Page 85 of Tempting the Goalie
“Yeah, maybe I will,” I say.
“I mean now,” Yuna says. “Come on, go grab a pen and paper.”
I place my plate of food on the coffee table and go on a search in the kitchen. I find a drawer that has a notepad and pen. I walk back into the family room.
For the next half hour, we come up with a list while enjoying the food. If anything, it’s nice to be in their company. I’m going to miss not having them around next year.
“What will I do without you guys next year?” I pout.
“We can all hop on FaceTime calls,” Priya says.
“It isn’t the same,” I tell her.
Now we are all pouting.
“I think we need wine,” Yuna says.
“Wine?” I ask. None of us are really drinkers.
“I can drink wine.” Priya nods. “Let’s go buy some.”
That’s how I find myself in a back of an Uber headed to the wine store.
When we arrive to the store, my friends think it’s a good idea to buy two bottles between the three of us, and who am I to be a downer? So, I go along with their plan because getting drunk on wine should definitely help me make decisions that will determine my entire future.
We head back to the hockey house with two bottles of wine in hand.
I head into the kitchen to find wine glasses but I find glass mugs instead, so that is what I bring to the coffee table. We bought a wine bottle opener in the store, and Yuna has the honors of opening the first bottle. She passes it to me to pour into the mugs. With the mugs filled, we lift them.
“What should we toast to?” Yuna asks.
“To our friendship,” Priya declares.
“To Izzy figuring out what to do next year,” Yuna says.
“To our friendship lasting forever,” I add.
We finally clink glasses together and drink. The wine tastes a bit vinegary at first, but after a while it goes down smooth.
Yuna turns on her Spotify play list on her phone and then we are dancing in the living room. It feels good to just let loose and not worry about my future. After a few songs, we drink more wine until we’ve finished off both bottles.
I don’t feel myself falling asleep on the couch, but I do feel my shoulder being nudged and it’s seriously annoying. There it goes again. I flinch away and turn on my side.
“Izzy,” I hear the whisper and know it’s Luc’s voice. This must be a dream.
“Izzy,” I hear again.
“Wow, this is a cool dream.”
I hear laughter, but it isn’t Luc’s. It’s coming from multiple guys. My eyes shoot open to see the guys are back from theirgame. They are still in their jackets, and they are staring at me and my friends passed out on their couches with empty containers of Chinese food and empty wine bottles scattered across the coffee table.
“Did you guys have fun last night?” Luc asks, a silly crooked grin on his lips.
I sit up and rub at my eyes. “We drank wine.”
“I can see.” He grins.
“Priya, Yuna wake up.” I nudge. They are just as groggy as I am as they sit up and rub at their closed eyes.
