Page 21 of Rock Pucking Bottom

Itwasareliefto know that Eoghan wasn't going crazy tonight.

I felt for him. He was truly at war with himself right now, and I hated that. There was no good solution for him since he really wanted both the Stanley Cup and to be back home. So while he got to continue his dream of lifting the cup, he was kept away from home a little longer.

Although, he didn't know how lucky he was to have teammates who bought out the Merchant Store for the night to celebrate the game.

He might not have even realized that they rented out the place for him.

Looking up the address to make sure that it was truly zero proof, I saw it normally closed about two hours ago.

Getting up to the place, I was surprised how there was a shop filled with all sorts of fun merchandise, including some fun Legacy branded shirts, stationery, and home décor. If I wasn't here on a mission to keep Eoghan on the straight and narrow, I would have shopped a little bit.

I went towards the noise of guys talking to each other in elevated tones.

Eoghan stood slightly off to the side talking to a guy I sort of recognized but couldn't place.

As I approached, the red-head with damp hair which only set off his jaw line smiled widely. His smile was something to behold and not something he shared often, so I felt special.

He came up and I gave him a friendly hug. He immediately tightened it into a big bear hug that seemed to engulf me. Something about it made me think he would be the perfect big spoon.

"Congrats."

His steely eyes dropped to the ground. He didn't love the attention being on him. He mumbled, "Thanks. Let me get you a drink."

"Shouldn't I be the one buying you drinks?" I teased.

He guided me over to the bar. He wasn't going to entertain the idea of me buying drinks, which was sweet. I wasn’t going to fight him when he wanted to be nice.

He wrapped an arm around my back.

I looked over the menu and asked, "Have you had anything yet?"

"Nah. Waiting for you to arrive before ordering. I didn't want to fuck up the recovery by doing anything that I shouldn't. I knew all the THC infused stuff was off limits, but after that I wasn't sure what to get."

He was completely on the right track with this thought process. He didn't need me to be standing next to him when he was doing everything right. But I loved how he much attention he'd given me.

He'd come a long way over the past month.

While it might not seem like much, being a month sober was a big deal. Places like this were such a good stepping stone for those in recovery since it gave them a place to socialize, but depending on the cocktail, it could be too much like the real stuff and lead to a relapse.

Scanning over the menu. I saw it had a great mix of drinks. Some were based on alcoholic drinks and others were just good-sounding based on the ingredients.

Almost immediately, I knew what I would be ordering. Not sure if he would understand why I would want to drink that.

"Well, I think the red-headed slut would be nice."

He chuckled, thinking I was talking about the much more popular shot. "That can't be on there."

I pointed to it on the menu.

"It's right there."

His chortle made me so damn wet. He so seldomly laughed, but his rich tone was to die for.

We both ended up ordering the red-headed slut. When we got the high ball size glass filled with a bright red liquid, I lifted it up to give him a toast. But he didn't lift his glass. Instead, he pulled me close and planted a kiss on my lips that just sent shivers down my spine.

I kissed him back. I'm not even sure when he took the glass out of my hand. We continued kissing until the hoots from his teammates got to be too much.

There was a huge part of me regretting not being at his house naked after a game, but he never got serious about looking for a real sponsor, so I felt it was irresponsible to jump into anything resembling dating. Now I instantly regretted it since his lips were amazing and I wanted to know everything about this man.

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