Page 75 of One Shot

Pulling him into me, my lips hungrily find his before I whisper in his ear, “Bye, Captain.”

He grabs his heart and fakes a swooning gesture. I give him a gesture of my own and close the door behind him. Time for me to get a little more sleep.

The week leading up to winter break is insanely busy. Mom and Dominic are visiting for winter break to keep me company with Bren and Jaylin both leaving for a few days. But they’ll both be back for New Years. Bren is forcing us all to go to Haee’s for their supposedly exclusive NYE party. Suz took some convincing, claiming we always go to the same place, and we should do something different. She’s got a point. The team has a game on the 30th. Then, they have to be at practice bright and early on January 1st to be ready for their first game of the new year on the 2nd. I’m a little bummed it’s an away game, but I guess the girls can sleep in. We’ll see how the night goes!

Lucas is going home for three days on Christmas Eve. Mom is disappointed she won’t be able to meet him. She even tried to crash our New Years’ Eve plans. I vetoed that quickly. Lucas’ cousin just had a baby that he hasn’t met yet, so he’s really looking forward to going home. Three days without him on campus won’t be so bad anyways. I’ve barely seen Lucas over the last week. He’s focused on hockey, and I’m focused on finishing the two articles forUSA Hockey Magazine.

I have a new spring in my step and an unfamiliar lightness in my heart when I think about Lucas and me. We both are focused on our goals, still supporting each other but knowing that sometimesour dreams need to be put first. It’s comforting knowing we both are striving towards our dreams. The flutter in my heart every time his eyes meet mine when I watch the team practice gives me peace—more peace than I’ve felt in three years.

Mom and Dominic’s visit is prety uneventful. Mom keeps asking if we can FaceTime Lucas. She hasn’t even met him, but she’s obsessed.

“He’s not even my boyfriend, Annabeth,” I lie to her. She doesn’t need to know all the details of my love life. “We are not going to FaceTime him on Christmas.”

I miss him though. I’m excited to see him next week. I’ll be done with the Wyverns article by then. I’m still working on my article about Nick.

As December 31st approaches, it seems like Mother Nature has plans that delay my reunion with Lucas. The team is stuck in Illinois, but at least they won their game.

“I knew I should have gone to the game,” Bren groans. “Who am I going to kiss at midnight tomorrow without my grizzly man there?”

“We will still have the best time and get all dolled up.” A pillow leaves my hand, and flies landing next to Bren. “You’re supposed to be the hype girl, not me! What have you done to me?”

“Haee’s will never see anything look as good as us after we walk in,” Suz adds. “But I am most excited for Bren’s New Year’s Day Breakfast. Last year, she made crepes!”

“You have a promising PR career, but you could definitely open your own restaurant!”

“I just hope the guys make it for some part of New Year’s Eve and for breakfast before they are off to practice and their first game of the year,” Bren says.

“Thank goodness it’s not the first this year!” Suz chimes in, laughing. “Liam still ate his weight at breakfast. I remember him looking like he was going to be sick on the ice.”

“I should have done a light breakfast . . .” Disdain crosses Bren’s face at the memory.

After a few hours of bumming around, Bren declares we should start getting ‘glam worthy’ for the night. She’s trying to make the most of it, but she’s less bubbly than normal. I can tell she’s disappointed that Liam hasn’t provided any updates on when they’ll be back in town.

I just finished putting on a lacy, somewhat modest black dress when Bren saunters into my room.

“No,” she immediately says as she takes in my outfit.

I stare at her puzzled. She tells me to grab my makeup and come into her room to get ready and I will be changing into a more New Year’s appropriate dress. I sigh. Knowing that I probably won’t see Lucas, I’ve put very minimal effort into my appearance and outfit.

Bren’s bed looks like sequins and glitter threw up on it. My facial expression must be saying it all.

“Courtesy of my closet.” Suz beams at me, giddy with excitement. “Help yourself to whatever you’d like!”

“Wow, that’s a lot of . . . a lot.”

I spend about fifteen minutes sifting through the mounds of dresses. Suz watches me intently, waiting for me to pick an outfit in the sea of sequins she brought over. None of these options seem very me.

“If I pick the perfect dress for you, can I do your makeup?” Suz asks.

I laugh. It’s going to be hard for her to pick the perfect dress for me with these options. But, I’ll be a good friend and entertain her.

“Sure,” I reply. “Good luck.”

“I don’t need luck,” she responds confidently.

She goes to one of the three bags she brought over and pulls out the most stunning black dress. It’s the Wyverns’ team colors. It’s my style, and it’s perfect. The dress is black velvet with a sweetheart neckline and a subtle gold sparkly design.

“See, I knew it was perfect for you when I was going through my closet. I’ve actually never even worn it. Not enough color for me.” Suz tosses the dress my way.

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