30. Lucas
Chapter thirty
Lucas
M y heart tumbles into a pit of dread when the name Raven casually rolls off Laur’s tongue. Concern fills her voice
“Her last name—,” each word out of Laur’s mouth is slow, her tone cautious, “—is Matthews.”
The hollow ache spreading through my gut stops, I can finally breathe again. My ex-girlfriend’s last name is her fashion guru mother’s maiden name: Harrington. I’m sure if it was Raven Harrington, gossip would be spreading like wildfire, and I would already know about it.
“I used to know a girl named Raven,” I mutter, knowing I owe Laur an explanation. “She’s not someone you’d want on your team.”
“Oh,” Laur’s voice is still laced with concern, but I quickly change the subject back to the event.
“Sounds like a great way to avoid the scandal that Brad Mancheto caused with . . .” I pause. “I can’t even remember whose stepmom it was. But we haven’t had a player auction since then.”
“Exactly.” Laur beams with pride. “After the secret auction is over, the winners would be in a big open area with the player and their basket. Everything would be easy to monitor and all very public.”
“Secret auction?” My voice is laced with curiosity.
“Each player would curate their own basket, but it would be anonymous,” Laur explains, a thrill of excitement in her tone. “You don’t know whose basket you are bidding on. That would add an extra layer of discretion to really ensure that there are no sandals”
“It seems great in theory.” A chuckle tumbles from my lips thinking about the guys trying to make picnic baskets .
Laur’s nostrils flare in frustration.
“The guys might not be great at putting together biddable baskets.” I stumble over my words, scrambling to ease her disdain.
Laur’s shoulders rise and sink with relief. “If that’s the only concern, then we are golden. My team would, of course, help with that.”
Of course they would , Laur has really thought of everything.
“Then it’s a perfect plan.” A proud smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. “Your ideas are always brilliant.”
Her face turns scarlet. Twirling her hair around her finger, she says, “It was Raven’s idea.”
Gravity yanks my heart downward at the sound of that name again. How am I going to get used to hearing that? Can she go by Ray or something?
Taking a long sip of my drink, I try to calm my nerves. I’m being ridiculous. It’s just a name.
“But you will bring the idea to life brilliantly,” I brag. “You always do.”
A wide, famous Bellinger smile takes over Laur’s still scarlet face as she mutters thank you.
“How was practice besides . . .” Laur trails off, clearly trying to keep the conversation going but not wanting to bring up Tyler again.
“Besides Tyler wreaking havoc?” I finish her sentence. She nods sheepishly, twiddling her thumbs. At least she finally sees that Tyler isn’t the picture-perfect, gentlemanly guy she thinks he is. Her rose-colored glasses are starting to come off.
“Great actually.” I let out a loud sigh. “Coach Andres announced the alternate captains halfway through practice instead of at the end.” I shake my head in dismay, still disappointed at Tyler’s reaction, but if Coach had waited until the end of practice there wouldn’t have been any issues.
“Anyways, Coach is trying out some new lines, and I think we will be even better this year than last year.”
A spark of joy dances in Laur’s eyes. “Really? ”
“Really,” I confirm. There’s warmth in my voice that I can’t hide, but I feel ten feet tall whenever the realistic possibility of the Wyverns being better than this last year crosses my mind.
“We have so many other ideas for this year too.” Laur’s excitement spills out of her, her voice higher than normal. “We raised so much money with Nick’s special jersey last year that we are really going to have to go big this year.”
My eyebrow arches, intrigued and wanting to know more about these other ideas.
“What kind of other ideas?” I ask, my voice low. “Anything more you can share with your boyfriend?”
“So you’re asking as my boyfriend and not as the captain of the hockey team?” She confirms, her eyes narrow at me suspiciously.
“Yes, of course,” I respond in a husky tone. “Just as your endearing boyfriend.”
A playful grin slides across Laur’s face. “It might take some convincing.”
Keeping my voice low and sultry, I respond, taking a step closer to her, our bodies almost pressed together. “I can be convincing.”
“Trust me.” Laur runs her gaze down my body and back up to meet my eyes. “I know.”
“So, what other ideas?” I pry.
“Well,” Laur tells me, “the new girls had plenty of incredible ideas during their interviews.”
The mention of the new girls breaks my coy energy.
“Want to grab another beer?” I ask, craving more liquid courage if we are going to keep talking about this new girl Raven.
Laur tilts her head in agreement.
“I’ll go grab them for us.” I kiss her passionately on the lips, not wanting her to suspect anything after our flirty banter, before I make my way to the crowded kegs.
My eyes trail Blaine as he goes inside the empty kitchen alone. Is he trying to leave his own party early ?
After pouring two beers for Laur and me, I look up and see Libby head into the kitchen. Good. He deserves to have some fun and celebrate tonight after the day he’s had.