Page 54 of The Best Kind of Forever
I simply shake my head, chuckling under my breath as Hayes drags me over to meet a few more people. I shake hands and smile demurely as we rotate from cluster to cluster, finally ending our pilgrimage at a large, intimidating man. He’s gathered a small throng of people with whatever fascinating story he’s telling, and they all burst out into laughter like there’s some kind of cue card in the distance.
The stoic-faced man greets Hayes with a smile, then glances at me.
“Coach, this is Aeris, my girlfriend. Aeris, this is my coach,” Hayes says, looking about as nervous as I feel.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” I greet, holding out my hand.
Coach gives it a firm shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Aeris. I hope you’ve been keeping Hayes here out of trouble.”
I don’t know why, but the overwhelming urge to curtesy takes over my body. “Yes, sir. He’s been great. Playing very well.”
Jesus. Why am I so stiff? Those weren’t even complete sentences.
Coach’s chuckle is deep enough to make my bones vibrate in my skin. “You a fan of hockey, Aeris?” he grills.
“Uh…I mostly go to support Hayes,” I laugh, giving Hayes’ arm a squeeze, hoping the gesture takes away from the redness occupying my cheeks.
“I like you already.”
What do I say to that? Thank you? Is it weird if I return the compliment? Yeah…maybe less words are better.
“Oh, uh, thank you.”
Thankfully, Casen enters the conversation and eases the spotlight off of me. Coach excuses himself and finishes greeting the rest of the guests while I turn my attention to the alluring girl on Casen’s arm. Her wild curls are barely tamed as they flare down her shoulders, and her features remind me of an old Hollywood starlet. A sleeveless, royal-blue dress clings to her toned body, no lump or wrinkle in sight, ending just below the knees. Mesh material shaped like sugar-pulled flames hold her cleavage up, and she’s wearing a swoop of finely cut diamonds against her chest. Diamonds that match the 24-carat ring on her slender finger. This must be Josie, and Casen must’ve proposed.
“Aeris, right? It’s so nice to meet you!” Her titanium arms wrap around me in a hug that definitely cracks something. She’s a lot stronger than she looks.
“Oh, the pleasure is mine,” I say, slightly off-kilter from the physical and social encroachment.
When we pull away, I can’t help but gawk at the blinding gem. “Congratulations on the engagement.”
She holds her hand up and wiggles her fingers. “Thank you! It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I waited seven years for this idiot to propose.”
Casen narrows his eyes playfully. “Hey, I got around to it, didn’t I?”
“You did,” she laughs, drawing his arm over the front of her body.
“How did you two meet?”
“We met in high school, but we hated each other at first,” Casen answers.
Josie nods in agreement. “I couldn’t stand him. We were classmates in history, and he cheated off my final. When the teacher found our answers to be the exact same, they failed both of us and had us attend detention for an entire month. All of it went on our permanent record. Casen refused to admit he cheated. And because of this, we both had to retake the class. We were at each other’s throats for a while before the tension turned into something salvageable. And here we are, seven years later.” She punctuates the end of her story with a loved-up nuzzle to his chest.
I can’t imagine spending seven years of my life with another person. You would know everything about them by that point. I like the stability of that, though. They’re a few of the lucky ones to have found their lifelong partner early. “Wow, that sounds like a roller coaster.”
“It was, but it was worth every turn,” Josie confesses, a look of longing drifting over her features.
“It sounds like—”
The sight of a girl jockeying her way through a crowd of people halts my sentence. Her slender body hurtles toward us, and her cat-like eyes do a foxtrot around the group before landing on Hayes.
“Hayes, can we talk?”
Who is this girl? And how does she know Hayes?
She has flawless, golden skin, a button nose, and pink lips that look like they’ve been permanently bee-stung. Her bone structure had to have been sculpted by an artist. She’s wearing a satiny-looking pink slip, and a small, gold necklace—which I can only assume costs more than the down payment of my entire apartment—rests on her chest. Her small boobs are perfectly proportioned to her lean body. She looks like a model. Actually, she looks like one of those super clean girls that you never imagine ever having to poop. Like Kendall Jenner.
Hayes’ voice tips into the realm of shock. “Now?”
