Chapter 19
Travis
“Holy shit. How many people are in here?” Blake asks.
I shrug. “No clue. Definitely beyond whatever’s the legal capacity.”
We’re standing in the corner of my and Nick’s hotel room, which is crammed with what looks like at least fifty people.
The whole team is in here, along with a bunch of students from Hollis and some people I’ve never seen before.
Music blasts from someone’s playlist on their phone. The song ends, and Queen’s “We Are The Champions” starts playing.
Nick jumps on the bed and raises a beer can in his hand. “We’re the champions, baby! Woo!”
The entire hotel room cheers.
Poppy chuckles and shakes her head as she stares up at him. He leans down and kisses her. Everyone whistles.
Blake laughs. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this happy,” he says. “I guess all he needed was a girlfriend and a national college hockey championship.”
A small blonde woman walks over to Blake.
“You made it,” he says as he pulls her in for a hug.
Blake turns to me. “Travis, this is Briar, my best friend from high school. She transferred to Hollis U this semester. Briar, this is my teammate, Travis.”
I shake her hand. “Good to meet you.”
“You too,” Briar says with a sweet smile. “You’re the goalie, right?”
“Yup.”
“Great game. You played amazingly.”
“Thanks. That’s nice of you to say.”
“Almost as good as this guy,” she says teasingly to Blake. I notice he’s blushing as he looks at her. Interesting.
“You want something to drink?” Blake asks Briar.
“Yeah, maybe a beer?”
“You got it.”
They walk off to grab a beer from the mini-fridge on the other side of the hotel room. Just then, I see Anna walk in.
She looks around, scanning the crowded room until she sees me. Her lush mouth curves up in a gorgeous grin.
Damn, that smile. Every single time I see it, it sets me off.
Slowly, she makes her way through the crowded room to me.
She stands in front of me, still smiling. My arms ache to pull her against me.
But I don’t. Because her brother is standing a handful of feet away from me.
And even though he’s not looking over at us, I don’t want to risk him seeing us in an embrace and wondering what the hell is going on.
“Congrats on the win,” she says.
“Thanks.”
“How does it feel to be the best college hockey team in the country?”
“Pretty good.”
Her eyebrow ticks up. “That’s it? Pretty good?” she teases.
I run a hand through my hair and shrug. “What’s wrong with pretty good?”
“I guess I just thought you’d be ecstatic. You won a national championship.”
I can’t help the way my half-smile turns into a proper grin at her teasing.
“I stand by my pretty good.”
She shakes her head at me, her eyes dazzling. “Wow. Such a grump.”
She looks behind her and sees her brother jumping on the bed with Leo.
Her smile dials back. She looks like she’s holding onto a secret.
“We probably shouldn’t spend too much time smiling and joking with each other,” she says. “My brother will think something’s up. I should go hang out with him and Poppy for a while.”
“You’re right.” As much as I want to spend the rest of this night talking to her, she’s right. He can’t know about us.
“Maybe I can take you out some other time to celebrate your big win,” she says.
“I’d like that.”
She beams, and I swear the light in the room brightens.
“These next few weeks are kind of busy for me. I have to study for the MCAT,” she says.
“When you do take it?”
“Beginning of May. Then I need to study for finals.”
“We can get together after that,” I say.
“Perfect. I’ll text you.”
She walks over to Poppy. I grab a beer and hang out with my teammates on the other side of the room. Every once in a while, we look over at each other. I nod at her. She blushes and smiles. It’s like we’re secretly flirting. I like it.
I pull out my phone and send her a text.
Me: Quit looking at me like that.
Anna: Like what?
Me: All cute and sexy as fuck.
I glance up and see her blushing as she looks down at her phone screen. She bites her lip as she texts me back. Goddamn, she’s adorable.
Anna: I’m not gonna stop. You know why?
Me: Why?
Anna: Because you like it.
Me: Guilty.
She’s chuckling now. Then she looks up at me and winks before typing out another message.
Anna: You’re fun to text.
Me: You’re fun to look at. And talk to. And text.
She’s giggling again.
Anna: Is this what it’s going to be like until we can hang out? You texting me random things that make me blush?
Me: Yup. Get used to it, sweet thing. I’ll be blowing up your phone for the next few weeks.
Anna: Good :)