“So, they can… what? Buy me a drink and talk about how downhill the team has gone?”
Willow grins.
“Maybe. Or maybe you get to watch Zane Blake do something stupid in person instead of from fifty feet up. Either way, it’s entertainment.”
Katie mutters something that sounds like “she’s not wrong.”
I should say no.
I should absolutely say no.
Going to a Giants party feels like crossing some kind of line. Watching from the stands is one thing - anonymous, safe, nobody knowing my name or caring who my father was. Walking into their space, beingseen-
“You’re thinking too hard,” Willow says. “I can practically hear your brain.”
“I’m always thinking too hard.”
“Come on. One night. You and me and Katie. We stand in a corner, we watch the chaos, we leave when it gets boring. No strings.”
I look to Katie for support, but she raises her mug in a toast.
“I can finish my movie tomorrow. It’s our first semester in college and this is the first real party we’ve heard about. At least… the first one not put on by the college to welcome freshers.”
I look between them - Willow’s eager grin, Katie’s amused patience - and feel the last of my resistance crumble.
“Fine.”
Willow cheers.
“One condition,” I add quickly. “The second anyone asks too many questions about who I am or why I’m there, we leave.”
“Deal.”
She says it way too fast.
I’m definitely going to regret this.
3
LEONORA
The party is exactly what I expected.
Which means it’s loud, overcrowded, and smells like cheap beer and someone’s failed attempt at a scented candle.
Willow, Katie and I find drinks, then a spot near the wall where we can lean and watch without getting jostled by every group that pushes past.
For a while it’s almost fun.
Willow occasionally flits away to chat to other people then returns to shove a drink in my hand. Katie stays with me, amused and unbothered. We laugh and watch people make fools of themselves. Normal college stuff.
Then the hockey talk starts.
It’s inevitable, I guess. Most of the people here are either in the team, friends of the team, or just fans. The ones who aren’t are pretending to be. And everyone has an opinion about tonight’s game.
“Blake was off. Did you see that shot?”
“Russo can’t carry the whole team forever.They need-”
