I kept my eyes on him more than anything else. On the way his fingers tightened around the glass. On the way his shoulders stayed a little too still, like he was bracing for someone to take it all back.
Something clenched in my gut. I’d seen this before. Different room. Different table. Same look.
My dad at the kitchen counter, talking big about the next game that was going to be his break. My brother after him, that sparkle in his eye that grew dimmer and dimmer until he blew out his knee, and it was gone for good.
Both of them chasing something that never stayed long enough to hold onto.
The table in front of me blurred into the one from my childhood kitchen, pitchers swapped for cheap whiskey, Surge jerseys traded for stained and faded club shirts.
I took a sip of my beer just to give my hands something to do.
“Hey, Sage.” Landon tipped his head toward me. His lids had taken on the heaviness of that last drink. “You ready to become a full-time hockey wife?”
“Shut up.” Aiden reached behind me to slap him upside the head.
“Don’t scare her off,” Tucker said. “She just got here.”
“She looks like she can handle it,” Cash quipped, and lifted his half-finished beer to me. I saluted him and took a big sip, forcing a small smile that didn’t really stick anywhere.
“Ignore them.” Aiden’s knee pressed into mine under the table, a subtle check-in. I shifted just enough to answer it without looking at him.
On stage, Ramona announced the band’s break. Instruments went quiet, leaving the room louder somehow. Every conversation rushed in to fill the gap.
That was my out.
I set my glass down. “I’ll be right back.”
Tucker and Landon had to shift out of the booth to let me through, grumbling at each other as they stood. I slid past them, one hand on the edge of the table to steady myself as my shoes stuck to the floor.
Aiden caught my wrist before I could step away completely. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I pulled my hand free, keeping it casual. “Just need the bathroom. Wanna come with?”
The reaction was instant.
“Oh, he’s in.”
“Don’t even hesitate, man. That’s an invitation.”
“Bathroom date on his first night as first line center. Respect.”
Aiden’s face went red, fast. He swatted Landon’s extended high-five out of his face. “I’m not— I’ll wait.”
“Sure you will.”
“Take your time,” Tucker called after me. “We’ll keep him entertained.”
I didn’t look back as I stepped away from the booth, their laughter chasing me across the bar.
I cut through the bar before I could think better of it, slipping between bodies and half-finished conversations, heading straight for the stage where Ramona was picking her way down the side steps. I hooked my arm through hers before she could protest.
“One wrong move on these platforms and I’m finishing our set in the ER,” she warned, gripping my forearm.
“I don’t care,” I muttered and tugged her along anyway, weaving us through the crowd until we hit a shadowed corner at the far end of the room. Far enough from Aiden and his teammates that I could almost pretend they didn’t exist.
Ramona paused and finally noticed the tension in my face. “What did loverboy do? Do you want me to go over there and kick his ass?”
“Maybe later.” I shook my head, jerking it fast enough to make her flinch. “For now, I need you to tell me I’m not losing my mind.”
