Room for You by Beth Ehemann

for my truck.
    I reached out and grabbed her hand, tugging on it gently. “This way.” I nodded to the right.
    She looked surprised. “That way? There’s nothing over-”
    “Shh. Follow me.”
    She didn’t resist again, gripping my hand back and following me around the side of the house. We didn’t talk while we walked across the backyard or for the couple hundred feet down to the lake. I peeked back at her, silently congratulating myself at the confused look on her face.
    When we got to the edge of the yard, I made a slight left, still pulling her behind me. We stepped onto the creaky wooden boards of the pier and I looked back at her again. Her eyes were fixed on the blanket and candles at the end of the pier. She looked at me and smirked, shaking her head.
    “What?” I joked, defensively.
    “The candles—those aren’t exactly ‘friend’ candles.” She nudged my shoulder without letting go of my hand. Any physical contact with her was a bonus. She could give me a noogie and I’d consider it a win.
    “No, they aren’t ‘friend’ candles, they’re citronella. I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea and start hitting on me or anything.”
    She laughed heartily and I silently put another tick in the win column.
    As we got to the edge of the pier, I regretfully let go of her hand so I could go around to the other side of the blanket. I waited for her to sit first, then I followed suit.
    She glanced down at the dinner I’d thought long and hard about. “Pizza and beer, huh?”
    “Hey, if we were on a date, I would be trying to impress you. Since we’re just pals, this is all you get.”
    She playfully stuck out her tongue and grabbed a Miller 64 out of the cooler. She twisted the cap off and raised the bottle to her mouth, licking her lips before the bottle touched them. My khakis felt tight; I looked out at the water and talked to myself.
    Speed boats. Green grass. Pringles. Jay Cutler .
    I took a deep breath and looked back at Kacie, crisis averted. Her eyes were narrowed, mouth closed with her tongue running along her teeth. “What were you just thinking about?”
    Ripping your clothes off and fucking you right here on this pier .
    “Um … I’m just wondering how this friend thing is gonna work? I normally talk about beer and sports with my friends. I know that you’re clearly not a hockey fan, so what should we talk about?”
    She looked down at the pier, embarrassed that I’d reminded her that she didn’t know who I was when we met. Little did she know that was one of the many things that attracted me to her.
    “Let’s talk about you,” she said.
    I pulled out the paper plates and handed her one. “Me?”
    “Yeah, I blabbed enough about me the first night we met, now it’s your turn.”
    “Ok, what do you want to know?”
    “Why don’t you tell me about your last relationship?” She grabbed a slice of pizza and started nibbling on the end.
    “I’ve never had a relationship.”
    “Liar.”
    “No joke. I’ve dated, but never anything serious. Hockey has been my life since I was ten years old. In high school, I was too focused on playing in college to date. Once I was in college, I was too focused on playing professionally. Now that I play professionally, I’m wary of every girl I meet.” She searched my face, looking for a clue that I was being truthful. “I promise you. Google me, you won’t find too many articles about me with girls.”
    “I already did, and you’re right. No articles about girls, but I do know that you love fountains.”
    “Ah, you read about that one, huh? Did you see the mugshot too?” I scratched my head, wishing I could delete that completely off the Internet. “It was a fun night, but it got a little out of hand.”
    “That’s a story I want to hear…”
    “Long story short, I was dared. We were playing in Chicago, and my buddy Viper and I went out after the game for drinks. I had too much liquid courage in my system and Viper dared me to