The team had been traveling, and other than a few miscellaneous texts conversations, there was no news to share on my end.
What ? Esme replied innocently. You have fun with him and-
The loud sound of a phone ringing cut her off.
It’s not mine, Harper said, nodding to her phone on the counter as she grabbed the white wine from the fridge.
Feeling the accompanying vibrations in my back pocket, I lifted my hips off the couch to pull my phone out. It’s me, I said, only to freeze momentarily when I saw the name on the screen.
Which did not go unnoticed by Esme, as her lips turned into a knowing smirk. Speak of the devil.
I felt the heat of a light blush rise on my cheeks, waving at them to be quiet before accepting the call. Hello.
Hey, how’s it going ? Derrick asked, his voice rough through the phone.
Good, I replied, running my free hand through my hair, a nervous tick despite him not being able to see me. My friend could, however, and when I flitted my gaze their way, they were watching me with amusement. I managed to get a decent amount of my final report mapped out, so now I’m taking the night off.
Any chance a hockey game is on your schedule for tonight ?
Funnily enough, it is, I drawled. And shouldn’t you be getting ready ? You know, smack talk, team squats, visualizing a win ; all that fun stuff.
The responding chuckle shot down the line, causing a spark of tension to coil in my chest, only to be eradicated when my friends began upping their teasing. Mocking heart eyes, kissy faces, and an overexaggerated faint in which Esme fell back into Harper’s arms that had me rolling my eyes.
That’s not exactly my normal ritual, he mused, but I should get back to pregame warm-ups. I just wanted to see if you’d be interested in a ticket tonight ?
His offer put me on the spot, considering the plan tonight had been to watch and cheer from afar. The television was already on, though it was muted, with the broadcasters analyzing tonight’s games and putting together their predictions. And when I finally broke the silence, all that came from my mouth were incoherent mumbles.
Thankfully, Derrick cut back in, taking the pressure off me.
There’s no strings, Lia, he affirmed softly. We all get tickets to the games, and it’s rare I put mine to use. So, if you wanted one, I could put it at the will call window for you.
Uh, yeah, thank you, I said, still shocked at the turn of events. Though when I glanced back at my friends, who were now watching with interest, I bit my lip sheepishly. Actually, do you happen to have two more ?
I’m sure I can pull something together.
I grinned, watching as Esme and Harper’s eyes widened. Then great, we’ll be there.
Albeit, we’d be late.
After downing the wine we’d already poured, scouring the apartment for Knights’ apparel, and ordering an Uber, the puck had already been dropped. Though with less traffic than expected, we walked into the arena with five minutes left in the first period.
You know, Esme started as the three of us wedged and twisted our way passed a row full of hockey fans to get to our seats, I’m sorry for any teasing comments I made about you dating a hockey player. If this is one of the perks we get by association, I’m all for it.
Would you hush ? I said, looking around surreptitiously to make sure nobody had heard her. Luckily, they all seemed to be engrossed in the game, or more specifically, cheering for Nyberg after he smothered a slap shot from the blue line. The last thing I need right now is to be tossed into the gossip columns.
And while I could’ve reiterated the fact that Derrick and I were, in fact, not dating, I couldn’t confidently say that was true anymore. After all, I’d agreed to come to tonight-which could, you know, possibly count as a second date if I saw him after the game-and there was no way we could backpedal into friendship territory. Not with the chemistry that seemed to ignite between us whenever we were in the same room.
So maybe, just maybe, we were dating. Casually.
And maybe I was okay with that.