Page 358 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

"You've never planned a hockey fundraiser."

Everyone laughs.

I simply stand there watching them.

The laughter. The teasing. The way Brooke already knows where to hang the dresses.

The way Paige helped Sadie arrange breakfast without anyone asking, the way Sadie is arranging the makeup and hair products, and the way Becca somehow keeps everyone moving while making it feel effortless.

Months ago, I couldn't have imagined any of this. When I arrived in Frostholm, Keisha was the only person outside my family I could have pictured standing beside me today.

***

For a while, nobody worries about schedules.

Coffee grows cold.

The cinnamon rolls disappear one sticky bite at a time.

Stories tumble over one another until none of us can remember who started talking first.

Keisha reminds everyone about the time I locked myself out of my apartment wearing oversized fuzzy socks and a sweatshirt that said Powered by Coffee.

"I maintain," I tell them, "that I looked completely respectable."

"You were carrying your garbage to the dumpster in your underpants!" Keisha says.

"I was being environmentally responsible, and my shirt came almost to my knees."

"You chased the garbage truck."

"It was moving."

"You chased it."

"I caught it."

The room erupts into laughter.

Sadie wipes tears from her eyes. "I've never heard this story."

"That's because Keisha enjoys saving embarrassing moments for special occasions."

"Oh, this isn't even in my top five."

I point a warning finger toward her. "Don't."

She smiles sweetly. "I won't." A pause. "…today."

Everyone laughs again.

***

The easy rhythm of the room settles around us.

Paige tells a story about Liam somehow convincing an entire elementary school that the team mascot had once played professional hockey.

Brooke admits Caleb accidentally shelved an entire display of romance novels in the history section because he refused to believe there could possibly be “that many books with shirtless men on the covers.”