“Maybe not,” I said. “Rafe is my neighbor and…” My throat tightened as I realized what I was about to say. The team was never going to believe this. “My boyfriend,” I eked out, my voice cracking a little on the word.
Rafe’s face lit with amusement at my delivery. I was surely catching hell for this later.
Or now, maybe, because Lianne drained her beer glass and set it down with a thunk. “CUT!” she yelled. “Bella, you blew the line! Say it again. You can do better. Once more, with feeling.”
Oh, hell. Rafe was laughing now, while Graham and Pepe exchanged a startled look.
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “Rafe is my boyfriend,” I articulated. “Did everyone hear? Should I repeat it for the back row?”
“Wow,” Trevi said from the next table.
“What le fuck?” Pepe echoed.
“Really?” Rikker grinned.
Someone poured Lianne another glass of beer, and she took a big gulp. “That’s better.” She sniffed.
“Just for that, I’m going to make you eat a slice of pizza,” I threatened. I’d never seen Lianne drink anything before. She would need something in her stomach if she was going to discover beer tonight. Sometimes I forgot she was just a freshman.
“I’ll go order a pie,” Rikker said, standing up. Before he walked away, he leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Your boyfriend is hot.”
I pinched his ass. “Don’t even think about stealing this one, asshole.”
Laughing, he pecked my cheek and walked away.
After pizza, we began playing quarters. Lianne didn’t join in. Instead, she was leaning against the old-fashioned jukebox, chatting up Trevi’s younger brother. We’d taken to calling Trevi-the-younger “DJ,” because that was his job — choosing all the music played during face-offs at our hockey games. I’d never spent any time trying to guess what Lianne’s type of guy would look like, but I could see that DJ might suit her. I could only hear snippets of their conversation, but the two of them seemed to be trying to out-nerd each other with obscure song titles.
Unfortunately, Lianne seemed to be drinking an awful lot of Capri’s beer. Weak as the stuff was, it was working its magic. Lianne looked flushed and glassy-eyed.
“Excuse me, guys,” I said. “My little frosh neighbor is looking unsteady. I might have to send her home.”
“Bells, you didn’t tell us you had Princess Vindi as your floormate,” Trevi said. “Don’t you worry that she’ll disappear you in your sleep?”
I slapped him on the back. “I’ll bet she’s never heard that one before.”
“Can you imagine?” Rikker asked, lining up the quarters on the table. “Little kids probably ask to see her wand.”
“So? Girls ask to see my wand all the time,” Trevi boasted. He was rewarded with several groans.
Making my way over to Lianne, I tried to assess the damage. “How are we doing over here?”
“Awesome!” Lianne yelled. “We are playing makelists,” she slurred. “I mean, making playlists.”
I gave DJ a glance. He just grinned.
“Maybe you should head home?” I suggested to Lianne.
“Maybe,” she conceded, clutching the jukebox for support.
“DJ, could you do the honors?” I would’ve been happy to take her home myself, but since the entire team had dragged me out, I had planned to stay a little longer. Also, DJ was a good guy, and Lianne deserved to make a new friend, or ten.
But his face shut down when I made the suggestion, and he shook his head. “Can’t do that. Sorry. Should I ask Graham?”
“I got it,” Rafe said, appearing at my shoulder. “I’ll walk Lianne home. You stay a while longer.”
“Are you sure?”
He kissed me on the neck. “Perfectly. I’ll look over our spreadsheet one more time, and wait for you in your room. Besides, I wouldn’t be too shocked if Lianne spent some quality time in your bathroom tonight. If I’m upstairs, I’ll be able to make sure she’s okay.”
I put my arms around his neck. “You really are the best one, you know that?”
“Been trying to tell you that, belleza.” He grinned down at me. “Glad you’re listening now.” He kissed me, which elicited whoops and catcalls from the hockey team.
My whole life, I’ve never been one to blush. But I think my face turned bright red right then.
Rafe released me, then took Lianne by the hand. “Let’s go home, okay?” he prodded her. “I think the cold air will do you some good.”