AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Seriously?” Jordan stands at the foot of the table with an incredulous expression. She flattens her palms on the table, and her long, dark hair falls over her shoulder. “Seriously,” she repeats, pointing between me and Rory. “You’re together?”
I press my mouth into a line to hide the laugh. Jordan’s about my age and detests everything hockey. I’m shocked she allows the group of us to drink in her bar after games.
I just shrug and adopt a guilty expression.
“Fuck.”She stalks back to the till, opens it, and pulls out a wad of cash.
“Oh my god,” Pippa gasps. “I forgot.”
I stiffen. “Forgot what?”
At Hayden’s table beside us, Jordan smacks the money down. “Here,” she tells him before glancing at me in dismay. “You were supposed to hold out longer.”
Hayden looks confused before realization dawns. “Do you have the list?” he asks Alexei Volkov, an older defenseman.
I look between Pippa, Jamie, and Rory. “What’s going on?”
Rory winces, but he’s smiling. “Hartley, you’re not going to like this, but it’s important that you know this wasn’t my idea.”
I have a bad feeling. “Someone tell me right now, please.”
Hayden whistles to get the bar’s attention. “If you bet against Miller and Hazel getting together this season, it’s time to pay up.”
CHAPTER8
HAZEL
Everyone pulls out their wallets.My jaw drops. My stomach drops. Everything inside me drops because what the actual fuck?
My gaze whips to Rory’s, and I widen my eyes in question. “Really?”
“Like I said,” he says lightly, “not my idea.”
“Eisner, Volkov, Chopra,” Hayden reads off his phone, “Jordan, and Streicher, you owe a hundred.”
I send Jamie an accusing look, but he has his full attention on his beer, avoiding my eyes.
“Pippa, you, too,” Hayden continues.
My mouth falls open in disbelief. “Pippa.”
She winces, laughing. “Sorry. If it makes you feel better, I thought you’d hold out until the end of the season.”
I shake my head at her while Hayden lists off more bets, but I’m laughing. “Traitor,” I say, but there’s no bite to my words.
“And finally,” Hayden calls, and a hush falls over the bar. “The winner is…” He turns to Rory. “Miller, who has won two thousand bucks.”
A round of cheers and laughs rises up, and I stare at him with unfiltered shock.
“Thank you, thank you,” he says as people pass him cash. He stands and sets the cash on the bar counter, nodding at Jordan. “Prepayment on anything we break this season.”
Everyone laughs, and I shake my head at him as he slides back into the booth. “You bet that we’d get together the first month of the season?”
His expression is pure innocence, eyes sparkling. “I always bet on myself.”
“Aww.” Hayden jostles me, but I slap him away. “He likes you.”
This is so stupid, but I’m smiling. With confidence like Rory’s, I don’t know why I’m surprised.
