The bell above the door rings, and a moment later, two girls are standing at the counter. I drop the bills in the tip jar and nod my head at her. “See ya around, Savvy.”
Her lips part slightly and I smile to myself as I head out.
6
savannah
“Cheers to…”Chloe holds her mango-flavored drink out, looking to me to fill in the blank like a game of Mad Libs.
“Panties!”
“Panties?”
“I don’t know. It’s not the best thing, but it’s far from the worst.” I shrug my shoulders.
“Well, cheers to that, then.” She clinks her can against mine, and we both chug half as if it’s a light beer and not a five-percent ABV seltzer.
Rowdy Rick’smight be a dimly lit, hole-in-the-wall, sorry excuse for a bar, but it’s the most popular bar in town, and not just because it’s theonlybar in town. Linden Creek is home to the number one football team and the number one hockey team in the state. Both of those things, on their own, might not be a big deal, but together—and in such a small town—our little off-campus bar has never known a quiet night.
We order another round before abandoning our seats at the bar, link arms, and trudge through the crowd of people who all have their eyes glued up on the TVs. I lean in with my shoulder, keeping a tight hold on Chloe, and almost losemy balance when the men on either side of me lift their arms as the place erupts in booming cheers. I look up in time to see my dad with an ear-to-ear smile, and the captain of the LCU Lions skating around with his fist in the air. Everyone around me continues to scream and clap as Noah’s teammates begin jumping on each other until they’re a blurred pile of hugs pressed against the glass. The buzzer sounds and the camera pans out to a sea of Black and Green. The Lions have won their first game back.
“Way to go, Coach Alvarez!” Chloe pumps her little fist in the air.
I might not go to many, or any, of my dad’s games, but I’m always proud of him. When he took his position as head coach, it was a pretty big deal. No one deserved it more. He had spent a few years as a support coach in the NHL before Leo and I were born, and had moved up to an assistant coach when we were young. By the time we were in high school and Leo was playing more seriously, my dad got the offer and made the move to LCU. It’s ironic, given I’m the one, out of the two of us, who actually ended up attending LCU. It’s worked out, though. Leo is the best player on the second-best team in the league, and he never misses an opportunity to remind us of that.
Within the last hour, the little dive bar has gone from already too crowded to practically maximum capacity.Rowdy’sis living up to her name tonight. There has to be at least a hundred people on the small dance floor and another few hundred between the front door and along the bar.
Chloe holds my hands above my head as I sway my hips from side to side, not paying attention to anything but the music until the air in the room changes. Attention shifts to the door, but I don’t need to turn around. I feel them without needing to see them.
The Linden Creek Lions hockey team has arrived.
A mob of fifteen of the most built, cocky, and—alright, I’lladmit—gorgeous, men take up space at the bar. My eyes go directly to the one in the middle. Six-foot-two, with a tiny silver hoop earring in one ear, black hair that’s wavy—longer on top and faded down the sides, and a jawline cut by Zeus himself.
I might actively avoid hockey players but there is no avoiding my attraction to Noah.
“Good lord.” Chloe breathes next to me. “Silas Miller is painfully hot.”
There are hundreds of people in here, my best friend is going on about someone so hot it hurts, and yet I can’t seem to drag my attention away from Noah.
“Which one is Silas?” I ask.
“The one with the dark hair and body covered in tattoos.” She leans in closer, pointing toward the crowd. “Next to Maverick.”
“Who’s Maverick?”
“The one built like Goliath with the buzz cut.”
I finally peel my eyes off Noah and tilt my head until I spot the two she’s referring to.
“I mean, Maverick’s hot, too, but he’s liketoohot, ya know?”
A confused laugh slips out of me. “Can you be too hot?”
“Yes, Sav. Look at him.” Her hand and eyebrows lift dramatically. “He’s so hot he’s unobtainable.”
I study the tall guy, who is fifty percent shiny blue eyes and fifty percent built like a Mack truck. He runs a hand over his shaved head while smiling with his perfectly straight, white teeth. He is good-looking, I’ll give her that. Two minutes of observing him, though, and I can already tell his obnoxious, loud mouth would either be a good time or piss me off. There would be no in-between.
“How do you know all of this?” I look over my shoulder at her.
