76. Chapter 74
Emery
“One hot chocolate with chocolate drizzle,” Will announces as he places my drink on the table in front of me.
I smile at him as he takes the seat across from me and slip my hands around the warm mug. “Thanks.”
The bell over the door chimes, and I glance over and watch a group of students enter Grinder. Every single time it has happened since I arrived, my gaze snaps to the door, tension floods my system, and my limbs ache like they weigh a million pounds.
I think I might be suffering from PTSD from the last time I attempted to have a sit-down drink in this café. Maybe I should have asked Will to go to an off-campus place. It might have helped with the awkwardness that is floating between the two of us.
Because it is awkward with a capital A. There has been next to no eye contact since we met outside, and he went straight to get in line at the register, leaving me to pick a table. Not to mention the ghost of Saturday night sitting between us.
Oh, well. No need to add any more awkward to this situation.
So…words, I guess? If this is supposed to be a date or whatever, then we should probably talk.
“I’m so sorr—”
“About Saturday—”
We both start and stop at the same time.
Heat burns my cheeks as he shoots me a sheepish smile. Quickly, I restart what I’d been about to say. “I’m sorry about Saturday night. I should have sent you a message to let you know I was leaving.”
Will’s eyes widen and he shakes his head. “No, that’s on me. I invited you to a party and then disappeared on you. I should have found a way to stay with you. I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“How about we say we’re even?” I offer, attempting to smile in an encouraging way. And to show how comfortable I am, I raise my mug and take a sip. The chocolate drizzle seems to hold the frothy top together and a huge hunk of it shoots into my mouth.
Not expecting it, I cover my mouth with my hand, lower the mug, and use my tongue to mush the clumped-up chocolate to the roof of my mouth while trying not to cough and splutter the frothy mouthful all over the table.
My eyes may or may not have watered.
Thankfully, Will doesn’t seem to notice my near-death-by-chocolate experience. His shoulders sag, and his usual Colgate smile returns as he reaches for his own drink, which is some sort of coffee. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
The door chimes over his shoulder, and before I can stop myself, I glance at the door again.
Why aren’t any of these people in a class right now?
I wouldn’t say Grinder is packed, but it is definitely fuller than I would have thought for nine a.m. on a Tuesday.
Okay, I need to stop looking around and pay more attention to Will.
“Ah, so, how was the rest of the party?” I ask as I take a much more careful sip of my drink.
Will shrugs, then leans back in his chair, one arm coming to rest on the back of the chair next to him. “It was a party. There ended up being quite a few topless Barbies by the end of the night. After you left, I spent most of it on pledge duties so the other guys could hang with their partners.”
I cringe. “Sorry. I don’t usually drink. Actually, I never drink. So, after the beer pong and then the pink drinks Vinnie gave me, I wasn’t feeling all that great.”
Will closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before opening them, face full of remorse.
“Again, I’m so sorry. I’d planned to take the majority of our shots and then get us away from all of that.
I hadn’t thought I’d need to get Vinnie in on my plan.
Things can be a bit tense about girls around the team. ”
“Tense?” I raise an eyebrow and take another sip of the hot chocolate, which now that I’m drinking it properly, actually tastes amazing with the drizzle. Maybe I need to start taking a few more notes out of Oakley’s book; she really seems to be doing life the right way.
“Yeah, it’s just, most of the guys, they don’t have girlfriends and there’s this weird…” Will straightens and hits me with that perfect smile again. “You know what, never mind. I’m just sorry you had to call Professor King to come and get you. Is he, like, your uncle or something?”
That half-swallowed mouthful of delicious drink chokes me as my throat clenches around my gasp of incredulity, and this time I’m not quick enough to stop the spray.
From the back of my throat to my nose burns as incredibly hot sugary goodness expels itself from all three orifices and absolutely covers the table.
