Page 44 of Off The Ice

“Wow,” I breathed out, looking up at Liam. “You’re like a big deal.”

“Not really,” He brushed off my comment, his sea-glass eyes looking down at me.

“There they are!” Maggie yelped in excitement, staring at a group of guys at a high booth table in the backroom.

“Do my eyes deceive me?” one of the guys called out with a mocking, open-jawed stare. “Or did Liam Brynn deem to join us for a night out?”

“And he brought some lovely ladies,” another commented, despite the fact that they were already surrounded by a handful of girls on the sidelines attempting to chat them up.

“Hi!” Maggie waved, apparently thrilled to be immersed in what appeared to be the busiest bar in Boston.

“Knock it off,” Liam ordered, taking his hand off my back to pull a chair out.

I waited for him to sit, only realizing when he looked down at me that he was waiting formeto take the seat.

“Oh, thanks.” I flushed, hoping it wouldn’t be seen in the darkness. Once I was settled, he pulled out the chair next to me and took his place.

Maggie had already taken it upon herself to drag a chair over and was chatting animatedly with the guys, who all stared at her with looks of captivation.

“His little sister,” I heard her yelling over the music. “And she’s my best friend.”

Not knowing what else to do, I waved at them all, uttering a soft “Hi” that I doubted was heard over the thrumming bass.

“Hey, Maggie!” the guy across the table from her said. He extended his hand, nearly sending his beer toppling as he did so. “It’s nice to see you again, I’m Brody.”

The guy, Brody, stared over at Liam and mouthed what looked like a “thank you” before giving his full attention once more to Maggie.

“So, best friend.” The bulky blond guy across the table turned to me. “Do you have a name?”

I felt Liam’s arm slink around the back of my chair while I stammered out an awkward, “I’m Cassie.”

“Cassie, huh?” He smirked. “We saw you at the rink earlier tonight. And on behalf of all of us, may I say we’re allthrilledthat Liam finally found someone to put a smile on that pretty face of his. Makes the guy a little more bearable to be around, you know what I mean?”

The table laughed, and I was highly aware of Liam stiffening beside me. I felt bad, knowing that these guys probably had the wrong idea about us and how that fact probably bothered Liam more than he let on.

Of course, he was too much of a gentleman to deny it in front of me, but I’m sure the last thing he wanted was for his friends to think there was anything going on between us.

“Oh,” I said, not able to hide my blush. “It’s not like that. We hardly know each other, really. I’m Maggie’s friend.”

I pointed to the brunette sitting down at the table, listening intently to something Brody was explaining with dramatic hand movements.

He followed my gaze. “Yeah, he mentioned that,” he responded, looking between us, eyes settling curiously on Liam.

I didn’t dare look at Liam’s expression, but I hoped that my clarification would help show that I didn’t expect anything from him.

The bulky blonde across from me downed the rest of his drink in a way that made me shudder before inclining his head toward the open space in the middle of the bar.

“Cassie, why don’t you come with me to get another? On me.” He flashed a grin.

Oh, great.The worst part of any night out.

Someone would insist on buying drinks, I would politely decline, and we’d then proceed to spend the next handful of minutes discussing why I didn’t drink since no one could ever leave it at ‘No, thank you.’

But when I opened my mouth to speak the words anyway, a deeper voice responded before I had the chance.

“She’s fine,” Liam’s voice said with little room for discussion.

“But you said—” The blond guy was ready to protest.

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