Silence, then finally, “What?"
“You’re the captain. You should host it.”
“Well, usually?—”
“I can throw a great party, Miles. Let me do this.”
“You don’t have to?—”
“I want to.” I pout, even though he can’t see it. Cash chuckles across from me, clearly eavesdropping. “Please? It’ll be fun.”
More silence.
“You there?”
The background noise fades, as if he’s moving somewhere more private. “I’ve never thrown a party at my place.”
I’m not surprised by that at all. He’ll go nuts with everything out of order, but now he has me to help him put it all right again.
“So? First time for everything, right?” I take a sip of water, and when he still doesn’t agree, I add, “I can handle it. I’ve organized tons of things.”
Tons of things include my cousin’s baby shower. Oh, and my mom’s fiftieth birthday party. Not exactly rich-hockey-player territory, but still, it counts.
“It’s not that. It’s…” He trails off. “It’s a lot of people. The whole team. Plus, wives and girlfriends. And?—”
“Let me do this for you. Please?”
He sighs. “Ifwe clinch.”
“Yep. If. Wink. Wink.”
Another sigh, but I hear his smile when he says, “Okay. Fine.Ifwe clinch.”
“Deal!” I hang up before he can change his mind.
“Did I hear something about a party?” Cash smirks.
THIRTY-FOUR
“We’re goingto the playoffs, baby!” Helm stands on the coffee table, a bottle of champagne in each hand, arms raised over his head.
The team erupts. Summer bounces on her toes, yelling louder than most of my teammates.
I pull her close and kiss the top of her head, grinning. “Still glad you signed up for this?”
“One hundred percent. This is great?—”
“Get down from there, you hooligan,” Tara barks, swatting Helm with a dish towel.
Helm jumps off and—thankfully—doesn’t break anything. Including his own ankle. He does pop a balloon, though.
Summer spent the better part of three days pulling this party together after we clinched. Balloons litter the first floor, the island’s buried under catered food, and there’s even a bartender.
And to Summer’s delight, leaves have finally appeared on the trees, and a spring breeze blows through the open patio door.
I helped out where I could, but my biggest contribution was handing over my credit card. I’ve always been more of a partygoer than a planner.
And okay, my eye is twitching at the number of people in my space, and how much time I’m going to spend putting this place back together.
