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Then the whole storm with Mara’s mom.
That threw me way, way back, and I’d not been ready or wanting to go to memories of why I could identify Mara’s mom’s deal or the look in Mara’s eyes when she came out of the bathroom.
We were leaving for Minnesota in the morning, so I had one night.
I needed to hash some stuff out with Daniels, and her ghosting me was not going to continue. We were officially in the ‘between shit’ that she always said she didn’t want. We were there. I was making us go there.
I was finishing dressing when Barclay came over. “A bunch of us are going for some pizza. You in?”
I checked my phone. It wasn’t even eight yet. “Yeah. I can go for a couple slices.”
“Sweet!” He pounded me on the chest before grabbing his bag. “Can I ride with you?”
As soon as we entered Pete’s, the guys headed for the back room. It was mostly a bar, known for their pizza and a couple games in the back room, so it wasn’t uncommon for some kids to be playing back there if their family was here during normal ‘dinner’ hours. Labrowski and a few of the other guys were the only ones legal to drink, so they ordered a pitcher. We were in training, and we had a game tomorrow, so it would only be one pitcher. The guys had been here enough and the workers behind the bar were fan-guys. Because of that, it was the place we came whenever we wanted a beer and didn’t want to get any shit for it.
D1 hockey went a long way around here.
But because it’d gotten out that the team hung out here, a lot of upperclassmen also started coming as well. Which normally wasn’t an issue, but I saw a back booth where Carrington was at, along with a few other Alpha Mu brothers.
Barclay sat down next to me, nodded in their direction. “Wonder if Miller is here?”
I glanced over, hearing Mara’s roommate. “Over there.”
“Sweet. I like the Miles kid too.”
They weren’t alone.
Miles Gaynor, Gavin Miller, a few other guys were heading in from the other section of the bar and right behind them were a bunch of sorority girls. Burford was there. She was grinning, her head down, her hand lightly touching Miller’s back, but when their attention shifted our way, so did hers.
Her hand fell away. Her head jerked up. The grin vanished, and her eyes got real wide. She stumbled in her step before righting herself.
“What’s that about?” Labrowski joined us, setting the pitcher down and a pile of plastic cups next to it. He was talking about Burford.
“Nothing. I know her from school.”
“College?”
Labrowski stifled a laugh.
I rolled my eyes at Barclay. “High school, dumbfuck.”
“Really?”
I nodded.
“You two don’t look cool. I thought you were cool? You studied with her when you first hooked up with Daniels.”
“How do you know that?”
Labrowski snorted, laughing under his breath.
Barclay winced before also snorting. “You came back reeking of sex. After that, Daniels was the only girl sneaking out of your room. Figured that was the first time. Was I wrong?”
I swore, long and low. “Had no idea you were this observant back then.”
Labrowski hooted, hitting the table with his palm. “Observant! Barclay?”
Atwater was coming back to the table, a wide grin on his face and his own pitcher of beer in hand. He set it down, rounding the table to drop down on my other side. “Barclay? Too bad he doesn’t use that skill on the ice.”
“Hey!”
Labrowski’s head tipped back, more laughter came out. “Burn!”
“Dude.” Barclay was scowling and he motioned to the second pitcher of beer. “We have a game tomorrow. One pitcher is fine, but two? Everyone has a phone nowadays. What are you thinking?”
Atwater didn’t seem to care, shrugging and pouring himself a cup. “If we ask real nice, they won’t post. No one wants to get us in trouble.”
Labrowski grunted, taking his own pitcher and pouring for himself. “Don’t say that around Styles. He found out sometimes they gonna post what they wanna post.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Fuck off, all y’all.”
“Damn.” Atwater shot upright, motioning behind Labrowski. “Watch it. They’re coming over.”
The rest of the team was heading in, but they weren’t alone. Gaynor and Miller joined, along with a couple other Alpha Mu brothers. Burford and her sorority sisters joined too, lingering at the end except for two of the girls. They were eyeing me.
“What’s up, everyone?” Gaynor went around the table, fist pumping half the team. I held mine up as he went past. He paused, just briefly, but kept on, rounding and sinking down on the other side of Keys.
Miller joined him, giving everyone a nod hello. “You all going to win tomorrow?”
The guys started to talk, but I was feeling attention from one of Sabrina’s friends. Slender. Pretty face. Dark hair. She had mean eyes, the kind that say they know something about you that you don’t want them to know. Because of that, I leaned forward. “Who’s your friend, Burford?”
