Maya elbows Sophie with a smirk. “That’s definitely a Tyler Hansley face.”
Sophie’s cheeks turn a deeper pink as she glances up from her phone. “He sent me a picture of his home opener game-day outfit and asked if I could come over and see it in person.”
Tyler Hansley is my mom’s best friend, Julie, and her husbandAsher’s oldest and the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Renegades. Along with a couple others, he’s part of the male wing of this friendship group of ours. He and Sophie have always been close, but it’s obvious to anyone watching that Sophie wants more. A lot more, I think.
“You should definitely do exactly that,” Emmy says with a sly grin.
Sophie shakes her head. “No way. It’s girls’ night.”
Maya leans over and kisses Sophie’s cheek. “Go, Soph. Hang with Tyler. We did our shots and celebrated Maddy’s brilliance. Sarah has to go to sleep so she doesn’t accidentally puncture a lung tomorrow, and Cait and Emmy have to rest up for court because I may be crazy, but even I know going before a judge hungover is a big no. I hereby bring this girls’ night to a close. Except for you.” She points at me. “You’re staying for one more drink, and we’re planning your outfit for tomorrow because I’ll be damned if you walk into that fancy practice facility in leggings and an old hockey T-shirt.”
I laugh because that is something I would literally do. I may be about to start working for a football team, but hockey is where my heart is. My dad is a former professional hockey player; my little brother Oliver is a current professional hockey player; and I played hockey for more than a decade. “Deal.”
After hugging the rest of my friends, Maya and I sit down in the tall stools surrounding the high top, margaritas in front of us as she studies me thoughtfully. “So how do you really feel about starting your new job? Real talk, Mads. Not how grateful you are for the opportunity.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, finally letting myself feel the nerves I’ve kept shoved down for the night. “Nervous. I’m really fucking nervous. I’m ready. I know I am. But I’m afraid no one is going to take me seriously because of how I got the job.”
How I got the job is that my dad’s half-brother, my uncle Brian, is the general manager of the Renegades, and my dad isa former athlete and the founder of one of the most famous and influential charitable foundations in sports. I know I’m qualified, even if I’m young for the job. But I also know there are a million qualified candidates out there, and there’s no way my last name and my relationship to Brian didn’t hold any sway.
“Fuck that,” Maya says flatly. “Fuck that so hard, Mads. You’ve been grinding it out for six years for this PhD. You’ve done internships with all the major Pittsburgh sports teams, and you’ve published article after article arguing for better mental health support in professional sports. You’re brilliant, articulate, and passionate, and there is no one on earth better equipped for this job than you are. So tomorrow morning, you are going to wear the dress I hung in your closet earlier, and you are going to walk into that building like you own the damn place. No one deserves this more than you do.”
I take a sip of my margarita, relishing in the burn of the tequila and feeling a rush of power at Maya’s words because she’s right. I do deserve this. “Thanks, Maya. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.”
“Damn straight,” she says, taking a sip of her own margarita and glancing just past me, her eyes lighting up. “Don’t look now, Mads, but there’s a perfect specimen of tall, dark, and handsome over there who just sat down and is currently staring at you like he wants to eat you alive.”
“What?” I immediately whip my head around because I have absolutely no chill, and I suck in a breath when my gaze snags on a pair of the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re attached to a man wearing dark jeans and a black button-down shirt, the fabric stretched over wide shoulders and the sleeves rolled up to showcase forearms so perfect they should be illegal.
His dark hair is tousled in an unintentional sort of way, falling across his forehead like he’s spent the night running his fingers through it, and I wonder why. When our eyes lock again, his mouth quirks up in the smallest of smiles and my stomachswoops, because holy shit. He is, undoubtedly, the most attractive man I have ever laid eyes on.
I turn back around slowly, a little breathless. “Shit,” I murmur.
“I told you not to look,” Maya says, her voice full of amusement.
“You’ve been my best friend for twenty-three years. You should know I don’t have that kind of self-control,” I hiss. “He caught me staring at him. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to lick his forearms,” I mutter.
Maya bursts out laughing. “Oh my god, I love this so much. A scorching hot one-night stand as a pre-first day present to yourself. A guy you meet in a bar, no names exchanged, just hot, dirty sex with a man who looks like he could throw you around the way you deserve. You have to do this.”
I roll my eyes. “Be so for real right now.”
“Maddy, honey, I have never been realer. You haven’t had sex in, like, eight months, and that man over there looks like the perfect candidate to sweep the cobwebs right off your vagina.”
I choke on a sip of my margarita. “Jesus, Maya. Eight months isn’t that long.”
“Eight months is forever.” Maya grins and rubs her hands together. “I was so smart for booking waxes as part of our spa day yesterday. You’re all polished and shined, and your vagina is perfection. That dress is amazing on you, and Dreamy McSmolder Eyes over there is still staring at you like he wants to devour you whole.” Maya downs the rest of her drink and leans in, kissing my cheek. “I’ve gotta run. First day of school tomorrow and fifth graders can’t teach themselves.”
“Stop saying vagina and don’t you fucking dare leave me here alone,” I hiss, standing and taking the last sip of my drink before pushing the glass away. As intrigued as I am by the stranger I can still feel staring at me, sitting alone in a bar is so far out of mycomfort zone it may as well be on Mars. If Maya is leaving, so am I.
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be alone for long,” Maya says slyly, glancing behind me again.
CAM
Fuck, she’s leaving.
I get a shot of uncharacteristic desperation as I watch the redhead at the table across from me push her glass away and stand. I feel like a creeper, but I can’t take my eyes off her. From the second I sat down, it was like the entire bar disappeared and she was all I could see.
