On Sunday after practice, the guys and I head to Wild’s to celebrate our goalie, Mikey’s birthday. Ash and Maverick are counting as they make the kid chug for twenty-three seconds because that’s how old he turned today.
“Remember your twenty-third birthday?” I ask Jack as we stand at the bar, leaning our backs against it and watching our teammates.
“Barely.” He drains the rest of his glass and then turns and signals to the bartender that he wants another. “We were here. I remember that much.”
“Yep. It was during development camp. We were only a few years older than most of the guys, but we took them out the last night, which coincided with your birthday, and they conned you into attempting twenty-three shots.”
“Not attempting. I succeeded.” He shudders.
“Does it count if you can’t remember?” I turn to grin at him. I had to carry his ass out of the bar.
“I wished I hadn’t the next morning. That part I remember well.”
“We’ve had some good times in this bar. Lots of celebrations. Lots of booze.”
He lifts his new beer toward me. “And many more to come.”
I tip my glass in his direction.
“You want another?”
I glance down at my nearly empty beer. “I think I’m gonna head out after this.”
“Aw, come on. It’s early.”
He’ll have my balls if I tell him I’m itching to get home and hang with Jade. Things are good. No, things are great. I don’t have a lot of free nights and I’d rather spend them with her than getting shitfaced.
I love my teammates, but I’m tired of the bar scene.
“Listen, if you go, then Leo will leave, followed by Tyler and Mav.” He makes a rolling motion with his hand. “You catch my drift?”
“Yeah, man. It wasn’t subtle.”
“But you still want to go?”
“Mikey is already blitzed. He isn’t going to notice if I leave.”
“But I will. Don’t I count?” He quirks a brow as he takes a long drink from his glass.
“You just want a wingman.” I nod my head toward the guys. “You have Ash.”
“He’s a terrible wingman. He either ends up hitting on them himself or getting into deep conversations and killing the mood.”
Chuckling, I nod. He isn’t wrong about that. “I have beer at home, and I like my house.”
“And the woman in it?”
I can only grin. Especially the woman in it.
“Another beer for my friend,” he tells the bartender and then pulls out his phone.
Before I can object, he adds, “One more beer. If you still want to leave after that, I’ll call you a sober ride.”
“All right but get ready to call that ride.”
“We’ll see,” he says, a little too smug.
A new glass is placed in front of me. I thank the bartender and resist the urge to chug it, like Mikey’s been doing all night. Instead, I wander over to the rest of the team. Some of the guys are playing pool and others are throwing darts. I join in on the latter. One game of darts, while I finish my beer, and then I’m out. Maybe Jade wants to order takeout and watch something. She’s been binging One Tree Hill and I’m reluctantly invested in the old TV series. Though if she asks, I’ll deny it.
My mood gets lighter the closer I get to finishing my beer. I throw my final dart and reach for the glass at the same time the guys around me erupt in a chorus of cheers. I turn to see what the excitement is about and my heart lurches in my chest.
Jade. Jade is here in this bar. Damn, she’s gorgeous.
I move toward her at the same time I realize she isn’t alone. Scarlett, Piper, and Dakota are with her. Scanning the room, I find Jack watching me with a smirk. That fucker. I lift my beer to him and mouth, “Well-played.”
“Surprise!” Jade says, meeting me halfway. She pauses a step away, like she’s waiting for my reaction.
I close the space between us, framing her face with both of my hands and kissing her. She squeaks in surprise seconds before I feel her lips pull into a smile and her arms go around my neck.
I drop my hands to circle her waist and lift her. Someone, I think Ash, calls, “Get a room.”
That’s exactly what I was planning on doing. Taking her to a room—mine, but now that she’s here, the bar doesn’t seem so bad.
“I guess that means you’re okay with me crashing guy time?” she asks, when I set her down.
Her face is flushed, lips wet from our kiss, and her arms are still linked around my neck.
“Yeah. I’m okay with it.” I drop another kiss to her mouth. “Want something to drink?”
She nods and I walk with her over to the bar and order her a seltzer and me another beer.
“Scarlett said you’re celebrating someone’s birthday?”
“Mikey.” I point to where he’s sitting. His loud, drunken laugh booms above the music. He’s stayed upright longer than I expected.
“Looks like he’s having fun.” She takes her drink and stands so the left side of her body rests against mine. “It’s nice you guys did that for him.”
It is nice, and her pointing it out to me makes me feel bad for wanting to bail.
“So…” she starts and hits me with a smile. “Pool? Darts?”
“Your choice.”
“If I’m playing, darts. If I’m watching, pool.”
“Not a fan of pool?”
“I’m a fan of winning, and I’m terrible at pool.”
“You’ve just had the wrong partners.” I take her hand and lead her to an empty table.
Once I’ve racked the balls, I call to a nearby Leo, “Do you and Scarlett want to play us?”
He looks to his girl and she nods. Leo and I are pretty evenly matched, as are the girls, but Jade and I have something they don’t—a hunger to win. Maybe it’s because we’re still in that phase of wanting to show off for each other, or maybe it’s a difference in our base personalities. Fuck, maybe it’s just that they’re more interested in kissing than beating us.
I’ll kiss my girl when I’ve earned it by destroying the competition. Jade seems to have the same mindset. She cheers as I sink each ball, and when it’s her turn, she gets the most determined look on her beautiful face.
On Scarlett’s next turn, she drops the last solid ball and aims for the eight ball. The angle isn’t quite right, and she misses, making it Jade’s turn.
My girl lets out a breath as she studies the table. One stripe left and the eight ball.
“You’ve got this,” I say quietly, as I stand behind her and brush my hand over her hip. “Take your time.”
She doesn’t look at me, but nods. I step back to give her room and say a silent prayer as she aims and fires, sinking our last stripe ball like a shark. Without celebrating, she moves right into position to shoot the eight ball.
“Side pocket.” She points with the cue.
I hold my breath, pulse racing. It’s just a game. I know it’s stupid, but I can’t remember being more excited than when that final ball inches toward the side pocket and drops.
She whirls, jaw hanging open and eyes wide. “I did it!”
I drop my cue stick to the table and catch her when she jumps into my arms. I spin her around and cheer. Nobody gives a shit that we just won, but it doesn’t matter. This moment isn’t about them.
Our kiss is fueled by the adrenaline of winning and something even better, something I didn’t even know I was missing out on—winning together.
We take on Piper and Tyler next, easily beating them. Then Ash and Jack try their luck but we’re on a roll and can’t be bested.
When no one else will play us, we finally take a seat at the table with Mikey and a few of the single guys. There isn’t a lot of room, so Jade sits on my lap, and I wrap one arm around her waist.
“Happy birthday, kid.” I lift my glass to Mikey. His drunken state is more subdued the later it gets.
“Thank you. Thank you.” His stare holds on me and Jade. “My wish this year is to win the Cup and find a girl half as cool as yours.”
I tighten my hold on her. Something else I didn’t realize I was missing out on—being part of a couple that was so happy, people wanted to be me.
I clink my glass against his. “I wish that for you too.”
