Page 85 of The Night We Met

“Okay, Kamryn. The bathroom is all yours,” The calmand soft tone of Emily’s voice sounds from the threshold of the bathroom.

“Thanks Em.”

Once in the shower, I do a quick soaking of my body, then I run the razor over everywhere, even though I just shaved the other day. I make sure to exfoliate and deep condition my hair, which is a challenge in itself when trying to get ready on a time limit. I thoroughly rinse out my hair then wash my body to get rid of the deep conditioner residue. When I step out of the bathroom wrapped in my towel with a towel around my hair Emily is looking at me comically.

“What?”

“I haven’t seen you this eager before. It’s refreshing.”

“Thanks…I think.”

I forget that Em and I weren’t around each other when Mason and I first started dating. As she’s a year younger than me it’s easy to forget. One of the downsides to not going home as much in college was that I wasn’t around to see James and Emily fall in love. We texted weekly, but being around when they fell in love…makes me regret not going home more often.

Once my body is lotioned up, I tackle my hair. I did try to continue to bring my natural curls back after college, but once those Pennsylvania winters hit my outfits just went better with straight hair. One of my interns told me about a blowout brush and after giving it a week's test I ditched my flatiron for the brush.

While doing my hair, I run through a list of vendors and influencers that I could work with in an attempt to keep my nerves at bay. I shouldn’t be nervous. But this is mine and Mason’s first outing since reconnecting and as adults.Turning off the blowout brush I open mymakeup cabinet and debate on what to do. Looking at the time, I decide to keep my face makeup light but pack on the mascara to make my eyes pop.After the final coat I walk into my bedroom and put on my dress. Sliding on some thicker socks and pulling my Docs on, I head down the stairs to let Lucy back inside.

“All set! Anyone else done?” I yell throughout the house as I feed Lucy and Poppy. I hear a collective “Yep”, “Yeah”, “One second” so I go and put what I need in my clutch.

“Whoa Kam, you look hot!”

“Well, thank you. You ladies don’t look half bad yourself.”

We all burst out in giggles.

My phone dings with an alert notifying me that the Uber’s out front. “Uber’s here.”

I give Lucy and Poppy one last pet. Then I lock up my house and we head to the car.

“Mason said they’re at the back two pool tables,” I tell the girls when we walk in.

Shooters is a local dive bar that has…you guessed it: pool tables and dart boards. I’ve yet to venture in here, as it’s not usually my scene. But if this is the place Mason and the guys choose, who am I to say no?

We’re all scanning the bar when Jax says. “I see them! And damn his teammates are hot!”

With that, we head over to the guys. Mason hasn’t noticed us yet, but one of his teammates says, “Hot girls coming this way.”

Mason turns and his smile is back on. He props his poolstick on the side of the table, comes over, and wraps me up in a hug. “Hi.”

“Hi. Good game.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

I cock my eyebrow in a playful manner. “I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it.”

“No?” Mason asks.

“Well…I mean…your butt lookedgreatin those pants. That part I did enjoy.” I was always a sucker for him in his football pants.

“You were always a butt girl. Just as long as you were only looking at mine.”

“Eh. I can’t make any promises.”

Mason laughs and is about to say something else when one of his teammates stops him. “Yo Brooks! Introduce us to your girl.”

“Yeah. Introduce me to them.”

Mason places a kiss on my forehead before leading us back to the others. “Guys, this is Kamryn.”