“As opposed to?”
He grins. “It’s time to party!”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Lacey
The party at Doyle’s camp is bigger and louder than any other night I can remember.
* * *
Walking in with Vaughn, I feel on top of the world. The guys are all happy and light and that mood seems to infect everyone else.
“Sorry,” Vaughn says after he’s pulled into another conversation with teammates. They all want to recap the game or talk about how they’re going to win State.
“It’s fine. You’re the man of the night.”
“You mean, Austin.”
“I mean, you. That pass was incredible.”
His mouth molds into a smile. “It’s because I had my lucky charm.”
“I told you that pom-pom was lucky.”
“I meant you.”
My face heats. “I will admit, I did some of my best work cheering for you today.”
“I heard you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I absolutely did,” he insists. Then his face softens. “It was nice. I’ve never really had anyone in the stands cheering for me.”
“What about Claire?” I ask, and then we both laugh.
She isn’t really the yell and scream type. Although since she’s joined the hockey cheer team, that’s changed.
“Well, I am happy to be your cheerleader for the rest of the season.”
“Good.”
After we make the rounds to say hi to everyone, we find a seat around the bonfire. It’s cold tonight, and I huddle closer to him for warmth.
He smiles and then moves his hand to rest on the top of my knee. His fingers dangle, lightly brushing the inside of my leg.
My pulse speeds up at the light touch. It feels like a silent claiming. We haven’t talked about what we are, but being with him like this feels right, so I decide not to overthink it. At least not this second.
I link my arm through his and we sit like that, joining side conversations but holding on to each other.
More of the team crowds around to talk with the guys. They all glance at Vaughn and then me. I can feel their questioning gazes at the two of us, but no one says anything.
At some point the conversation turns from celebratory to more solemn. The start of the game was rough, and they’re all noting that tomorrow’s practice is probably going to be rougher. Which then dissolves into talking about all the mistakes they made early on against Mountainview.
Barrett, the senior goalie, steps up with a beer, mid-conversation. He looks like he’s already had several. When he hears his teammates still taking about the game, Barrett groans.
“You guys need to let it go. It’s over. No sense in rehashing every mistake. It won’t change anything.”
