Page 22 of The Drop

“Cute”, he frowns at me, and I laugh

“You know, like you sit at the desk in the suit and have the stats behind you”, he blinks at me, confused, so I mimic a low voice “,back to you in the studio, Grant”

He lets out a loud laugh, and I join him because I sound ridiculous.

“So you think I’ll look good on TV?” his playfully smirk takes over his face, and I roll my eyes. This guy's default mode is flirty.

“I think that you think you'll look good on TV”, I shake my head at him, looking away before I get dragged in by the flirty smile.

“Trouble”, he mutters, drinking his beer.

“You just love calling me that, huh?” I call him out, grabbing the beer away from him.

“Perfect way to describe you.” He lazily leans back on the railing, moving down to my height.

“Great, just what every girl wants to hear,” I joke.

“Nah, I think it’s ‘cuuuute’.” He’s teasing me for calling his backup plan cute.

“That’s the only thing about me you think is cute?” I ask tipsy me, taking over and teasing him back, she’s the one whose actions I usually wake up to the next morning, cringing.

He stares down at me, his smile morphing into that darn smirk before saying, “Where do—”

“Brookie, Cami says I can’t keep your breakup sweatshirt,” Adam shouts over to us, cutting Grant off and snapping us out of the moment we found ourselves in.

We both turn and look over to the seating area where Cami is sitting now, between Gunnar and Adam. She’s leaning more toward Gunnar as Adams got a girl in his lap, and I'm sure she’s been shooting her the signature Cami Logan glare since she sat down.

“I just said it’s kind of weird,” Cami says, shrugging, wide-eyed at being called out. “Like she’s going to see you wearing it all the time.”

“Plus, she’s slept in it,” Grant pipes up from next to me, and I turn, smacking him on the arm, making him laugh, throwing his hands up in surrender.

“If you think it’s weird, we can get rid of it, Brookie.” Adam and Bear have picked up the nickname and are the only ones I will let call me that. It’s cute when they do it, but when anyone else does it, it sounds like I’m a child being told off.

“If you like it, I’m not going to make you get rid of it.” I laugh; Grant reaches over my shoulder to grab his beer, and I realise how close we are, and I step away slightly.

My drinking is clouding my better judgment of staying away from this guy, and I need to get a little space between us before tipsy Brooke thinks it’s a good idea to flirt with him again.

He’s a player, and I’ve just got out of a relationship. The last thing I need is to fool around and get attached.

“Let’s vote on it,” Cami says.

“That’s not fair though, because you all want me to get rid of it,” Adam pouts pulling the girl on his lap closer, she giggles at him and he shoots her a cocky smile.

“What about on the team Instagram story?” Bear asks. “We can add a poll, and we have like eleven thousand followers.”

“That’s a great idea.” Gunnar laughs. “Anders, you still got access to the Insta?”

“Yup, only one they trust.” He winks at me, and I need to stop blushing. He’s not flirting with me; he’s just flirty by nature. And that’s why I need to stop drinking, because that’s a textbook player, and I don’t need any of that.

No thankyou.

“Someone else should wear it, though, just in case they all vote to keep it, and Josh sees.” Cami chews her thumb nervously. “Then you won’t get hunted down.”

“Okay, but I’m taking the photos.” I grin, getting in the spirit. “Come on, who’s going to wear it?”

“I vote Grant,” Bear says, and the other hockey guys nod and let out hoots of agreement.

“The majority have it.” Adam jumps up, and I cover my mouth and hold in a laugh as the girl stumbles off his lap as hepulls the sweatshirt over his head. He throws it at Grant, who catches it, shaking his head. He looks like he’s ready to protest.

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