Secretly

“You were dating that guy?” Patrick asked, unceremoniously shoveling eggs into his mouth. It’d been a while since the boys had had a home cooked meal, and Patrick was eating like he hadn’t eaten in days.

Jonathan hadn’t touched his breakfast, and was sitting stoically at the kitchen island while Julie cracked eggs, toasted bread, and fried bacon. The boys had helped her picked up the mess that Mike left behind, and they were now just sitting down.

“Unfortunately,” Julie answered, her mouth full of bacon. She was too hungry to care about her manners.

“What crawled up his butt and died this morning?” Patrick asked. Jon winced. Only Kaner would ask something like this after witnessing a very public break up. Jonathan wished he’d just eat his eggs and stop asking so many questions.

“I said we should break up.”

“Is that so?” Patrick asked, a glint in his blue eyes.

“You told him you were in love with me!” Jon accused, speaking up for the first time since Mike left.

“I never said that!” Julie defended herself. “I said SOMEONE. I never said YOU.”

Jon narrowed his eyes at her. He’d known exactly what was happening. He hadn’t missed the pointed look she gave him when she said she was in love with someone else. He should have been annoyed. In any other circumstance, he would have been, but he wasn’t now, and he didn’t know why.

“You owe me," he said. It wasn’t what he wanted to say, exactly, but it was sufficient for now.

“Anyway,” Patrick cut in, not sure what was happening between the two, “We have a game tomorrow, you should come.”

“Game?” Julie repeated, getting up to refill their orange juice and check the eggs. Now that Jon was verbal, it seemed like his appetite had returned. It was a good thing she’d stocked up for Mike’s visit.

“Yeah, we’re hockey players,” Patrick explained smugly. “We’re kind of a big deal.” Jon rolled his eyes. The first time they’d been in Julie’s apartment, it was sparse of any personal items save for a few pictures here and there.

Now, Jon noticed all the football paraphernalia, specifically those of the Washington Redskins. Which made sense, since Julie was from D.C. There were magnets on the fridge and a few signed posters and wall decorations.

He guessed that Julie wouldn’t know much, or anything at all, about hockey. Let alone who he and Patrick were. And what a big deal they are.

Patrick went on, undeterred. “We play for this team called the Chicago Blackhawks and --”

“I know who you guys are.” Julie interrupted, surprising them both.

“You do?” They asked simultaneously. Patrick looked even more smug and pleased with himself, no doubt thinking about the accomplishments that were listed under his name.

Jon was a little unsure and uneasy. He didn’t know how much he trusted Google to put him in a positive light.

Julie nodded. “Yup. I went on the Registered Sex Offenders site, to make sure, you know, you guys weren’t on it. And good news, you’re not!”

Patrick burst out laughing while Jon was horrified. Did he LOOK like a registered sex offender?! Kane, with all the womanizing he does, maybe, but him?

This girl was ridiculous. She was hostile when they first met, and barely talked to them since she moved in even though Patrick had been nothing but welcoming. Sure, he’d called her grandmother a mean old fart (okay, that was a little much), but he’d apologized for it.

And, alright, she’d thought they were registered sex offenders, but if they were, at least they were nice ones!

We made cookies! Jon thought hotly. He had no idea where Julie came from, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He’d never been mistaken for a sex offender before, and he was sure not happy about that.

Not to mention the whole Mike thing. Who did she think she was? Using him like that. And worst of all, why wasn’t he upset about it?

Jon listened as Patrick and Julie argued over whether hockey or football was the superior sport. He’d never seen anyone so worked up about anything. Her ponytail swung back and forth as she bantered with his best friend. Patrick was smiling, clearly enjoying himself, and so was Julie, the light dancing in her brown eyes. She didn’t even care that she was talking with her mouth full, and Jon admired that kind of un-ladylike mannerism for the sake of sport trash talking.

He realized then that he wasn’t mad at Julie for using him as a pawn in her break-up. He was more upset over the fact that when she said she was in love with someone else and looked at him, she hadn’t meant it.

But he really, really wished she did.