Will is incredibly fucking lucky he is leaning back in his seat, otherwise he would be wearing at lot more of the brown liquid than the few splatters that make it that fair.
“Oh, shit.”
“Oh my god,” I cough out as I quickly reach for some of the napkins in the little holder thingy, covering my mouth and nose as embarrassment makes the rest of my body burn.
I chance the quickest look at Will—eyes wide, mouth hanging open, and shock making his eyebrows all but disappear into his hairline—and wish for a perfectly sized sinkhole to form beneath me.
Fuck. Me.
Some seriously shit things have happened to me, but this has got to be in my top three most embarrassing.
I grab for more napkins to clean up the table, and my sudden motion apparently spurs Will into action and he reaches for the same napkins. Our fingers brush and the accidental touch has us bumping the entire napkin holder off the table with a very loud clatter.
And now the café is very silent, the napkins have spilled out of their container like confetti, my nose is leaking hot chocolate like a broken faucet, and Will’s chair makes the loudest screeching noise as he pushes it back to bend and collect the napkins, and holy shit, I’m pretty sure this moment is also in my top three.
My heart is pounding and my stomach is twisted as the bell chimes over the door and thank fuck, because literally everyone turns to spot the newcomers, but—goddammit. This is not happening. Nope, nope, nope. It has to be a dream, right?
No, wait. A nightmare. This is a nightmare. Because no way would I dream that Derek, Darcy, and Hudson would all enter Grinder right now. I can actually feel the blood draining from around my brain as they all spot me. Sitting here. On a date with Will.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Will is now around my side of the table and is doing that super nice thing he does, where he crouches down by my side so we are at eye level, genuine concern in his eyes, completely unfucking aware that my uncle is twenty feet behind him, glaring daggers in our direction.
I think I might actually throw up.
Will reaches up and cups the side of my face, and I drag my attention back to his face. “Hey, are you okay? Let me see?”
With the gentlest of fingers, he pries my hand and the soggy napkin from my face, and if my nose isn’t red from the torture it just endured, it is definitely red from the embarrassment burning every inch of my skin.
I let him check my face—for what, I have no clue—and because making eye contact with him is too mortifying, I look over his shoulder, only to smash straight into Darcy’s dark eyes. His brow is pulled tight, like he can’t understand what he is seeing, and my heart squeezes.
“Okay, with my highly unmedical opinion, but personal experience with two broken noses, everything looks fine. Did it just go down the wrong pipe?”
“Ah—” My brain is refusing to come back online, but I do know that I need to answer Will’s question. “Yeah, that must have been it.”
“Okay, well, in case we have a repeat performance, I’m going to switch sides and take the seat next to you. Got to make sure you’re drinking that hot chocolate correctly,” Will casually states as he straightens, a teasing grin stretching his lips. “Just to be safe, you know?”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes before calling him on his crappy line. “Oh my god, smooth, Will.”
He shrugs a shoulder before taking the seat next to me and pulling his drink from across the table to in front of him. “What are you doing Friday night?”
“Depends, why? If you are about to ask me to another hockey house party, I’m going to have to pass.” Reaching for one of the napkins, I finish tidying up the last little bit of hot milk from the table before braving another sip of my drink.
His free arm comes to rest along the back of my chair. “I was wondering if you’d like to come to my hockey game. It’s a home game, and I thought we could go out for dinner after.”
This is it. Now or never. An actual official date with Will, one that will most likely result in a kiss.
I swivel and look directly at him, forcing what feels like an overly bright smile onto my face. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Will’s face lights up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I reply with a nod, refusing to let the smile fall.
“I have a few ideas on where we can go for dinner, can I show you?”
Nodding again, I wait patiently for him to pull his phone out to show me his idea of appropriate eating locations for our date.
I glance up when the bells chime again and watch the three of them leave, with Hudson throwing me an undecipherable look over his shoulder before the door closes behind him.
Did they even get their coffees?
“Okay, so there’s this Thai place…”