“Not at all.” I shake my head, fighting the admission that I’ve never had a friend group like this and now I fear I can never leave it.
He plays with my ponytail. “Good, there’s going to be a lot of this.”
Beck leans on the table. “Okay, different topic, you all know the new rookie, Sam? Apparently he went to school with Jensen and her sister.”
“What? What are the odds of that?” Emma asks with a bit of a laugh.
Jensen shrugs. “I don’t know, there’s probably a six degrees of separation reasoning somewhere, but yeah, we all went to high school together. Stella was closer to him than I was, but she’s pretty stoked to come watch him this season.” She spins to me. “You have to come with us, too.”
“Ooo, yes,” Lucie cheers. “That’d be so fun. Emma’s getting me a jersey for games. Do you want one, Mia?”
I see the opportunity and I’m not missing it.
“I’d love one. Any player’s jersey is fine.”
I feel Adam’s hand tense as he fiddles with my ponytail. “The fuck it is,” he grumbles. “Mine only, or I’ll pull a Dex and come out in the stands.”
Callie nearly chokes on her drink, but once she gains her composure, her smile is huge. “Em, I’m going to need you to give her someone else’s so I can get photos of that. The pics of Dex and Lucie were so cute!”
Lucie nods. “Do it, I had them framed and everything.”
“Hey, you don’t have to convince me.” Emma holds her hands up.
Adam shakes his head. “Yeah, well, remember, whatever player you give her is going to get his ass kicked.”
Emma waves him off. “Perfect, I’ll give her Tripp’s.”
“Hey!” Tripp starts bickering with her, so I lean over to Adam.
“Think she’ll comfort him after?”
He chuckles. “You’re going to force them together, aren’t you?”
“I don’t meddle, All-star, I simply love the entertainment.”
Chapter 8
Adam
“So, you really like her?” Callie asks, spinning back and forth on my barstool while I put my watch on my wrist.
To say Callie was more than happy to hear about Mia would be an understatement, but she’s been oddly quiet about the whole thing. I had anticipated daily questioning and demanded updates, but this is the first time she’s brought it up since the night at the bar.
“Yeah, Cals, I do.” Flipping my wrist back over, I check the time. It’s been a week since I’ve seen Mia. We’ve called and texted plenty, but I need to see her. With Valentine’s Day being this past week, Mia was tied up at the bar, and I was stuck at the Blues facility with preseason training.
I’m fighting the urge to tell my sister I’ve got to go, but remembering all she’s said, I push that rush down. “I have a minute before I have to leave. Want to talk about anything?”
Callie hums softly. “You know, it’s odd how normal that question feels now. I don’t think we were ever asked to talk or share anything about our lives growing up. I’ve finally stopped apologizing to Will when I get on a tangent.”
This bittersweet feeling hits me in the freaking gut. I know Will said I’ve made my peace with my parents and that’s true to some degree, but I can’t say I’ve found that with how I left Callie.
“I don’t know what that bummed-out look is for, Adam. It’s a good thing.” Callie hops off the barstool with a chuckle. “I have to admit, I was a little suspicious at first, considering I had just been pestering you about dating, but I think I got a bit of what you saw when you looked at me and Will.”
“I’m not hiding my relationship, Callie,” I tease.
“Okay, but you knew the whole time anyway, so that’s a moot point, don’t you think?”
I shrug. “Feels a little relevant to me.”
