you should go if you want, Indi.”

I didn’t hesitate. “Okay. That sounds fun.”

“Aw, come on, Rube,” AJ said. “We can play video games or ping-pong or watch The Princess Bride.”

“Sorry,” Ruby said. “School comes first.”

“Okay. Sure. I understand,” he said, looking dejected.

Because they were low on groceries, AJ dropped Hudson and me at their place before taking Ruby home and then heading to the store.

I really should have hit the books too. I had a quiz tomorrow, but so far, my psychopharmacology class was pretty easy and a quick review of my notes before I went to bed would probably be enough.

Their second-floor apartment was almost right in the center of town, with gorgeous views of the lake and mountains. Hudson told me the building used to be a railroad warehouse until they converted it a few years ago into apartments.

The interior of their place was big and I was jealous of how much space they had. There was a TV show about downsizing to live in tiny houses and I wondered if any of the people on the show had ever lived in a dorm. My personal hope was that I would never in my life have to live in such crowded quarters again.

“I like your place,” I said. “It’s really nice, like something out of a Pottery Barn catalog.”

The whole apartment was a collage of warm grays and cream and looked like it had been professionally decorated. The furniture looked new and there were accent rugs and plants and artsy knick-knacks that gave the whole place a cohesive style. Neither AJ nor Hudson seemed like people who would buy a floor vase filled with eucalyptus sprigs so I wondered if their apartment had come furnished. The only thing that defined this as the domain of two college guys was the green ping-pong table in the middle of the dining area and the tally of game wins taped to the wall.

“Funny you should say that because it did come from a Pottery Barn catalog,” he said with a laugh. “Page fifty-six. The Hudson Collection. I’m not even kidding. When my mom saw that, it was a no-brainer.”

I took a peek in his bedroom and saw a similar muted style. A queen-sized bed with a thick oversized-plaid comforter and actual matching throw pillows dominated the room. The furniture had black iron accents and a huge plush rug made everything cozy.

That’s when I noticed Deke’s house. I didn’t see him on the top floor, so he must have been nestled in all the fluff on the bottom level. Hudson noticed my interest and came over.

“He’s asleep right now and unfortunately, he doesn’t like to be disturbed otherwise I’d let you hold him.”

“That’s okay. Some other time. I guess hamsters need their beauty sleep too.”

“So, you want something to eat?” he asked. “I have some graham crackers or yogurt. Or I could make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

“You’re not serious, are you?” I asked, plopping down on their comfy sofa. “I’m stuffed from the dim sum.”

“Yeah, I noticed you packing it in.”

I scoffed. “Like you weren’t eating a good ten minutes after I was finished.” I sighed. “Do you think AJ’s okay? I really didn’t mean to snap at him like I did. It’s just one of my hot buttons when people assume stuff because I look like I’m Chinese.”

“I hate to break it to you, lady,” he said with a chuckle, “but you are Chinese.”

“No, I only look Chinese.”

He shook his head as he sat down next to me. “I don’t really understand, but that’s fine.”

“It’s like this. If you go into Wang’s and you don’t know how to use chopsticks, no one judges you. But if I do the same thing…it’s embarrassing.”

“But you used the chopsticks today. Sure, you weren’t great at it, but you did it. Problem solved. But let’s say you didn’t. Let’s say you decided to use the fork. Who cares? I mean, I think Forte is an Italian name but I’m honestly not sure, and where my mom’s side of the family comes from is a muddle too. So if I don’t know anything about my heritage, why should you?”

I had honestly never looked at it like that. He was right. Just because my ethnicity was more obvious than his didn’t mean I was more obligated to know about the culture of my ancestors. And yet, I couldn’t pretend the feelings weren’t there.

In the end, I decided this was a “me problem.” I really felt bad about how I’d snapped at AJ so I decided, if this particular hot button was pushed in the future, I’d suck it up and deal instead of lash out. I didn’t want to put it on other people to walk on eggshells around me because I had mixed-up feelings about my heritage. At the same time, I would try not to care as much what strangers thought of me.

Feeling like I’d turned some kind of corner, I turned to Hudson. “What you said makes a lot of sense, but if you don’t mind, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Honestly, me neither. Mostly,” he said with a mischievous grin, “because I haven’t kissed you today yet.”

“I hadn’t really noticed,” I said then yelped as he tickled me.

“Liar,” he said. “You probably spent the night dreaming about my kisses.”

I squirmed to escape because I was really ticklish.

“Admit it!” he said, mercilessly finding all my most ticklish areas.

“Okay, okay! I did dream about you last night. I dreamt we did it in the hockey arena.”

He stilled. “No shit. Really?”

Flushing, I nodded.

I almost never had sexy dreams and this had been a doozy. We were making out in the penalty box of the empty hockey arena. Hudson was wearing street clothes and I was wearing nothing