Page 65 of Reverse Pass
“Yeah, I’ll head that way after dinner.”
“You too Waylon, if you have time?” Jake nods to him.
“We’ll see.” He glances down at Mackenzie and nods his goodbye.
Ben’s hand comes to my waist, and he tugs me closer to him and a little sliver of anxiety runs up my spine as we have never been like this out in public before.
“So, you think you can brave it?” He looks at me, and as much as I want to run home and hide under the covers rather than try to hang out with the cool kids, I nod.
“I think you got three touchdowns on your first night back, so you get whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want? I’m going to hold you to that.” He grins wide and his dimples pop, and a warm feeling settles in my stomach.
* * *
Dinner actually turnsout to be a lot of fun, particularly when Waylon and Mackenzie reveal that they got engaged earlier in the day, and the celebration champagne starts flowing at dinner. By the time we’re getting to The Aspen to meet up with the rest of the team we are all feeling more than a little buzzed. And apparently the rest of the team has wasted no time in getting wasted themselves because the place is packed and rocking.
Jake is on top of a booth table when we walk in, immediately summoning Ben to his side. He looks back at me, making sure I’m good, and I nod and smile. Joss hooks her arm around mine as we follow Waylon and Mackenzie in.
“I don’t know how long I’m going to survive a sports bar. Dinner was fun, but between the stadium and this I’m pushing my sportsball limits, you know. Not to mention being a fifth wheel.”
“Anytime you want to go Joss just let me know. And you are never a fifth wheel. You are my ride or die date.” I pull her closer to me. “I can go with you, if you want?”
“You can’t leave the boy on the night of his big return celebration. You helped him get here too, remember.”
“I don’t think I get to take credit for any of this.”
“You get to take a little credit. Besides I am pretty sure you’re the trophy tonight anyway.”
“What?”
“You’re not that clueless, are you?” Joss looks at me a little concerned.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, so maybe.”
“He reserved the tickets for you to come to the game. The dinner reservation was for four, and you all just snuck me in.”
“He wanted me to go to his game. We’re friends. His friends assumed he’d have a date.”
“Mackenzie knew who you were.”
“So?”
“So he talks about you, to them.”
“Kind of hard not to. He lives with us.”
“They didn’t know who I was.”
She has a point. And it lands like a giant rock thrown into a pool of water, rippling through me as I try to make sense of it.
“I’m sure it’s nothing.” I brush it off.
“If you say so,” Joss gives me a once over.
We pull up to the bar beside Waylon and Mac, order our drinks, and watch from a distance as the guys cheer and yell over Ben’s arrival, clearly discussing and drunkenly re-enacting some of the plays. Waylon gets his beer and wanders off to join them while Mac stays with us at the bar to observe the chaos from a safe distance.
“I’m going to need a lot more alcohol if I stay.” Joss shakes her head, and I laugh as one of them nearly knocks over an entire drink.
