He hits his beer with mine and takes a long sip.
Some freshman in a Pack jersey makes the mistake of surveying our kitchen and announcing this is a “super lame senior year” for a hockey house.
I throw an arm around Rowan’s neck and pull him into my chest. “Don’t you worry about us, buddy,” I tell the freshman, solemn. “Some of us are still men.”
Rowan elbows me in the ribs hard enough to fold me and walks off with his water.
The music comes up. The house starts breathing the way it only breathes after a win, that warm loud hum, bodies everywhere, somebody’s already spilled something sticky by the stairs.
And I’m drinking faster than I normally would.
I’m three deep when Gianna looks at me with a mischievous glance.
I lift my hands. “You wanna play?”
“Sing for us, Stan! We’re bored.”
I lift my beer. “I don’t like being told what to do unless I’m naked.”
I take a backhand to my abs. I groan, clenching my stomach as I look over at Benson.
“That’s my sister you’re talking to.”
“You––” I groan, trying to catch my breath.
I look around the room and catch Blue opening the front door and kissing Melly. He takes her hand and pulls her to the stairs. When they take the first step, I step towards Gianna and steal the phone from her palm.
“I got you, G,” I nod, searching for the song on YouTube.
The party falls silent of music, and what’s left is just people talking.
“Baby Blue,” I shout, and my voice echoes in the room. There’s no way he’s missing that.
He stops in the middle of the staircase and nods.
I press play on the video and look at Melly.
“Melly, girl. This one’s for you.”
Melly smiles when a random song starts playing. “What is this?”
“Shh,” I say, putting out a finger. “This is a commercial.”
I nod, waiting for the song to play. When I look down, I realize I can hit skip ad. I hit the skip button, and Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun starts blasting through the speakers.
The crowd breaks into a loud roar, and we all start jumping to the beat.
Melly smiles up at Blue and makes a face, trying to pull him back down to the living room.
“This is for you, Melly!” I shout, pointing at her. “Don’t let that man take you upstairs!”
Gianna, Mara, Penelope, Mila, and Lucy start singing and dancing, screaming at Melly to come back down the stairs. Melly ignores Blue and starts jumping around the living room with her friends. Blue rests on the stair’s railing and watches her for a minute. I turn the volume up just a little bit more since we’re all vibing.
I turn and see the entire team singing along. All except the sober ones.
By the time Melly has convinced Blue to join us on the ground level, it’s my time to shine. I step onto the coffee table and start belting out, “Some boys take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world.”
I reach for Melly’s hand, pulling her up on the table with me. She sings with her hand on her chest, “I wanna be the one to walk in the sun.”
