Now in his empty house, Kip laid down on his empty bed. He never let anyone else into his house, into his bed. No matter how many other women he fucked, and there were a number. Lots of women were keen to be with a hockey star, such as he was. He never let anyone else into his heart.
That's why it mattered so much he find out where she was. So long as he never had a relationship with another woman, there was always hope that he would be with Mandy again someday.
Kip stared at the ceiling, feeling half hard from the memory of making love to her, stunned with the knowledge that he still loved Mandy. Or he thought he still loved her. Was it real love? Or just a stupid feeling left over from high school? Was that real love or puppy love? Why had he never been able to move on from her?
Those were the question he'd been avoiding asking for a very long time.
It was eleven years ago, that part of his life was as meaningless as the hockey he'd played then. He was forever stuck, in love with a ghost. He was no longer 18 year old Kip; and thirty year old Mandy was not his Mandy, she was no longer the girl who would forever be his Mandy.
****
Mandy tapped her fingers lightly against the home row of the keyboard. A week that stupid friend request was pending. A week. It was starting to creep into all areas of her life. She even dreamt about it last night, which was why she was sitting at the keyboard at 5:45 AM, waiting for the computer to boot.
She logged into stupid Facebook and clicked send message. She decided to go with a casual message.
Hey Kip It's nice to hear from you again. What are you doing these days? Besides the obvious that is. I've caught a few of your games on television. Hope to hear from you soon -MG With that message sent she had no choice any longer. She chose the option to accept his request. She buried her head in her hands, what was she thinking. With a deep sigh she typed his name into Google and clicked the first link that popped up, a news item. He'd recently been traded. To Calgary.
Fuck. She only lived an hour north of the city. Far within visiting distance. In fact, going there was a semi-regular event, with the zoo and the amusement park therein. She was going to have to start travelling to Edmonton for shopping trips, convince Colton that the attractions in Edmonton were better.