I gestured to the stool beside me, and she effortlessly wiggled her slight frame onto it. “Thought I might find you here,” she said with a mischievous grin. She flashed me a sweet smile, but I knew better. There was little sweetness about Shai. She was bold, unapologetically bright, and I envied that about her. She had this innate ability to feel completely at ease in her skin, to say exactly what was on her mind without fear.
“The team just left,” I said with a shrug. There had been more than a few questioning looks when Griff told the guys I wasn’t going on the trip. His official excuse was that I had a family emergency, which, if he knew the truth, would have been almost laughable. Family. Me.
I sighed, the weight of it all pressing down.
Shai raised an eyebrow, giving me that sidelong glance she was famous for. The one that made even the toughest guys on the team squirm. Honestly, they all adored her—she was a pocket-sized spitfire, unbothered by anyone’s opinion.
Waving the bartender over, she shot him a wink.
“Afternoon, my lady,” he said, his voice warm with affection.
A laugh barked from Shai, and she snorted loudly, not bothering to stifle it.
“Too much?” Antony asked, wringing a towel between his hands. “I’m just trying out some new nicknames for my favorite customers,” he added with a grin.
Shai rested her chin on her hand. “I didn’t hate it.”
“Shai Bae?” Antony asked, a playful smirk tugging at his lips.
Damn, they were young. Shai was a junior in college studying pre-law, and Antony was a twenty-one-year-old who worked part-time at his dad’s bar when he wasn’t playing hockey or taking classes.
I knew way too much about the kid. Like the fact that he was completely infatuated with my friend, and she found it nothing more than cute.
“Whiskey, please,” Shai said with a smile, and Antony wasted no time pouring her a glass of Jameson—her favorite—placing two ice cubes in it just like he knew she liked.
I took a sip of my beer, watching them like they were part of an exhibit. It had been so long since I’d flirted. Travis and I had gotten to that point where we were comfortable enough to pee with the door open, admit when we farted, and pretty much throw romance out the window.
Dammit, I missed him. But not because ofhim. I just missed the feeling of my phone vibrating with texts that weren’t work-related, coming home to someone who at least pretended to be happy to see me. Maybe I needed a cat.
Shai turned on her stool, studying me over the rim of her glass. After a moment, she set it down on the bar and gave me her full attention.
“So,” she started, a sly grin forming. “Family emergency? Did you suddenly get some asshole cousin I don’t know about?”
“Griff’s idea,” I grunted, swirling my beer. “He thinks I need time away from the game to get my head on straight.”
“Ah.” She raised an eyebrow. “Telling the reporters to fuck off didn’t sit well with the boss?”
“Not my finest moment,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“I don’t know. I quite enjoyed it,” She flashed me a grin as she tucked a wild strawberry curl behind her ear. We were both redheads, but where her hair was a gorgeous, shiny red, mine was more of a dull copper. Hers was full of wild, fairy-like curls, while mine was stick-straight and always pulled into a braid to keep it out of the way.
“Yeah, well, it got me here, sitting at the bar while my team heads off on the most important road trip of the season.”
Shai lifted her glass. “I’ll toast to that.”
“You’re celebrating my mandate to stay home when I should be coaching?” Sometimes, I didn’t understand her.
“No, I’m celebrating the fact that you have nothing to do for once, and you can actually relax that pretty head of yours.”
“I don’t relax.”
“Oh, I know,” she grinned. “Which is exactly why I’m going to help you. Let’s be real, babe. You need to get over that asshole Travis, and the best way to do that is by getting under someone new.”
“I—”
“But we both know that’s not your style. So, instead, I want you to eat all the shit you usually deprive yourself of, binge on trashy TV, and walk around your blissfully empty house naked.”
“That’s your definition of relaxing? I could be naked before.”
