He started stripping the cushions off the couch in the corner of the room. I watched him as he lined up all the cushions on the floor at the end of my bed and then looked at me waiting, wordlessly asking me for an extra pillow.
I took pity on him and threw one of the extras over, and a goofy grin spread on his face. “Thanks, Smol.”
“You okay without a blanket?” I asked, worried he’d be shivering from the cold all night.
“For sure. I run hot,” he said with a wink, to which Duke shot us a weirded-out look.
“Okay,” I resigned, still worried he’d getchilly.
“Oh no!” Duke called out suddenly. Both of us cut our eyes to him, but he was looking at me with a worried cringe. “You forgot your night light,” he whispered tome.
I felt my cheeks burning up. While I appreciated the whisper, he still said it right in front of Nick, making me look like a complete baby.
I glanced over to Nick, but he just pleasantly smiled at me and shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal at all for a junior in high school to still sleep with a nightlight.
“You guys alright if we leave the TV on quietly?” Nick asked. “I like the white noise.”
I felt extremely grateful toward him at that moment for not embarrassing me further and for finding a solution in the same breath.
Duke gave an affirmative nod, and I slipped out of bed to hit the lights.
Laying there in the dark, I couldn’t help but realize that because of Nick, what started out as a nightmare-ish day, ended in a dream of anight…
And…
I was falling hard for Nick Johns.
10. Sav
The next morning, the three of us made our way to the lobby for complimentary breakfast in our pajamas.
We were stalled a little because when we stepped in the elevator, every single floor’s button was pushed, which was definitely the doing of one of Duke’s teammates.
By the time we finally made it downstairs, we were running a little late.
Duke waited impatiently with his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth for his bagel to toast while he watched his teammates starting to gather in a conference room to go over game tape.
I was pouring some OJ for myself next to him when his bagel popped out. He quickly threw some butter on his plate, grabbed the cup I just poured for myself and quickly dartedaway.
“No ‘thanks’?!” I called after him.
“Thank you, Sister!” he yelled over his shoulder.
I raised my eyebrows and shook my head; it was a good thing he was so darncute.
Nick just leaned back against the breakfast counter and laughed at our exchange. “That kid does not like being late,” he said. “That’ll serve him well when he gets a bit older. Coaches will like that. Griff is always trying to shepherd me because he’s the same way.”
“You and Griff seem like total opposites,” I said as we made our way to the tables while holding our food. I bet Griff wanted to show up an hour and a half before the game yesterday instead of the standard hour… and here Nick was… skipping the game entirely.
“Maybe, but we’re cut from the same cloth,” he smiled at me. “Griffy Boy is just a bit more quiet and a bit more responsible than I am.”
I cocked an eyebrow up at that, challenging him.
“Okay, maybe a lot more,” he laughed.
“There we go,” I confirmed.
As we sat down to eat, I caught sight of myself in one of the hotel mirrors, and immediately regretted not waking up earlier to do my hair and put makeup on. Nick always looked great- he just threw on a hockey hat and turned it backwards and he was the hottest boy around. I needed to step up my game… I felt myself cringe as I brushed my hair a little with my fingers, but when I tried to glance back at the mirror, Nick stopped me by placing a warm hand on mine.
