I held a hand down to help her stand, and more tears pooled up in her honey brown eyes and spilled down her beautiful face, absolutely guttingme.
35. Sav
I woke up to my phone ringing and checked the time.
1:30 a.m.
Dread washed over me. A phone call this late was never a goodthing.
Then again, what could really be bad anymore? The worst thing had already happened.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Heyyy, it’s Dunny,” his voice sounded loopy, like he was drunk… “From the Ice League, ya know?”
I rubbed my eyes and tried to wake up. Why the hell was he calling thislate?
“Hi Dunny. Everything okay?” I hadn’t heard from him in years, but I assumed he was in town for the funeral.
“Umm… that probably depends on your definition of ‘okay,’” he said warily. “We’re at the bar and it’s prolly closing down soon, but Griff is in no shape to drive and I think he’s going to… Sav, he’s blacked out. I’m not sure where he’s supposed to go? Sorry to bug ya… Just figured maybe he was staying at your place?”
I took the phone from my ear. Griff? Blacked out? What the hell?
“Okay, yeah. What bar are you guysat?”
“O’Malley’s on fifth street.”
In the bar, I picked him out right away. His muscular frame and foehawk made him easy to spot.
As I got closer, I could tell he was holding court amongst a few hockey guys from the past, including Dunny and Reggie. He was slightly swaying and his eyes were bloodshot. One of his eyes was bruising up pretty badly. He’d have a shiner for a few weeks for sure…
“Sav!” he called out and wrapped his large arms around me. I could tell his balance was pretty unsteady.
“Hey, Griff,” I patted his back. “Let’s get home.”
He stiffened. “Nah.”
I pulled back from him and grabbed his hand.
“C’mon, it’s bedtime,” I told him firmly, trying to pull him toward the door.
“Nope. I’m not done yet.”
“I think you’ll be happy in the morning if you leave now, Griff,” I warned him, to which the hockey guys around us “ooooh”-ed. I shot them all a look that said, ‘shut it.’
“Jeez. Loosen up, Sav. You don’t have to be so mean about it. Have some fun.”
I blinked at him a few times. It was clear this way of grieving… which completely shocked me. This was so different from the young Griff I knew who never wanted alcohol to be his crutch. On any other day, I probably would’ve comforted him in the way he needed… but I couldn’t even think straight myself.
“No, I want to go to bed, like a normal fucking person, Griff. It’s a Thursday,” I whisperedtersely.
“And that’s fine, go ahead! But I’m not leaving,” he shrugged his large shoulders.
I felt my jaw clamp shut. I did not want to leave him here and risk him driving home drunk. That was not what we needed right now.
“Fine. Suit yourself. But give me your keys,” I said, holding my hand out.
He laughed dryly at me like I was some random girl propositioning him, not his friend of almost seven years wanting him to get home safe.
