Page 71 of The One Night Dash
Your boy. Dash freaking Sterling. First in two seasons.
My breath catches, and I can’t stop the grin that stretches across my face.
Me
A hat trick?
Claudia
Three goals. Unreal. He looked like he was flying.
Sofie
Crowd went nuts. Even the commentators were giddy.
Nalani
And he pointed to the camera after. Pretty sure that was for you, No-No.
I laugh, shaking my head, but my heart’s racing too fast for denial.
Across the dock, Caleb and Ethan are still arguing about whose favorite boat won the light contest. Mom’s linking arms with Rick, faces glowing under the string lights. Everyone is wrapped up in the magic of the tradition.
And me? I’m standing in the middle of it, holding onto my phone like it’s a lifeline, my chest tight with something dangerously close to pride.
EIGHTEEN
DASH
Fresh out of the shower,hair damp, jersey swapped for a suit jacket, I walk the gauntlet.
Teammates slap my back, knuckles thudding against my arm as I thread my way through the locker room.
“Sterling! Hatty!”
“Hell yeah, Dash!”
“About damn time!”
Feels good. Feels better than good. It feels like flying, like I could’ve skated circles around Diesel all night. But the real high? Not the hats raining down, not the final buzzer. It’s knowing I told her to feel me out there, and she did. My girl fucking did, from a thousand miles away.
Then my four closest boys—Killer, Faulker, Koa, and Deacon—start trash-talking.
“Better nail it down, Sterling,” Faulker says, wagging a finger. “Word gets out that Pembrooke’s like a hockey genie in a bottle, everyone’s gonna be rubbing one off, thinking about her?—”
“And trying to rub her,” Killer finishes, smirking.
Koa shakes his head like he’s disappointed in me. “You luck into a girl like that, you don’t hesitate. You lock it up.”
Deacon just grins, tossing his towel over his shoulder. “We’re saying: relationship material, wife maybe. And not the kind that waits around forever.”
Before I can snap back, my phone buzzes in my suit pocket. Briar. Video call.
Shit.
I swipe to answer, and her face fills the screen, eyes narrowed like she’s ready to carve me in half.
“You absoluteasshole,” she spits. “You didn’t tell me you’re in love with Noelle.”
