Page 84 of My Best Bet

“You’re here for me, too?” Lucy asked, eyeing the clothes with interest.

“That’s what this says.” She pulled out her phone from her back pocket. “I’ve got a bunch of clothes for y’all to try on. C’mon, this will be fun.”

Lucy’s eyes lit up, and she turned to me in excitement.

“Uh… okay?” I laughed, opening the door wider for Brandi before immediately wiping out my phone to text Colt.

Me:What did you do? I was just gonna get a Whalers t-shirt from Target.

Colt:Now you don’t have to ;)

Me:This is way too much, Colt. You didn’t need to do this.

Colt:I like spoiling you girls.

My heart pretty much flip-flopped in my chest.

Colt:Please take a picture of Lucy’s face when she sees all the clothes. She’s a little fashionista. BTW- I’m sending a car to bring you guys to the game. Hope that’s okay.

My eyes went from his text to all the clothes and boots Brandi was now lugging inside. This couldn’t be real. I wouldn’t consider myself a fashionista, but that was mainly because I couldn’t afford to go shopping these days. I’d always loved dressing up, and Colt knew that.

Lucy was already picking through the custom Whalers clothes with glee, so I quickly snapped a picture and sent it to Colt.

Brandi, Lucy, and I basically spent the next hour playing dress up, which I have to admit, was really fun.

I let Lucy have the final say on my outfit. She chose a plaid blue, green, and white oversized shirt with a black leather 17 stitched to the back overtop of black leggings, leg warmers, and black wedge boots.

For herself, Lucy chose to wear bell-bottom jeans, blue cowboy boots, and a #17 jersey with “Daddy” stitched over top.

After having settled our outfits, I decided we needed to splurge and make a Starbucks run– coffee for me, a cake-pop for her, then we finally made it to Target for dark blue nail polish for the game.

Back at Colt’s, I used the curling iron Brandi left for me to put some loose curls in my hair. Lucy sat on the bathroom counter, chatting away and keeping me company. When I offered to put a few curls in her hair, her entire face lit up.

A couple hours before puck-drop, a black Escalade was sent over to the house to pick us up. I figured it was kind of early to head to the game, so I wasn’t too surprised when the driver first dropped us off at a boujee restaurant down the street from the stadium.

“Mr. Conover says enjoy, tab is already open,” the driver told us, tilting his hat.

After saying our thanks and exiting, I grabbed Lucy’s hand and whispered, “I feel like we’re celebrities.”

She giggled. “Like Taylor Swift.”

“Yeah,” I laughed, “Like Taylor Swift.”

She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a minute, looking like she wanted to say something, but was nervous.

I waited until we were seated and finally alone again before asking, “What’s up?”

She took a deep breath and brushed her hair behind her ears, like she was gearing herself up. “Would you wanna go to the movies with me?” she asked in a rush.

My eyebrows shot up. “The movies?”

“The Taylor Swift movie,” she said with round eyes. “Charlotte and Sophia and their moms are going and… and… ” Her shoulders scrunched up. “And they asked me to go too, but… but can you come? With me?”

My heart pretty much cracked in two, and I wondered for the hundredth time what happened to her mother.

I reached out and patted her hand. “Sure, honey, I’d love to go with you.” I’d for sure double-check with Colt, but I really would love to go with her.

It seemed like my answer completely relaxed her because after that she went on to tell me a bunch of stories about Kappy, JP, and Colt. She moved her hands and arms around wildly as she told me, completely cracking me up.

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