Page 76 of One Shot

“Let me do your makeup first!” she shrieks. “Come sit.”

While I’m sitting trying my hardest not to squirm from the tickles of the makeup brush, I realize I’ve never really had girl’s nights like this. Bren and I would have girl’s nights here and there, but they would always end with Nick joining. I haven’t had genuine time with girl friends since before the accident. I’m sure Nick would make fun of me for it, but I don’t even care. It’s exactly what I’ve needed in my life. Close girl friends to distract me when life is hard, to lift me up when I need it, laugh with, cry with, and to apparently spread sparkly goop across my eyelids for New Year’s Eve.

“Thank you,” I say to Suz as she shows me her handiwork in the mirror. “It’s perfect for me.”

“Oh, I know,” she beams and gives me a hug.

Revealing our emotional wounds from the past created a tight bond between Suz and I. I never would have thought that I would consider the blonde Barbie I spied across the bar when I first met Lucas a close friend of mine.

“Thanks for letting me do it. Jaylin refused,” she snorts. “I can do subtle makeup or tweak it to fit different personalities! Not everyone loves the sparkle glam.”

“I didn’t even have a choice!” Brens shrieks.

I start to laugh. This interaction between them is exactly what I love. I feel like I’m finally starting to find myself again, despite the hard conversations about Nathan lately. I have these amazing people in my life to help me through it.

“You were never going to get one, bestie,” Suz laughs. “Let’s pop some champagne before we go and have it downstairs. That way Jaylin will join us and not be afraid I’ll attack her face with a makeup brush.”

I put on the dress and go to my room to pick out shoes. The doorbell rings. Butterflies start to flutter in my stomach, and my heartbeat rushes. Is it the guys?

“Libby is here,” Suz calls from downstairs.

The butterflies abruptly stop, replaced by emptiness. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to spend tonight with Lucas. New Year's Eve is always an overhyped disappointment. But with four of my best friends, I have no doubt that I’ll have a magical night.

“I’m coming!” I call back.

I rush over to hug Libby hello. We talk about the success of the calendar sales and jersey sales for the team. Then Jaylin steers the conversation away from the hockey team a little bit.

“We’re late!” Bren rushes us out the door. “And I mean later than we planned to be late, it’s almost 11pm. Let’s go!”

We call an Uber for once. It's December 31st, and we live in Michigan—none of us would dare walk even half a mile in a dress and heels. Luckily, we’ve become friends with even more of the staff at Haee’s that Libby had no issues joining us. They rarely check our IDs, but on the off chance they do ask, her ID claiming she’s Eden Ward will work just fine.

The bar is more crowded than I’ve ever seen it. The amount of glitter and sequins in Bren’s room is a hiccup compared to the explosion of sparkle at Haee’s. Bren drags us to the bar before we saunter over to our reserved booth. By reserved, I mean the hockey team comes here so often that Joe, our favorite bartender, just booked one for ten, free of charge.

Bren hands me a Bud Light before we find our booth to put our stuff down. Suz demands we dance and grabs Jaylin’s hand. I can’t help but smile at how adorable they are. Suz has really come around in the last few weeks to being more public with Jaylin. They seemso happy together. A longing for Lucas to be here overcomes me. I think Libby can tell.

“I know you hate to, but do you want to take a shot?” Libby asks.

“Yes!” I don’t even hesitate with my answer. “We’ll meet you on the dance floor,” I say to the rest of the girls.

I want to have a good buzz going. I take a big swig of my beer, while Libby orders cinnamon whiskey, and it’s not terrible. It goes down smoothly.

“Try this instead of that shitty beer,” Libby says, handing me a pint glass that is clearly not a light beer. “It’s an IPA. Maybe not your style, but it’s mango and delicious. Plus, it’s free technically so just give it a try.”

It is free since we technically paid for the unlimited package. Setting my Bud Light on the bar, I slowly take a sip. The beer hits my taste buds, and I don’t cringe. It’s not bad! I flash Libby a thumbs up. Libby quickly drags me onto the dance floor, leaving my unfinished drinks at the bar.

The music claims us on the dance floor. Gyrating bodies of strangers bump against me, but I don’t mind. Beads of sweat drip down my spine. If Suz didn’t put so much setting powder and spray on my face, my makeup would be one hundred percent sweat off. Maybe I should have her buy me makeup, I have no idea what I’m doing half the time. A small panic runs through me as I look around at my friends realizing that Bren has disappeared. We squeeze our way out of the crowd to find her and get another drink.

After a few minutes of waiting in line, I see him across from the bar, just like the very first time I saw him. I instantly know where Bren has gone. I see her with Liam next to Lucas, Tyler, and Connor. They’re surrounded by a group of people I’ve not met.

“Hey, Joe, can you deliver a Bud Light to that guy over there?” A veil of despair that I didn’t realize was there lifts at the sight of Lucas.

“Lucas? Yeah, no problem, Laur,” he says.

Exhilaration clouds my head more than I thought, I should have just said to Lucas. Joe knows the entire team. We are the definition of regulars. I watch as Joe delivers the beer to Lucas and motions over to me. Lucas’ eyes lock with mine as he holds up his beer to toast to me. With a slight buzz, I raise my glass back to him, giving him a flirty wink before chugging my drink. This IPA is a lot harder to chug than the Bud Light. He’s chuckling as he chugs his too. Even after we both finish our beers, we don’t break eye contact.

“Stop eye-fucking him from across the bar before one of you starts drooling or moaning. We have an image to uphold here. Just go sit on his lap and call him puck daddy already,” Suz says with an undercurrent of amusement in her voice.

“I think we have different ideas of what our image should be,” I bite my lip as my eyes drift back to Lucas waiting gaze. She’s so damn right. And his lap looks way too inviting.

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