Talk about being star-struck. There I sat at the bar holding hands with a champion boxer surrounded by the players of my favorite hockey team.

“Is this real life?” I yelled into Griffin’s ear.

He kissed my cheek. “It better be, or it’s the best damn dream that I hope to never wake up from.”

“You must be the girl my wife won’t shut the fuck up about who has my little brother all goo-goo eyed.”

I turned to see Gavin Hayes standing right next to me, and I practically spit my water all over the bar top. “Holy fucking shit-balls of fire! You’re Gavin Hayes.” I threw my hands over my mouth as embarrassment washed over me.

Griffin and Gavin both laughed. “He’s a bigger deal than I am.” Gavin pointed to his brother and yelled, “Fucking middleweight champion of the motherfucking world! Let’s hear it for my little brother, the best damn boxer ever!”

Griffin’s face, neck, and ears instantly blared bright crimson as he punched his brother in the shoulder. “We’re here for you guys, man. It’s nothing, really.”

“Fucking loss,” the goalie grumbled as he walked up to us. I took deep breaths, trying to play this one way cooler than I had with Gavin.

“But the only one of the season,” I added in.

Will Crosby cocked his head to the side. “I don’t know you.”

“I’m Olive, but you can call me Liv.”

Griffin winked at me as Crosby got another beer from the bar and Jordan joined him, still wearing his jersey.

“Bates!” Crosby scooped Jordan up into his arms, twirling her around.

I leaned in closer so only Gavin and Griffin could hear me. “Are they together?”

Gavin grabbed his stomach as he chuckled. “Fuck! I wish. They have each held a torch for the other for too fucking long. They need to just fuck and get it over with.”

Another player walked up, agreeing with Gavin. “Preach, brother.”

“Olive, this is Brayden.” Myla pushed past her brother and husband, shoving Griffin off of his seat. “Let the pregnant chick have your seat.”

Griffin got up, helping her onto the barstool next to me. Brayden shook my hand. “Olive, it’s a pleasure.”

My jaw hung open as I mindlessly gripped his hand for way longer than was appropriate. “Sorry…a little star-struck.”

Myla put her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, it goes away after a while.”

Everyone in the bar began to cheer as we all started to look around to see what the fuss was about.

Gavin and Brayden high-fived as Myla squealed, “About fucking time!”

I looked past Griffin to see Crosby holding Jordan up against the far wall of the bar, lip-locked.

“The loss was worth it for those two to finally hook up!” Gavin yelled.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw a message from Shaw.

Shaw: Simon and I hopped in a cab and are heading to his place. I’ll figure out a way to get home. Love you. Don’t wait up.

Me: Love you, make good choices.

“I lost my partner in crime.” I grabbed Griff’s hand, pulling him closer to me.

Holding me, he looked down. “Shaw and Simon are really hitting it off, aren’t they?”

I tensed my shoulders. “We’ll see. Seems like it.” I sighed in his arms.

“What’s up, Liv?”

“I don’t want to leave, but it is getting late and I need to get home to Otis.”

His face pulled down and he practically frowned with his entire body. “Are you sure you can’t stay with me and drive home after you sleep for a few hours?”

I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. I only had a few beers in the beginning of the game and have been drinking water ever sense. I just need to head out before it gets any later.”

Walking around, I said my goodbyes to the team and the rest of Griffin’s gang—except for Crosby and Jordan. We left those two alone for fear that if we brought too much attention to them, they might revert back to awkwardly flirting again.

Griffin walked me to my car, keeping me as close to him as possible for as long as he could.

“I hate this,” he murmured as he lifted me off the ground to hug me.

“Me too, but this just means I get to miss you until I get to see you again.”

“Missing you is an understatement. I miss you now and you haven’t even left yet. Once you drive away, I am going to long for you, crave you.” He set me down and opened my door for me. “You better get in the car now, or I might not let you leave.”

“Bye.” I kissed his cheek. “Love you.” I stopped. We both froze, except for the huge smile that took over Griffin’s face. It had just slipped out because I always said, Bye, love you, to Shaw whenever he left and when we got off the phone. It was instinct.

Griffin crushed his lips to mine. “Don’t worry, babe. I know what you meant.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as I kissed him back. “I’ll call you when I get home.”

“Please do. I’ll be waiting up.”

About an hour into my drive, the sleepies started to take over quickly. Usually, I was fine driving late at night for long distances, but I could not stop yawning for the life of me. My eyes were heavy and the road kept getting harder and harder to concentrate on. My head started bobbing. I put the air on full blast, cranked the music, and rolled down every window.

“Just about halfway there.” I cheered myself on, saying, “You got this.”

My head kept bobbing.

My eyes were struggling to focus and stay open.

And then everything went black in an instant.

I hated that Olive had to leave but it was better that she got home safely. Every few seconds I glanced down at my phone hoping for a text from her saying that she was home already.

“She’s really great, man. I’m happy for you.” Crosby slouched in the seat next to me as he eyed Jordan from across the bar. Both of them were effervescent with shit eating grins consuming their entire face.

