Page 32 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

Sitting down on the bench, I began to strip out of my gear and was careful to save my ball of tape. As I slid it into my bag, my phone vibrated in my locker and I grabbed it to read the message that had just come through.

Harper

Ava and I will be at The Lounge if you aren’t doing anything.

A smile pulled on my lips and I sat back down on the bench as I typed out my response to her.

Nico

What time?

She must have been staring at her phone because she responded instantly.

Harper

I have to go home first, so probably closer to 11.

It didn’t give me much time to get ready, so I would just have to wear the suit I wore here to the bar. I would have exactly enough time to get a shower and head over there. The Lounge was only about ten minutes from the stadium, so half an hour was plenty of time.

Nico

I’ll meet you there.

“The Lounge,” Wes said from over my shoulder. I glanced back at him and found him standing there with a smirk on his face. “Who is Ava?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do you understand privacy at all, bro? Who the fuck reads someone’s messages over their shoulder?”

Lincoln laughed from where he was sitting as he overheard me scolding Wes. “You act like you don’t know how he is.”

Wes dropped down beside me. “Sorry, dude. You know I’m just nosy sometimes.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He was my best friend. I could never truly be mad at him or fault him for it. He didn’t do anything with ill intent. Wes was just one of those goofy kind of people who was really his own person. He was nosy as hell, almost like he lived in a constant state of FOMO.

I stared at him for a moment. “You want to go along?”

Wes’s face lit up and he tilted his head to the side. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be, like, a third wheel or anything.”

“It’s not a date. Harper and I are just friends and she’s going to be there with her friend, so it’s not a date at all.”

“Right, right,” Wes said with a wink. “I need to get a shower and you know I’m down.”

We split up, both of us focused on getting our gear put away so we could head into the showers. A part of me realized that maybe it wasn’t a good idea inviting Wes along, but he could be trusted. If there was one person I trusted my life with other than G or my father, it was Wes.

He wouldn’t tell anyone about Harper and I. Plus, we weren’t going to be caught doing anything other than getting drinks tonight.

* * *

“Tell me about Ava,” Wes said as we both walked from the parking lot toward the bar. “That’s her name, right?”

“I’m pretty sure she has a boyfriend.”

Wes chuckled. “Like that means anything.”

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. “Just don’t.”

He held his hands up in innocence. “Fine. I’ll be on my best behavior and won’t do anything with your girl’s friend.”

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