Only One Chance (Only One 2)

“Can I help you guys with anything?” she asks, and I look up at her.

“We are just looking,” I say, turning around now as she steps away.

“Was that hard?” Manning asks.

“It must kill him,” Ralph says. And I just look at them.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say to them.

“This is what would have happened,” Manning says to me and then looks at Ralph. “You be the girl.”

“Hi, can I help you guys with something?” he says to Manning and pretends to throw his hair behind his shoulder, and I laugh at him.

“Not yet, sugar,” Manning says. “But as soon as I see something I like”—he winks at Ralph—“you’ll be the first to know.”

“I am not like that,” I say as Ralph laughs.

“Manning,” Ralph says, “you nailed that part and the wink.”

I shake my head. “You are both assholes.” I grab the jacket and go to the cashier, whipping out my card when she asks how I’m paying. “Thank you.” I grab the jacket. “Actually …” I smile at her. “Do you think you can cut off the tags for me?” And I swear I have to stop my eye from winking.

“Sure thing,” she says, cutting off the tags and the instructions. “If you have any questions, my number is on the bill.”

“Thank you.” I smile at her and walk out.

When we walk past a group of girls, one of them spots us, and you can tell her eyes light up. “Oh my God, you guys are my favorite players,” she says, and even I want to roll my eyes. “Can I get a picture with the three of you?”

“Sure,” we all say. I watch Ralph and Manning walk to her, and all they do is stand next to her. Actually, their bodies are away from her, and they just lean in their heads. I walk over when the girl tries to put her arm through Ralph’s and Manning’s. They stick their hands in their pockets so she knows they don’t really want her touching. “Thank you, guys,” she says and walks away.

“She touched you.” I point at the guys and mimic her holding their arms.

“Yes,” Ralph says, “but that picture will show I had my hands in my pockets, and she touched me and not I wanted her to.”

I don’t say anything, and for the next three days, I watch and learn basically. I break the habit of smiling so much while still remaining polite.

Right before we load the plane to go home, Ralph walks past me and says, “He’s learning, grasshopper.” I’ve just left three girls who all wanted a selfie with me. I posed with my head leaning into them and not my body.

“He looks like a cardboard cut out,” Manning says. “But at least I didn’t hear any sweeties or beautiful.” I shove his shoulder, and he just laughs. “But seriously, do you see it now?”

I look right and left and then down. “I do. I just never really paid attention or thought twice about it.”

“That’s because you were single,” Ralph says. “It’s a different ball game when you are with someone, and you have to take their feelings into consideration.”

“I am single,” I tell them, and they both laugh.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Manning says. “Layla is the best.”

I glare at him, and my hands clench into fists. “Aren’t you not available?” He laughs and shakes his head.

“You have to say you’re sorry,” Ralph says.

“What if she slams the door in my face?” I ask them, and they both shrug.

“What if she doesn’t?” Manning says and walks ahead of me to get onto the plane, leaving me in the middle of the steps with people walking around me.

“What if she doesn’t?” I repeat to myself and make a plan to go and give it one last shot.Chapter 21LaylaI open the shades leading out to the backyard. The bright sun shines in right away, making me close one eye. “Too bright to start the day,” I grumble, walking to start my coffee while I turn on the television, and the sound of SportsCenter plays. I turn my attention to the television when they bring up the game yesterday against Edmonton.

“Someone has lit a fire under Adams’s skates because he is having the week of his life,” one of the broadcasters says of Miller, and I have to agree. He is on fire. He scored a goal in every game along with an assist. He was named player of the game for the past two games.

“I guess he’s handling the breakup better than you,” I say to myself and then shake my head. “Breakup? You need to date someone in order to break up with them.”

I watch another play that happened last night, and I couldn’t agree with them more. “He is on fucking fire.” The play shows his skating into the zone, leaving the puck so fast no one sees that it’s not on his blade anymore when Ralph picks it up and shoots it five hole. “Cocky Adams, very, very cocky.”