“Thanks.” I clanked my beer bottle to his. “And I think a congratulations is in order for you. About damn time you and Bates locked lips.”

He started laughing. “That it is. It’s been freaking years of buildup to say the least and fuck me because that chick can kiss. If I had grown the balls to do that years ago, I might have dodged the bullet with my cheating whore of an ex-wife.”

Harding took a seat on the other side of Will. Obviously feeling no pain, he smacked Crosby on the back a little harder than he probably intended. “Way to go, brother.” Chase Harding was one of the players that I didn’t know too well, but he seemed like a nice enough guy.

“How’s it going, Chase?” I asked before ordering another beer.

“Pretty damn good. Can’t complain. I mean this was our first loss in a while, so life is pretty good.” I was impressed with how well all of the guys were taking their defeat. It was true that the Otters were an overall winning franchise and they all carried themselves like it.

“Cheers to that, man. How’re Nikki and the baby?” Crosby questioned.

Harding ordered a water before answering. “Fucking fantastic. I wish Nikki could have come out tonight but she had a late dance class and with the baby and all, it’s not the easiest.”

Jordan ran up and gave Crosby a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing off to the bathroom with Myla.

“You taking her home tonight, bro?” Harding asked.

Crosby shrugged. “Honestly, after a game like tonight the last thing I want to do is fuck. I want a hot shower and to ice my knees.”

Harding chuckled. “You have to mattress fuck her, dude.”

I raised my eyebrow and shifted to look at Harding.

What in the ever-loving fuck is this kid talking about?

Mattress fucking? What in the damn world?

“The fuck, Harding? No, I can’t say that I even know what the hell that is.” Crosby responded. I was glad that I wasn’t the only one that thought this guy was off his damn rocker.

“You know, when your girl’s on her back, you’re on your knees with her legs in your hands, you use your arms to push her into the mattress and let the momentum of the bed do all the work for you because it is bouncy. It’s an easy way to get her to fuck you while you’re still in control.”

I shook my head. “Dude, you’re crazy but that does sounds amazing.”

We shot the shit for a bit as I constantly checked my watch.

“Any word from Olive?” Myla asked as she squeeze in between Crosby and I to get to bar and get another Sprite.

“Not yet.” I pursed my lips. “I am starting to get a little worried.”

Sean and Jessica were not too far away, so Myla called them over.

“Do you guys think that we should try to figure out what is going on with Olive?” Myla asked them.

“Have you tried calling her?” Sean questioned.

I nodded. “Yeah, twice.”

Jessica whipped out her phone. “I’ll call a few people and see if there were accidents or anything.

My heart sunk. “Wait, like should I be worried?”

Sean put his hand on my shoulder. “Let us do our jobs and figure out if there is any reason to be worried before you start freaking out.”

Even though they told me not to worry prematurely, I was a wreck inside. I was never one to freak like this but I just had a terrible feeling—a sinking in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t shake.

Jessica rushed back over to us. “We need to go. Sean, call some cabs.”

“On it.” Sean and Myla both had their phones in hand and dialing within seconds.

Jessica waved to the bartender with her credit card already in her hand. “We need to close out. Put the tabs on here.”

I tried to protest and Sean stopped me. “Dude, let’s get going.”

My mind was racing. “What is going on?”

Jessica grabbed my hand as the rest of our group started to follow me out of the bar. “There’s been an accident.”

My eyes fluttered open and I flung my arms around. Glancing around the room, I realized I was not in my own bed. An IV was in my arm. The light gray walls looked all too familiar. My entire body hurt.

“You’re awake.” Griffin’s soft voice came from my bedside.

I sat up as best as I could to see everyone crowded in my tiny hospital room. Myla was sleeping, curled up with Jordan and Jessica on the floor in the corner of the room. Gavin, Griffin, Crosby, and Brayden were all sitting in a row in chairs next to my bed. Sean, Simon, and Shaw were standing in a little group, all clutching paper coffee cups.

“What happened?” My voice was weak as I coughed a little.

Shaw sank down on the end of the bed. “You fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree.”

I gasped. “Oh fuck.”

Griffin grabbed my hand. “Other than a banged-up car and a dislocated shoulder, you’re all right. The doctor said if you had been going any faster, you might have really done some serious damage. Thank God you’re okay.”

“Otis!” He had been left alone for way too long.

Shaw patted my leg. “Rhonda has him. I called her right when Griffin got ahold of me.”

“Thank you.” I looked at Griff, who was wiping his eyes.

“Anything, babe. When you didn’t call, the gang sprang into action and got here as they were doing their initial tests.”

My heart filled with so much love for all the practical strangers crowding around to make sure I was fine. “You guys didn’t have to come here.”

Myla rubbed her sleepy eyes. “You’re part of the family now, Liv. You better get used to having us around. For better or for worse, you’re stuck with us.”

Griffin kissed the back of my hand. “That is, as long as you’ll have us.”