Page 66 of Suck My Puck

My stomach does a backflip. I love hearing him call me that. And I love that he dropped his frown the second he looked at me.

I smile. “Hey. Great game tonight.”

He quirks an eyebrow. “You watched it? I thought you didn’t like hockey.”

I let a smile break free. “No, I overheard my coworkers talking about it.”

“Ah damn. I thought I finally got you to break another rule for me.”

“Never,” I tease.

He flashes that devilish half-smile. “We’ll see.”

“Fuck,” Del mutters all of a sudden. We all look over at him. He’s frowning at his phone.

“What’s wrong?” Braden asks.

Del huffs out a breath. “My sister’s bringing her new boyfriend tonight.”

Braden raises his brow. “Oh. Damn.”

“Come on, man,” Xander says to him. He pulls off his baseball cap, runs a hand through his wavy chestnut hair, then puts it back on. “It’s a good thing that your sister is finally introducing you to him.”

Del shakes his head, his frown deepening. “It means they’re getting serious. That’s not a good thing.”

“He can’t be that bad,” Theo says.

Del glares at him. “She told me the guy is quitting his job as a teacher to be a full-time musician on YouTube.”

I scoff. They all look at me. Crap. I shouldn’t be listening to their conversation.

“Sorry,” I quickly say.

Del shakes his head. “No, you’re right to scoff. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Does he have a decent following online at least?” Xander asks.

“Nope,” Del says before sipping his beer. He looks at me. “My little sister Dakota has a habit of dating losers.”

I nod like I understand. “Yeah, that’s tough. My best friend Lauren went through a loser phase right before she met her husband. He’s wonderful. Hopefully that’ll happen for your sister.”

Del sighs. “I hope so.”

Braden sits down at the table and I run the empties to the back, then help a few customers at the bar. I glance over at his table and see Ingrid and Maya sitting with them now. There’s also a pretty and petite mid-twenties woman with long dark hair and the same dark brown eyes as Del. That must be his sister Dakota. I remember seeing her come here a couple of times before with all of them. The hipster-looking guy with shaggy light brown hair next to her must be her boyfriend.

He’s smiling as Dakota says something. I’m too far away so I can’t hear what she’s saying, but after a second, her boyfriend chuckles and kisses her cheek. I notice Del is staring daggers at the guy.

I catch eyes with Braden and mouth, “How’s it going?”

He winces and shakes his head. I chuckle.

I stop by all the tables to refill drinks and cash out customers. I’m wiping down a couple oftables near Braden’s when a tall guy with dirty blonde hair in a hoodie and jeans walks in and joins them. I’m guessing he’s also a hockey player because he’s tall and built just like Braden and his teammates.

“Sam! You made it!” Xander says.

Sam greets everyone when he sits down, and Braden introduces us. I notice their pitchers of beer are almost empty so I finish cleaning up, drop the washcloth at the bartop, and head back over to their table.

Ingrid and Maya greet me, then introduce me to Dakota. Dakota beams at me. “It’s great to meet you. You have amazing hair, by the way. No matter how hard I try to perfect wavy hair, it never looks like yours.”

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