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"Blake, you're always working, and you hardly ever go out with me. We need to roommate bond! And I just got that new job with Burberry today. We need to celebrate! Please. Please. Please."
Something clenched in my insides…because the Burberry job was the one I’d found out I didn’t get. But that feeling just meant that I probably needed to go. Because I didn’t want to be the girl who was ever bitter about her friend’s success.
Before I could say anything, though, Charlotte crossed her arms and gave me a look that screamed determination. "Blake, you can't keep hiding from the world. We're going, and that's final! Iwilldrag you out of this apartment."
Okay, so this girl was a bit of a badass. And that had a reluctant smile gracing my lips. "Alright, alright, I'll go," I began to say, before crashing to the floor as she tackled me. My ears would never recover from her squeals. Waldo smothered both of us in wet, sloppy kisses as I struggled to get out from under her.
Way too much touching going on here.
She finally bounced off me and did a little shimmy, right in time to “Style” starting. “It's going to be epic! Everyone has been trying to get tickets to this game now that Lancaster’s on the team. Seeing him and Davis next to each other…I might faint.” She grabbed her crotch and did a weird hip thrust like the players in question were in the room with us now and she was trying to direct their dicks to the sweet spot.
“Okay, we’ve got to leave in like ten minutes,” Charlotte said guiltily, and I realized for the first time she was perfectly done up, while I’d just gotten done sweating for hours. And I smelled like food. A lethal combination.
I was tempted to change my mind and back out, but she slapped a hand over my lips and started pushing me toward the hallway that led to my bedroom.
“Ten minutes, Blake. Don’t make me drag your cute butt out of here, young lady.”
I giggled, a miracle considering the shitty day I’d had, and she froze in the hallway.
“Did you just laugh?” she asked, sounding shocked.
My giggle transformed into a scowl and I marched into the bathroom and practically slammed the door behind me, her laughter ringing in my ears.
Fifteenminutes later, I’d managed to make myself somewhat presentable, and we were loaded into an Uber and headed through L.A. traffic to the Cobras arena.
“So what’s the story with Lancaster?” I asked Charlotte, figuring I should know something about the team. I was a football fan myself, but I could pretend to like hockey for the night.
She grinned mischievously and made a weird moaning sound that had the driver shifting in his seat uncomfortably. "It’s actually a crazy story. He’s been a star defenseman for the Dallas Knights since he was drafted, and he freaking won the Cup with them last year. Then, out of the blue, the guy asks for a trade to L.A."
I hummed in confusion. "That's strange. Why would he do that after a championship win?"
Charlotte shrugged. "No one really knows. It's a mystery. But trust me, Blake, he's the best defenseman in the league, and everyone's buzzing about his arrival. It's like a dream come true for L.A. fans."
I gave her what I hoped was an excited grin before staring out at the passing city lights, her continued chatter a comforting background to the drive.
* * *
Ari
Tonight was the night. The first game of the NHL season with the motherfucking Cobras.
And I was nervous.
Which never happened. I was Mr. Cool. Mr. Collected. I left it to Lincoln to be nervous.
Okay, that was a stretch. Lincoln didn’t get nervous either. But my late-summer trade had disrupted my rhythm, leaving me with fewer practices with my new teammates than would’ve been ideal. Would have been nice to see Blake’s billboard like the week after the Stanley Cup win. Ya know?
I was stepping onto the ice with a group of guys I barely knew, one of which Ihated, and the weight of expectations hung heavy on my shoulders. If I wanted any chance of making my way back to Dallas next year, I needed to have a stellar season, a perfect season, in fact. Be so good that Dallashadto forgive me and take me back.
I stared at myself in the mirror, trying to come to grips with the fact I was dressed in an oh-so-vibrant purple and yellow uniform. And there was a big fucking snake on my chest. It was like trading a steak for some cold oatmeal. Everything about it felt wrong. Blue and white was amuchbetter color combo, in my opinion. The Knight emblem was a badge of honor, stitched into the very fabric of who I was as a player.
Now, here I was, part of theCobrascrew, and it was like swapping my noble steed for a...well, a slithering snake.
And I’d always hated snakes.
For a fleeting moment, despondency slipped over my skin. It felt like I was standing on the edge of a precipice, uncertain of what lay ahead. Doubts crept in, like insidious whispers in the back of my mind, questioning whether this would all work out. What if I couldn’t get her back? What if I suddenly sucked at hockey?
I chuckled to myself at that one, shaking off the weird feeling. Yeah, none of that was going to happen.
