Spiral (Off the Ice, #2) (38)

“We’re celebrating tonight. My friend’s family owns a bar in the city,” says Socket.

Aiden glances at me, and I shake my head, not at all up for being surrounded by my drunk teammates.

“I’m still sore from the last game. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Me too,” Aiden says, packing his bag.

When Socket groans and mutters something about us being the most boring rookies, he turns to the rest of our team to convince them to come out.

“You don’t have to stay back because of me.”

Aiden glances at me. “When have I ever wanted to celebrate something without you?”

“You scored the game-winning goal, man. That’s worth a celebration.”

He only shrugs, and I can’t help but feel bad for dragging him down too. But I can’t fake it right now, so I let myself believe he’s not in the mood to go out either.





SIXTEEN



ELIAS



“ARE YOU ONLY calling me because you don’t want to seem like a loser all alone in your hotel room?” Sage asks.

The minute she answers, I know I made the right choice by calling her. Just the sound of her voice eases the disappointment of tonight’s game.

“Has no one ever taught you that words can be hurtful?” I feign offense.

“Didn’t really have the best role models growing up, so no,” she shoots back, and I almost apologize, but she’s quick to speak again. “I saw your assist, and your shots on goal percentage. You killed it tonight, whether you want to believe it or not.”

“Hardly impressive. I still don’t—”

“Have a goal, yeah, yeah, we know,” she interrupts. “If I ask you to do something, will you do it?”

Yes. “Depends.”

“I want you to go out.”

I chuckle. “You know you can hang up if you hate talking to me that much.”

“One, I love talking no matter who it is. Two, you need to leave your pathetic reverie and go out with the team. Even Aiden hasn’t celebrated his overtime goal because you want to be chained to your mattress.”

“How do you know that?”

“Summer was just on the phone with him, and I assumed his reluctance to go out was because of a certain grumpy rookie.”

Even though she’s taking a dig at me, it puts a smile on my face that Sage has Summer to talk to because she’s mentioned not having friends.

“So you don’t want to talk to me?”

“No—well, technically yes. I want you to go out with the team and celebrate.”

I don’t answer.

“Elias.” She huffs. “You have this twisted idea that keeping your expectations low and not being excited about good things in your life will save you from disappointment, but you’re wrong. Good things need to be celebrated, because bad things will find a way to be acknowledged regardless.”

I sit up on the bed. “It was a few assists. It’s not impressive in the slightest.”

“It was to me. It was to your teammates, and it was to your fans,” she urges. “Now, go out with your team and celebrate the win. Paparazzi be damned!”

“What if they spin a story? I don’t want anyone to question whether I’m faithful to you.”

“Let them. I’ll be more than happy to remind everyone that you’re in a happy committed relationship with the love of your life.”

“Love of my life, eh?”

There’s a pause. “Give or take.”

“Okay.” I give in. “But I’m only going for a few minutes.”

“An hour.”

“Thirty minutes.”

“Forty-five,” she counters.

I chuckle, shaking my head at her dedication to the cause. “Fine.”

“Really?”

The excitement is clear in her voice, and it’s sweet that she cares about whether I’m stuck in my hotel room or out with friends.

“When are you going to learn that I’m incapable of saying no to you?”



THE BAR THE guys chose is much classier than I expected. The rooftop bar is covered in ambient lighting that provides a cozy feel. From the looks of it, the staff has reserved the entire rooftop to accommodate us, so we can relax without having our every move caught on camera.

Aiden was in his room exactly like Sage said, and when I asked if he wanted to join the guys, he was up and ready to go in minutes. I’m guessing his girlfriend told him to get out of his room too. Although neither of us plan to drink, the easy conversation that flows between the guys makes this outing worthwhile.

I hate to admit it, but I am having a good time getting to know the players off the ice. Some of them, I’ve looked up to for years.

“What made you come out tonight?” a tipsy Socket asks.

“Sage.”

He likes my answer, because he pats my back like a proud father. “That girl is good for you. I mean, just look at everything you did today.”

His happy words confuse me. “What do you mean? I tried to get one so many times, with everyone’s help, and I still choked, exactly like you said all rookies do.”

“You still played a hell of a game. You didn’t score, but none of your plays looked amateur. One of the reasons we won today was because of your assists. Celebrate that.”