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“If I knew how to create my own app I would—”
“I’m grabbing another drink,” I announce, cutting Aidan off mid-sentence before slipping off my stool and heading straight toward the bar.
I’m pissed, and I’m not sure why.
That he came over and commandeered my girls’ night with an old friend, maybe. Possibly that he did it without directly acknowledging meonce.
Clayton focusing on Isla didn’t bother me. I was excited for her.
Aidan focusing on Isla annoys the shit out of me. He couldn’t have bothered with aHi? It’s two letters. One syllable. A second out of his night.
I find an open spot along the bartop and lean against the scarred wooden surface, waiting for the bartender to work his way down to this end. Another drink isn’t my best idea, especially considering how quickly I downed my first beer, but I really needed an excuse to escape that table. Plus, tonight I’mbeing Reckless Rylan, and this seems like something she would do.
Since the bartender is moving at the speed of molasses, I turn to survey the rest of the bar. Keeping my gaze far away from the back section.
Aidan isn’t the only hockey player here, but the others I recognize are all clustered around a large table. He didn’t come over to “play trivia” because he’s here alone or has no one else to talk to, and I have no clue what to make of that. All I know is it irritates me. We’re stuck together for one hour a week. He can’t steer clear outside of those sixty minutes?
“They’re passing out the answer sheets.”
“Cool.” I keep my eye on a group of guys by the pool table, debating if I have the guts to go over there and ask if they need another player. If Aidan is here, I’m sure Clayton and Isla have returned to flirting. And if Isla is occupied with a hot guy, I have no attachment to playing trivia tonight. Might as well take advantage of the buzz I’m experiencing to take another step out of my comfort zone.
“You mad at me about something?” Aidan asks.
I suppress the scoff that wants to come out. Still noHi. Let alone aHow are you?or aNice to see you. “No.”
He snorts. “Well—”
“Phillips!” A tall guy I’ve never seen before appears. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“I’m playing trivia,” Aidan responds.
The guy laughs, once. “You’rewhat?”
“Oh, good. Are you guys already waiting to order? The line at the other end is insane.” A gorgeous redhead joins us. She looks vaguely familiar, but I don’t think we’ve ever met. Unless I’m already tipsier than I realized and I’m forgetting faces.
“Get this, Harlow,” Aidan’s friend says. “Phillips is playingtrivia.”
Hearing her name solves the mystery.She’s Conor Hart’s girlfriend, I realize. She was at the hockey party I went to with Chloe and Malia.
“Really?” Harlow looks intrigued. “I didn’t know Gaffney’s had trivia.”
“Where’s Hart?” Aidan asks abruptly.
“Outside, on the phone with his mom,” Harlow replies. “Which reminds me, game recap, please. I was supposed to watch it, but the meeting with my thesis advisor ran long and then Eve had this art project crisis, so all I know is that you guys won. Did Conor get a goal?”
“Yep,” Aidan’s friend says.
I’m gathering he’s also on the team, but I don’t recognize him. I do wonder ifextremely attractiveis a requirement for being on Holt’s hockey team. Where the hell is my dad recruiting all these hot guys from?
“And an assist. But first star goes to this guy.” He punches Aidan’s shoulder. “Two goals and an assist. Phillips is making the rest of us look bad.”
Two goals and an assist?
I was planning to check on the score of today’s game. For my dad…and because I was curious about how Aidan played. But I haven’t yet. And I’m oddly…relieved, knowing they not only won, but it wasn’t the letdown Aidan was worried about.
“Been doing that for years, Morgan,” Aidan replies. Then, surprisingly, he glances at me. “Don’t look so shocked.”
Harlow and Hunter—I remember a Hunter Morgan from the game I went to last weekend, so I’m assuming that’s his first name—look at me, wearing identical expressions of surprise.
