Page 23 of Blindside Love

“Oh, stop it. No he doesn’t,” I say, but the words feel wrong, like I know damn well what she saw because I saw it too. And in what world is a woman going to complain about being eaten alive?

“Lies and we both know it. But continue on.”

“Gladly.

I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than in this moment that my best friend is the world’s biggest extrovert. I hate meeting new people.

Tonight, after the game, we met up with Trevor to say hi and thank him. He convinced us to come out to the bar with them. Apparently, he and his friends always go out to a particular bar after their games. Thankfully, though, I’ve at least met one of them since he said his friend Rex will be there with his girlfriend and her friends.

And when I say that he convinced us, I mean that he mentioned it, and before I could even process his words, Natalie had already agreed to it. If his face hadn’t lit up like Christmas, I probably would’ve said no, but he looked so excited that I didn’t want to let him down, even if it did mean a lot of social interaction.

I’m not too good at peopling, especially when it’s new people. When it’s just Natalie and I, I’m totally fine. Put me in a random restaurant or bar and tell me I need to mingle, and I immediately want to crawl into a hole.

My night was originally going to consist of being in my bed watching reruns of Paranormal with a pint of chocolate brownie ice cream, but instead, I’m in a crowded bar at a table full of Trevor’s friends, most of whom are hockey players. His friend Rex coaches the Ice Hawks, and his other friend, Max, plays for him, but the rest of the guys all play with Trevor.

“So, how did you and Trevor meet?” Sawyer, Rex’s girlfriend, says from across our table. No warning, just straight to the point.

She’s made this night so much fun. She and her friend, Cassie, have been so welcoming. They made Natalie and I feel right at home. But how much of this story I should actually tell is still unknown.

“Well, he’s my neighbor. I moved into the building just a couple of weeks ago,” I say with a shy smile, trying not to go too far into detail—but my bestie likes to see me squirm, and she definitely likes to embarrass me.

Natalie’s smile should’ve told me everything, and I should have just smothered her.

“I mean, I’d say your first meeting was a tad more interesting than that,” Natalie says, watching as Sawyer’s eyes brighten with excitement. “Let’s just say that my friend Ellie hasn’t had a proper orgasm in weeks.”

With that, my face turns bright red as I feel all of their eyes snap to me.

I’m going to kill her. I’m going to smoother this woman in her sleep and when I get arrested, I’ll just explain myself. They’ll understand. They’ll realize that she had it coming.

“Well, this sounds exciting,” Cassie says with a raise of her glass. “Does this mean we get story time? I love story times. We can always get Sawyer to tell us how she met Rex. It’s scandalous and fun and will probably make you feel better about whatever happened to you.”

“I doubt that,” I grumble, earning a laugh from Natalie that quickly turns into a grunt when I kick her under the table.

“I don’t know,” Sawyer says with a shrug. “Mine included a strip club and me wearing a tiny red lace set that didn’t leave much to the imagination.”

I glance up at the girls and can’t help but smile. “Okay, then maybe you get it. It was honestly just mortifying. I was moving my stuff into the apartment and was carrying a box. Well, it fell, and uh… I was trying to catch the elevator, but everything exploded in the parking garage. And, let’s just say that when it broke, I had some electronics fall out.”

“Did they break? Or were they playing something? Like, did you have a spicy audiobook playing, and it blasted in the elevator?” Cassie guesses like she’s on a gameshow and refuses to lose.

“Nope. I wish that’s what happened, at least that I could’ve managed. But no, uh, it was battery operated and?—”

“She dropped her vibrator into the elevator. It turned on, and it definitely wasn’t a little one,” Natalie says with a wink before I can finish.

“Kill me now,” I groan as all three of them start laughing.

“Oh shit, that actually gives Sawyer a run for her money on the most scandalous meet cute. I would pay to have seen that,” Cassie adds. “I can only imagine Trevor. I bet he got all awkward. For some reason, he doesn’t seem like he’d handle that too well. A little on the vanilla side if you ask me. Like a real-life golden retriever.”

Blegh, minus one point for Trevor. No offense to anyone who is into vanilla sex; it’s just not for me. I’ve wasted far too many years of my life with a vanilla man; I don’t need to continue that trend.

I’d like to come at the hands of a man at some point in this decade.

Sawyer shakes her head at Cassie. “I wouldn’t assume too much. I’ve heard some of the conversations he and Rex have, and well, let’s just say he seems like the exact opposite of vanilla.”

“I have to agree with Sawyer,” Natalie interjects, like she actually knows him well enough to have an opinion. “What? Don’t give me that look. Besides, it’s the way that man stares at you that makes me think he’s not all vanilla. Ma’am, he looks at you like you’re his prey, and he’s going to catch you and devour you whole. It’s hot as fuck.”

“I’ve seen that look tonight,” Sawyer says as she glances toward the guys who are over at the pool table still, but she smiles as she looks over their way. “In fact, he’s giving you that look right now. Jesus, I think I just got pregnant just from watching the way he’s looking at you.”

“Oh, stop it, you crazy people. He’s not looking at me like that. It’s not like that between us. Neither one of us is really in a place to date… me especially, with my daughter and everything. Besides, Trevor and I are just friends.”

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