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I stared out at the ice where Mac maneuvered the puck down the ice. As he reached one of the defenders of the other team, he dragged the puck with the toe of his stick, pulling it towards him. He dodged the player and passed it to Lincoln, who shot the puck at the net. Goal.
“Goddamn that was nice,” I muttered under my breath, partially in awe as I turned to look at Lyla. “Did you see that toe drag?”
She stared at me in complete confusion. “The what?”
“His toe drag,” I explained like the two words had any meaning to her. I sat up straighter in my seat. “You didn’t see the way he handled the puck with the toe of his stick before passing it to Lincoln? It was so smooth and looked effortless.”
“Look at how excited you are right now,” she laughed as a playful smirk danced across her lips. “His toe drags totally make your toes curl.”
I couldn’t help myself as I laughed out loud. “You’re absolutely ridiculous.”
“But I’m ridiculously right,” she chuckled before taking a sip of her drink. “Girl, please have your fun with that man.”
I looked back at the ice as Mac hopped the boards and sat back down on the bench. “I think I might have to.”
It was a win-win situation, really. We could have our fun and go our separate ways, and neither of us would get hurt. My heart wouldn’t get broken and his career wouldn’t be in jeopardy. It was a foolproof plan.
Too bad things never did seem to go as planned…
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MAC
Pulling my hoodie over my head, I turned and looked back at Lincoln who was sliding his feet into his sneakers. Wes and Nico had both already headed out, but a few of the other guys were talking about going out and celebrating our win tonight. Lincoln stood up, his gaze meeting mine.
"You're coming out tonight, right?"
I stared at him for a moment, narrowing my eyes the slightest bit. "That depends on if you're going to try to set me up with someone again."
Lincoln half rolled his eyes as he grabbed his cap and pushed his hair away from his forehead as he put it on. "Nope, that won't be happening again. You're on your own now."
"I mean, in all fairness, I never did ask for your help," I reminded him as we both walked out of the locker room and began to make our way out of the building.
"No, and clearly you're going to do what you want anyways." Lincoln paused as he held the door open for me and we fell back into step with one another as we walked to our cars. "Actually… you should invite her and her friend out tonight."
Abruptly coming to a halt, I whipped my head to the side to look at him as he reached for his car door. "What?"
Lincoln glanced at me and shrugged. "Like you said, the two of you are just neighbors. Is there any harm in her and her friend showing up?"
I mulled over his suggestion for a moment. It was a little unexpected coming from him, especially after he practically ripped me a new asshole earlier for being an idiot. Inviting Juliette and her friend came with great risk, unless it was played off like it was just a coincidence. Perhaps Juliette and her friend ended up going to the same place we were going to be at. Perhaps we just accidentally ran into one another.
No one would ever know.
"I can't invite her," I told him, watching as he opened the car door and lowered himself inside. "If I invite her, it's too suspicious."
"You're right," he said with a thoughtful nod. A smirk slowly crept onto his lips. "You could always tell her where you're going to be."
I tilted my head to the side. "I technically wouldn't be inviting her to come along."
"Nope," Lincoln said with a look of indifference and a shrug. "If she ends up showing up there, then it's purely a coincidence."
A smile lifted the corners of my lips. "I enjoy coincidences."
"Tell her to bring her friend along." Lincoln laughed while starting the engine of his car. "I'll meet you at Mirage."
He closed the door without another word and I walked around the front of his car as I made my way over to mine. I wasn't really one who cared for clubs, but when everyone was going out to celebrate a win, it was hard to not go along for the fun. I got in my car, feeling the hum of the engine as I started it. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and went to my messages, opening up the text thread between Juliette and I.
Mac
