“Good game, Cap.” Another stranger pats me on the shoulder and walks past. I smile and nod, feeling like a fraud. I don’t feel like I’ve given any area of my life the time and dedication it needs lately and my spinning plates are starting to do that wibbly-wobbly thing they do right before they crash to the ground.
“You good?” Apollo steps into my line of sight. I don’t want to make it obvious who I’m staring at, so I drag my eyes from Savannah to his face.
I put my beer on the bar and scrub my fingers through my still-damp hair. “Just disappointed in myself lately, that’s all.”
His sympathetic nod isn’t particularly encouraging. Great. He’s disappointed in me, too. Who else on my team is feeling that way?
“You have a lot on your plate, Cap.”
The sinking feeling in my stomach turns to those free-fall feelings you get on a rollercoaster. I’m letting down my boys.
Something registers on his face, and he shakes his head. “You know that wasn’t necessarily a criticism, right? It’s a simple fact. You’re pretty busy.”
I sigh. “I know. I just don’t know how people do it.”
He nudges me. “Most of us don’t play competitive college sports while simultaneously trying to get a full-time degree and launch our careers off the ground. Just chill the fuck out a bit. You’re making the rest of us look bad.” He winks as though he knows telling me to calm down will just wind me up further.
He doesn’t get it.Can’tget it. He was born into money, and while he didn’t ask for it, he’ll never know what it’s like to hear your mom crying while your dad tries to juggle bills. He’ll never know what it’s like to have your grandfather tell your dad what a failure he is that he can’t take care of your mom while you’re standing on his doorstep with all your possessions in tattered suitcases and trash bags.
He doesn’t get my “why.” And that’s okay. He doesn’t have to. We’re not all motivated by the same things, and that’s okay too. But there’s no way I can take my foot off the gas. I have big plans for my future, and they don’t involve pieces of shit cars held together by duct tape or final notice bills coming through my storm-damaged door.
I take another drink of beer, squeezing my phone in my other hand. It hasn’t vibrated yet, so Vannah hasn’t replied to my messages. I flex my jaw. I want to go over there, pick her up, swing her over my shoulder and take her home to have my way with her.
It’s not the most gentlemanly thing I could do, and she might not be ready, but it would show her for sure that I’m all in. All. In. Preferably in her pussy. Assuming she’s open to the idea of course.
Apollo grabs my shoulder and gives me a shake. “Stop being so hard on yourself, Cap. You’re doing great.”
I don’t know how to stop being so hard on myself, but I tell him I’ll try just to get him to leave me alone with my thoughts. And so he’ll step the hell out of my way so I can stare at Savannah again. Yes, it’s creepy, but she’s a beacon of light in this on-the-right-side-of-dingy bar, and I want to soak her in.
Her phone is sitting on the table in front of her when Apollo walks away.
Justin: I have something else to ask you, too.
She casts a glance over to me, and I tilt my head. Pick up the phone. Talk to me.
Justin: I want to take you out. A real date. Say yes, pretty girl.
She’s nibbling on her lip, phone now in hand. Athena grabs the cell from her hand, and her thumbs move over the screen. After a second or two she hands the phone back and my hands vibrate.
Savannah: She’d love to. But you gotta take her somewhere nice, Justin Ass. Or you and me are gonna have issues. Now quit distracting my girl. You can take her home in an hour.
It feels mildly like Athena de la Peña just stepped into pimp territory for her friend, and I can’t help but laugh as I re-read the message. An hour. I can absolutely handle drinking with my team for an hour. Right?
Ares bursts into the bar with a bright pink, bedazzled leash clutched in his hand. Bacon—still dressed as a raccoon—leads the way. It takes less than a second for people to realize he’s brought a pet fucking pig to the bar and people flock to him to say hi and love on our new mascot.
Our goaltender laps up the attention more than the damn pig does. Ares is not someone I’d ever call shy, and his charisma and ease in dealing with everyone is pretty impressive. He’s a cocky fucker on the ice, but having seen some of the saves he’s made over our last few games, well, he has reason to be.
I feel someone staring at me. When I look around, my gaze meets Savannah’s. It’s going to be a long sixty minutes, but then I get her all to myself for the ride home.
CHAPTER17
Savannah
I’m going to puke. Justin took me home last night, and at the door to my building, he kissed the breath from my body until I felt dizzy and needed a time out. Today is our first date. Our first real, no parents, no team mates, no meddling best friends, no coincidences date.
Today, not tonight. Which is weird, right? You don’t take someone you want to do naughty things to out in the middle of the afternoon.
Definitely weird.
