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“Good to see Arden can finally put that playoff loss from last season behind him,” he says.
“Yeah,” I agree. “He was obsessing over it most of the summer.”
“Until he met Willow,” Finn says as he continues to undress. “She sure has been good for him.”
“That’s for sure,” I concur.
It’s true. Arden fell in love with our top-line center’s sister last summer, and it’s been the best thing for him. He’s much more relaxed and happier these days. And now he can fully put the past behind him after his stellar play tonight.
Thinking about that winning shot, I say to Finn, “You know what? We should take Arden out to dinner tonight. We can make it like a celebration that he finally got the monkey off his back.”
Standing, Finn grabs a thick white towel from the top shelf of his locker.
As he fluffs it out and wraps it around his waist, he says, “That’s a great idea. Do you want to ask some of the other guys if they want to go too? Or should we just keep it the three of us?”
I shrug. “I think we should ask Hayden, for sure. But that’s it. Arden will appreciate it more if we don’t turn this into something too over the top. You know how he is, always trying to keep things low-key.”
“Good point,” Finn says. “So, do you want me to talk to Hayden, or are you going to?”
“I will,” I say.
Nodding, he heads off to the showers.
I finish undressing and secure a towel around my waist. The showers are next for me, too, but I have one thing I need to do first.
Well, two things really.
I head across the locker room to check with Arden to make sure he’s up for a late-night dinner. It’d suck if we were making plans and he didn’t even want to go.
Lucky for us, he’s in.
“Fuck, yeah,” he says. “That will actually work out well.”
“Yeah? How so?” I ask.
He explains, “My sister is coming into town late tonight. If we go to dinner, I should be back at the house right around the time she’ll arrive. I want to be there and awake, ’cause Willow has to be up early for work tomorrow. She’ll definitely be in bed by the time my sister rolls in.”
“Ah, got it,” I reply.
I now remember that Arden did say the other day that his little sister, who’s having some kind of a post-college “I’m not sure what I want to do with my life” crisis, is moving into town.
“I forgot you told me she’s coming in tonight,” I go on. “What’s her name again?”
“Elena,” Arden replies. “But everyone just calls her Ellie.”
“That’s right.” I nod, recalling he did tell me her name before. “Okay, well, we’ll be sure not to keep you too long at the restaurant.”
He laughs. “As long as I’m back by around midnight, I should be good.”
“We’ll definitely be out of the restaurant before then,” I assure him.
I feel good as I walk away to take care of my next task. Finn and I clearly made the right decision to keep the dinner outing small. I wouldn’t want Arden to miss Ellie’s arrival, and if there were a bunch of us guys going out tonight, dinner would take much longer.
I stop by Hayden’s locker next to see if he’s up for going out tonight. The three of us are pretty tight, especially since we play together on the top line. Finn’s been hanging out with us more lately, and he’s been a good friend of mine for a while, so we’re becoming a nice, little tight-knit group.
Unfortunately, Hayden can’t join us for dinner. He has plans with his fiancée, Addison.
“Next time, though, for sure,” he says.
