Page 114 of On the Line
“Coming out with you guys tonight.”
“Oh shit yeah,” Brent said, lifting his wrist to check the time. “We should probably get going if we want to meet everyone in time for dinner.”
Lexie tapped her phone screen alive and noted it was nearing eight o’clock. She and Berkley simultaneously drained their wine glasses while Brent laced up his shoes and grabbed his keys.
They reached the city and arrived in front of the Hockeytown Cafe. The second Brent stepped out of the vehicle, he was swarmed. The manhadscored the Stanley Cup-winning goal, after all. The attention was well-deserved. Berkley, who usually got annoyed when fans accosted them in public, gave him a small smile and a kiss on the cheek before she and Lexie made their way inside.
And when Lexie spotted that tell-tale backward ball cap with thick, dark blond hair curling along the nape of a strong, tanned neck, she wasn’t even surprised.
For all her bullshit about not wanting to see him, she couldn’t ignore the bubble of excitement that formed in her chest. This was a low-stakes social situation, where she could spend the evening avoiding him exactly as she had done at the loft after the Warriors won the Cup.
And if they did find a quiet moment together?
Lexie would be okay with that, too.
They walked up to the table, and Berkley immediately made her rounds, hugging everyone before plopping down next to Mitch. Lexie, having zero desire to be anywhere near him given the way her body still reacted to his presence, chose a spot across the table next to Cole, where she immediately engaged him in some benign conversation about the crowd outside and why they had chosen the Hockeytown Cafe of all places.
“This is a beer and pizza kind of night, Lex,” he said. “Where else would we go but here?”
“I can think of about thirty other places in the city that serve those two things and aren’t filled to the rafters with crazed hockey fans.”
“Yeah but where’s the fun in that? We want to celebrate with our city.”
“Fair enough,” she said.
Brent finally made it inside, completing the group, and they set about ordering drinks and food, the table dissolving into smaller conversations as the beer flowed.
Lexie was surprised to find that, for the most part, the other patrons in the bar left them alone. Sure, there was the occasional camera flash, and every once in a while, some brave soul would approach, asking for autographs from everyone, including Mitch, which always made Lexie smile when his face lit up like he was surprised these people cared about him.
His playing career may be over, but Mitch was an important part of this championship run and, before the trade, had been a big part of this city and the Warriors franchise. It made Lexie happy that he was still getting the recognition he deserved.
Eventually, after gorging themselves on thick slices of supreme pizza and several pitchers of beer, the group decided to move on.
“Shall we go to Contour?” Lexie asked when they reached the sidewalk. It was a Tuesday night in the summer, so the club wouldn’t be teeming with college-aged girls screaming their heads off. Lexie only hoped the crowd of fans now begging for more autographs didn’t follow them.
At her suggestion, Mitch caught her eye and cocked an eyebrow, an expression that was not lost on Lexie.
Or Berkley, who looked between them with a small smirk tipping up the corners of her lips.
Contour was, after all, where Lexie and Mitch had met.
Ground zero for the hell Lexie had been through the last two years.
And joy. There really had been so much joy before it all went to shit.
“I could get on board with some dancing,” Berkley said, grabbing Brent’s hand and towing him down Woodward.
Jordan and Naomi begged off, saying they needed to get home and relieve their sitter, but it seemed like everyone else was in. Rat and Grey were both excited about the prospect of meeting girls their age, Brent typically did whatever Berkley wanted, and Cole, like always, was along for the ride.
That left Mitch.
“What do you say, Farmer?” Cole asked, resurrecting Mitch’s old nickname that everyone knew he hated.
Lexie dared to glance at him then, and found his eyes already on her. Without looking away, he said, “I’m in.”
It was amazing to Lexie how much had changed in the nearly two years since that night she and Mitch met. For one, tonight, the bar was busy but not overcrowded. The group walked inside and up to the bar easily, and Mitch, as he had done that fateful late-October night, ordered them a round.
Moments later, they were settled in a rounded booth, and Lexie found herself sandwiched in between Cole and Mitch.
