“I love this place.”
“I know.” I lifted our linked fingers to my lips and kissed her hand. “Ready?”
Ralphie jumped out and opened the door for her while I grabbed my crutches and hopped around to her side. It really was fucking annoying I couldn’t hold her hand. We walked in together through the little entranceway.
“SURPRISE!”
Her body flinched hard at the volume of our friends shouting, all of them grinning at her shock.
Her hand flew to her chest. “Ugh, I hate surprises.”
I kissed the top of her head, muffling my chuckle as everyone surged forward to greet her. “It’s not a surprise, you knew what was happening.”
“I didn’t know everyone else was going to be here.”
“Oh, did I not mention that?”
“No, you left that bit out.” She grinned up at me. “It’s perfect, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I found her lips again, keeping it as chaste as possible in the presence of company, which included her brother.
“Okay, that’s weird.” Cooper muttered as he pulled Molly away and into a hug. “Happy birthday, Mol.”
“You owe me fifty bucks.” Drew whispered in my ear as he slapped me on the back.
“No chance, his head’s still intact.”
I moved away from everyone greeting Molly and sat down at the table so I could get rid of the crutches and actually enjoy a drink without needing to take part in a death-defying balancing act. The waiter brought some beers over and I picked one up, knocking it against Jasper’s as he and Coop joined us. The girls were already giggling together across the room, Molly twirling in her dress, making my heart swell.
“Hey, did you hear about Sands?” Drew looked up at the pair of them at they pulled out chairs and sat down.
“No, what happened?”
He smirked. “That girl he’s been chasing, the one who’s been working on Clevs’ knee? She’s Coach’s daughter.”
Jasper’s eyes bulged in horror, and then he started laughing so hard, tears were soon pouring. “Fuck, Coach is going to go apeshit. He’ll probably get traded.”
“Nah, he’ll just get benched for the season and be made to watch someone else in his position as punishment.” The waiter put down a low-alcohol beer in front of Cooper. “Thanks, man.”
I shook my head. “I don’t even know how he got her number.”
“She gave it to him apparently, but I don’t know if that was because he conned her into thinking he wanted treatment.”
Why was I even surprised?
“Motherfucker. Serves him right.” My face dropped in disgust. “Have they slept together?”
He shook his head. “No, but that’s who his ‘date’ was with.”
“What? He’s going to date her?”
“No, he cancelled. He’s too scared of Coach.”
Cooper leaned back in his chair and snorted out a laugh. “How did you find all this out already?”
“Brog told me.”
“Oh, man, I’m going to miss coming into this shit every day.” Jasper swigged his beer.
