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CHAPTER 36

COLBY

I haven’t seen Noel in a week, and I miss her. Between our game schedules and midterms she has to grade, we’ve both been slammed. We lost our Sunday afternoon game today; I swear Sunday games are bad luck or something. The team is meeting at a bar tonight for dinner and drinks. We do this every month to build team spirit. This whole week I’ve been able to ignore freaking Travis Evander. When we’re on the ice, I treat him the same as any other player. And off ice, I avoid him completely. But I’m not sure I can avoid him at a team dinner event like this.

And just to make it worse, Noel can’t be my date tonight. It’s her last night to finalize grades before giving her students their graded papers tomorrow morning. Maybe it’s better she doesn’t have to see Travis at all, but selfishly, I want her there by my side.

I can’t even celebrate with her being done with midterms by going to Pancake Palace, because tomorrow night we leave for a stint of away games in California.

Walking into the swanky bar in downtown Alexandria, I’m grouchy. I’m almost never grouchy. But I want to hang out with my girl, and instead I’m having dinner with a bunch of guys I’ve seen all week. Not that I don’t love them, I just love Noel more. Yep, love. I love her, and I want to tell her that, and also show her a surprise I’ve been working on… okay, the contractors I hired have been working on. But our schedules are stupid.

Did I mention I’m grouchy?

Quickly, I spot the group of tables in the back reserved for the team and head in that direction. The bar is nice, it has a 1920’s vibe, which makes me think of Noel. Because am I ever not thinking about Noel?

Modern bulb lights hang from the ceiling and the bar is mostly glass with gold shelves. Everything in this place is either black, gold, or glass. And they thought this was a good place to bring a bunch of big hockey players?

There’s a saying about a bull in a China shop, but they should change it to a hockey player in a China shop.

West, who’s already seated, spots me heading toward the tables and waves me over. Mel is next to him, and Bruce is in the seat beside her. Mitch, Andie, her little brother, Noah, and Remy are across from them, and they saved me a seat on the end, because I’m dateless.

I scope out the rest of the room and exhale a sigh of relief when I spot Travis on the opposite side of the room. Two long tables are full of my teammates and their families or dates, and Coach Young and his wife. The whole bar is lively with music and conversation, but it doesn’t make me feel any more festive. West notices my expression and dips his chin as if to say, sorry Noel couldn’t come.

“Hey man!” West slaps my back.

I pull out my chair and take a seat. “Hey, everyone.”

“Don’t look so sad. It’s breaking my heart,” Andie says, sticking her bottom lip out.

I wink at her, earning a glare from Mitch. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Will you, though?” Bruce asks, placing his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his hand. “You look like a sad puppy.”

I scoff, even though I know he’s right. “I just need a good burger and a drink, and I’ll be fine. You know me.” I pat my stomach a few times.

“Ahhh, you need your protein just like my big man,” Andie teases, patting Mitch’s belly.

He smiles fondly at her and rests his hand over hers. Andie is for sure the only person on the planet who could get away with rubbing Mitch’s belly. Actually, I bet he’d roll over and purr like a kitten if she kept doing it. Love is strange.

Her younger brother stares at them in disgust and I give him a commiserating glance, which makes him smirk.

The waitress, a twenty-something brunette, is blushing furiously and looking terrified, comes over to take our orders. I swear her hands are shaking. Bruce flirts with her, probably trying to get her to relax, because she’s way younger than his usual type.

It takes a while for her to get everyone’s orders, but our drinks come out quickly. My Long Island Iced Tea is delivered with a flamingo straw and West snorts a laugh. “Sorry, when did you turn into a sorority girl?”

“These are delicious! And don’t sorority girls stick with Smirnoff Ice?”

“True,” he concedes.

Mel reaches across the table and places a hand on my arm. “Noel is a perfectionist at her job. She doesn’t leave her house around midterms. Ever. Even when she was in college, she was like this.” She smiles sympathetically. “She’s crazy about you, and she’ll be back to her normal self tomorrow.”

I smile back. “Yeah, I know. I hate that our schedules haven’t synced at all this week. But we’ll figure it out.”

Once our food comes out, we dig in. I’m not the only one here who loves food and eats a lot. We’re all savages. The ladies stare at us, half in awe and half disgusted.

“Oh, my gosh,” Andie says to Bruce. “Slow down. You’re not starving.”

“Yes. I am,” he mumbles back with food in his mouth.