Page 23 of Best Man
…Hm.
Niko couldn’t shake his bad feeling. Hockey players lived to play pranks on each other, and after being around them long enough, you began to develop a sixth sense for when they’re pulling your leg. But when the server eventually came around to take Niko’s order, he pointed to theMoules Marinièresanyway and hoped for the best. Parisi didn’t erupt into laughter right away, which was a good sign, at least …
While they waited for their food, the Devils went to town on the wine. The wait-staff practically broke into a sweat to keep the hockey table stocked with new bottles. Soon, the boys’ cheeks began to flush, and their back-and-forth banter rose a notch in volume, then two, then three …
Niko nursed his go-to, a club soda with a lemon wedge, and joked along with everybody. It was easier to make the boys laugh when they were a little tipsy. That was fun, until they gottoodrunk, anyway.
Wine still smelled nice to his nose, but he wasn’t tempted to try it. When Niko got back from rehab during his rookie year, his general manager had laid everything out quite clearly. The team was willing to work with him on his sobriety. But if Niko fell off the wagon, he needed to let the GM know immediately. And if word got around that he’d been drinking in secret, his time as a Devil was done.
He wasn’t afraid of relapsing. Every day he didn’t drink, his resolve to stay sober grew stronger. No, the thing that sucked about being sober was the barrier it put between him and his loved ones.Everybodyloved to drink and have a good time, but most people knew when to stop. He didn’t know when to stop, or didn’t have it in him tostop,anyway. His sobriety, as much as he needed it, was a constant reminder he was different. It made it harder to relate people, which was already hard enough as a Russian living in America.
The boys were wasted by the time the servers brought their dishes out. And when Niko’s dish appeared in front of him—a soup bowl filled with a pile of dark, slimy sea shells bathing in a creamy sauce and sprinkled with green herbs—everyone broke into an uproar of drunken, gut-busting laughter.
“Of course,” Niko muttered in disgust. He shot Parisi a death glare. “What is this crap?”
Parisi was completely red-faced and couldn’t stop laughing. “Moules Marinières—sailor-style mussels!” He clapped the Russian on the shoulder. “Bon appétit!”
Niko poked at the mussels. They turned his stomach. “You are such an idiot,” he groaned.
“Me?” Parisi laughed harder. “I can’t believe you actually trusted me!”
With lightning quick hands, Niko swiped Parisi’s dish—chicken pasta—right out from under him and replaced it with the bowl of mussels. “Youcan eat the snails if you love them so much!” he yelled, and everyone broke into a second round of laughter.
“Y’know, I was going to trade with you, anyhow.” Parisi slurped down a mussel with a shrug. “This is high cuisine.”
“Yeah.Right.”
***
After dinner, the boys migrated to the restaurant’s bar for easier access to alcohol. One round of drinks turned into two, two into three, and three turned into who’s-even-counting-anymore. Soon, Niko’s buddies milled about in a drunken stupor, the sour stench of alcohol reeking on their breaths, their half-vacant stares seemingly looking rightthroughhim when they talked.
The athletes’ loud banter ricocheted off the brick walls. Everyone had to talk louder to be heard over the drunken din, compounding the noise problem. Soon, everyone was practically shouting, and Niko began to suffer from a splitting headache.
“I need to use the restroom,” he said, escaping a conversation he’d already checked out of. “I’ll be right back.”
But Niko walked right past the restroom and sneaked out the door to the back patio. He found a bench overlooking the mountains and drank his club soda in peace and quiet. He knew he should eventually go back inside and join the party, but the truth was, he didn’t have much desire. Talking at all seemed pointless. His teammates were already at the level of drunkenness where they were telling the same stories they’d told a hundred times before. When they woke tomorrow, would they even remember what they talked about tonight? He doubted it.
Niko shook his head, disgusted at himself. Hehatedto think such dark things about his friends. And he knew he was no better than them just because he was sober. As bad as they were right now, he would easily be twice as bad if he were drinking with them. He’d certainly proved that during his out-of-control rookie year. Just remembering the scene he’d made when he found out Reavo was dating his sister made his skin crawl with shame and regret.
The hardest part of staying sober wasn’t the not drinking part—it was the part where you had to figure out how to still fit in. Because the drunker everyone else got, the more distant Niko became. For such a social guy, he never felt more alone in the world than when he was at a party.
Those were the thoughts running through his mind when he heard the patio door swing open.
Great,he thought, thinking the party was coming to him. But only one light set of footsteps gingerly approached from behind. He turned to see who it was. In the amber light of the evening sun, Paulina’s golden presence shined even brighter, and the dark thoughts that plagued him only a second ago suddenly disintegrated.
“Hi, Paulina,” he said, a small smile creasing his lips.
“Hey there, Niko.” She had a full glass of red wine in hand. “What’re you doing all alone out here? Getting some fresh air?”
“Yeah,” he said, wiping his smile away.As much as he liked seeing her, he didn’t want to get in trouble for talking to her.
She could sense something was off. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “It got a little too loud in there. I needed some quiet.”
“Ah, yeah.” She bobbed her head with understanding, then took a step back. “Well, maybe I shouldn’t bother you, then—”
He knew he should probably let her go. He’d given Jax his word that he wouldn’t do anything with her, after all. And the fact that she was off-limits wasn’t exactly making him anylessattracted to her. But wait, he never vowed to never talk to her again. He could talk to her still, right? There wasn’t any harm in that.
