I slide my phone back into my pocket.
“Well?” Everly holds up her hands. “What’s the deal?”
“Friday is a go.”
“Where are you taking her?” Victor asks.
“Somewhere nice,” Everly says. “Connor knows all the best places.”
“This is true,” Connor agrees. “You should consider buying her a dress.”
“I don’t know that you need to outfit Tally for your date.” Dred side-eyes Connor.
“I buy you dresses all the time.”
“You also bought me an entire lodge for Christmas, so it’s safe to say you consistently go overboard with the gift giving.”
“Connor loves buying things for Dred.” Everly hops off the couch. “What about flowers and candy instead of a dress? Something thoughtful and sweet. Like Connor always brings me and Victor treats when he has away games. And he leaves love notes for Dred in the library. One for every day he’s gone.”
I grin. “Man, you’re a sap for my best friend, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.” He kisses Dred’s cheek.
“I will take all the help I can get with making this the best damn date Tally has ever been on.” I might be out of practice, but I’m sure dating is like riding a bike, practice makes perfect.
“And the best damn date you’ve ever been on, too,” Dred says with a smile.
“Exactly.”
Our lives are about to get a whole lot more complicated.
I know Tally is worth it.
And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure I am, too.
CHAPTER 20
FLIP
I’m on edge tonight. Tally has dance rehearsal this evening, but she’s coming to the game when she’s done. I meant what I said about not hiding this, so I need to be on point tonight. I can’t afford to let my team down with the bomb I’m about to drop.
Tristan nudges my knee with his.
“What’s up?”
“You’re jittery as fuck.”
“Ya think?”
Connor pulls his jersey on over his head, covering his many tattoos, which now includes MILDRED scrawled in loopy cursive along his ribs.
Our coaches enter the locker room, and Vander Zee gives us a distracted pep talk. Then Forrest-Hammer steps in with strategy for the first period. I won’t be the least bit surprised when she becomes the first female head coach in the league.
“Let’s show Nashville who’s the better team tonight,” Coach Forrest-Hammer says as we file down the hall to the rink for warm-ups.
Grace claps me on the shoulder. “Keep your head in the game and worry about the rest later.”
“You got it.” If someone told me I’d be getting pep talks from Grace when he first joined the team, I would have laughed in their face. Connor and I had a long history of hating each other from our Hockey Academy days, which carried into our professional careers. When he joined the Terror, we were forced to at least sort of deal with it. And then he married my best friend. We might needle the shit out of each other, but we care deeply about the same people, and that’s created a bond neither of us expected.
