I shake my head and laugh it off. She’s just teasing me.
Still though. She brings up a good point. He doesn’t wink at anyone else. Just me.
A hopeful, giddy feeling swoops through me. But then I remind myself that Blake and I are best friends, nothing more. He’s just messing around. He’s funny and playful like that.
The game ends. Hollis wins by two points.
As we make our way out of the stands, Poppy turns to me.
“Wanna grab some food with the guys and us?” she asks.
“Yeah, sounds great.”
Chapter 7
Briar
“Great game, you guys. Congrats on the win,” Anna says to the guys when they walk up to our table at the Mile High Diner.
This diner on the edge of campus is the guys’ favorite place to fuel up after games and practices. Blake took me here a couple of times after I moved in with him.
We scoot over in our big booth to make room for Nick, Travis, Leo, and Blake.
Nick wraps his arm around Poppy and kisses her. He looks up and nods at Blake. “Biggest thanks go to Blake for scoring that goal in the third period and securing the lead for us.”
Blake grins when we raise our water glasses to him.
I gently bump his shoulder. “You really were amazing,” I say.
His gaze is warm as he looks at me. The server stops by and takes our order. When I hear how much food the guys order, my eyes widen.
Nick just chuckles. “Our appetites are insane after a game.”
A few minutes later, the server drops off the milkshakes the guys ordered. Nick inhales his and is the first to finish.
“You want some?” Blake offers me his strawberry milkshake. I tell him thanks and take a sip.
When the food arrives, there’s barely enough table space for all the plates and bowls.
The server, an older woman with gray hair, just chuckles. “You know, if this were any other group of customers, I’d roll my eyes. No way could anyone finish this amount of food. But I know you boys can.”
Nick flashes a proud smile. “We won’t let you down, Janice. When you come back, all these plates will be clean. Promise.”
Janice chuckles as she walks off. The guys dig into their food.
“I thought you hated olives,” Leo says as he looks at the salad that came with Blake’s meatloaf.
“I do. Briar likes them though.” He flashes a lopsided grin at me, then moves the salad bowl so it’s next to me.
I pluck out the olives and pop them in my mouth.
Blake makes a face. “I still don’t get how you can eat those. They’re so slimy and rubbery.”
I playfully elbow him. “They’re delicious.” I pick up the small side dish of blue cheese crumbles that came with my cob salad and set it next to Blake’s plate. “Unlike blue cheese.”
I stick out my tongue, but he just laughs. He sprinkles the cheese crumbles on his salad and takes a huge bite.
When I look up, I notice everyone is quietly looking over at us.
