Page 4 of The Attack Zone

Mitch: Don’t apologize for existing. I take up more space than you and Hazel combined on this dumb bench.

Stacey: Oh.

Stacey: Thanks.

I guess it’s better thanShut the fuck up and mind your own business, asshole, so I’ll take it. I put my phone back in my pocket just as Caleb’s girlfriend, Cassie, appears at the booth.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says, holding her hands behind her back. “Carpool duty ran over and I couldn’t seem to get out of there.”

Cassie is a seventh-grade teacher, and she’s always running around doing the most she can for her students. That’s how we met Hazel, actually. Last year, Hazel’s son Ralph was acting up in school after his dad passed away, so Cassie had Caleb do some hockey training with him. We all took to Hazel right away and the rest is history.

Cassie sits down next to Caleb and he wraps both arms around her waist, pulling her close and kissing her temple. It’s so cute I could vomit. We each order our usual drinks, which means I pay too much for a glass of whisky, and take a look at the menu.

“Well,” Caleb starts, his cheeks already a rosy red from his beer, and probably from talking out loud. “We have some news.”

He and Cassie both glance at each other, dumb grins on their faces. These two have only ever had eyes for each other, and I’m so glad they finally got their heads out of their assesand figured it out last season. Cassie raises her hand up from her lap, flips it around and shakes it wildly.

“We’re engaged!” Caleb says.

I look closer at Cassie’s shaking hand and see a ring. It’s not a gigantic diamond, but I assume Caleb did exactly what Cassie wanted when he picked it out because she’s grinning from ear to ear. Then again, she’d probably be happy with duct tape if it came from Caleb.

“Ohmygodthisisamazing,” Hazel shrieks.

“Yeah, this is awesome!” Thomas adds. “Congratulations!”

“I’m so happy for you guys,” Stacey says warmly.

And then it’s my turn. But I don’t know what to say. It’s not that I’m not thrilled for my friends, but it’s a little reminder that I’m never going to have this. Still, tonight is about friendship and my friends are amazing. So, I plaster a grin on my face, nod, and say, “This is the best news. You both deserve the most amazing wedding ever.”

“Well,” Caleb looks at Cassie and she nods to him with encouragement. “We wanted to talk to you about that. Both of you,” he says, glancing between me and Stacey.

“What about us?” Stacey asks, looking between them and me with confusion.

“We want you to plan our wedding,” Cassie says. “Together.”

I hear a record scratch in my brain and I look down at Stacey. She looks up at me, her brown eyes wide. We both turn our heads back to Caleb and Cassie to accept their request, because this isn’t exactly something we can say no to.

That’s when she says it.

“Absolutely not.”

She says it like it’s final. Like I’ll agree. Or maybe she just doesn’t care if I agree or not? That’s probably what it is.

“But you guys know how to throw amazing events. It’s perfect!” says Cassie.

“It’s not perfect. We can’t plan a wedding together. We hate each other,” Stacey continues.

We ... do?

I mean I guess we kind of get under each other’s skin sometimes, and I had a feeling she might disklike me a bit, but I didn’t realize shehatesme.

Ouch.

I try to shake off the hurt.Confidence, Mitch. I repeat it like a mantra.

“Yeah, I’m not sure this is the best idea,” I say, knowing it’s what Stacey wants to hear but not believing it myself. “Can’t you afford to hire a wedding planner, dude?”

“Of course I can. But where’s the fun in that?” Caleb, one of my best friends and our star defensemen, asks. “You guys know us. It’ll be better this way. Besides, we’re on a pretty tight timeline if we want to do this thing as soon as the season ends.”

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