Page 2

Lilly

A few days after finding out I’m writing an article on the hockey team, I stumble into the kitchen with groggily eyes.

Wiping the sleep from them with a groan, I slump down onto one of the chairs and let out a sigh as I lean back.

“What’s got you in such a foul mood?” Callie, one-third of my best friends questions as she places a steaming mug of freshly brewed coffee in front of me in my favorite mug that’s shaped like a popcorn tub.

“Ugh, you’re a lifesaver,” I say, ignoring her question as my hand reaches out, enclosing around the warm mug. “Have we got any hazelnut creamer?”

“Uh-huh.” She nods, walking toward the fridge, she takes out a few different creamers and places them on the table.

Thanking her, I grab the hazelnut creamer and pour a little into my mug. Lifting it, I slowly take a sip, humming as the liquid cascades down my throat. “How do you not drink coffee?” I ask her as I place the mug down, but keep my hands enclosed around it for warmth.

“Because it’s gross.” She gags, flipping the bacon in the pan.

“You’re missing out,” I take another sip. “How do you find the energy to do anything without coffee first thing in the morning?”

I’m dead to the world before a drop of coffee touches my tongue. Want to interact with me before then? Don’t bother.

Turning away from the stove, she gives me a deadpan look. “You don’t need coffee to be motivated in the morning,” walking toward the table, she places a dish of bacon in the center. “There’s plenty of things that get you energized.”

“Yeah, like what?” I raise a brow, grabbing a strip of bacon and biting into it.

“Sex for one,” she says, making me choke on the bacon. She laughs at my reaction as she turns and walks toward the stove again. “Also running.” She adds.

Right, running. It’s a ritual to her. She wakes up at 6 a.m. most mornings, goes for a run around our neighborhood, comes home, showers, gets ready for the day, and then cooks us all breakfast. And that’s mostly done before any of us even stir awake.

I applaud her motivation, and sometimes I’m envious of it, but that could never be me. I tried going to the gym with her earlier this year, and I’m not being dramatic when I say this, but my whole body was aching for weeks afterward. That’s when I decided exercise wasn’t for me.

I’d rather stay at home binge watching a reality show while eating all the popcorn in the house than do any form of exercise.

“Couldn’t think of anything worse.” I shiver .

Rolling her eyes, she walks toward me, scraping the steaming scrambled eggs into another dish.

“Anything worse than what?” Payton, another one of my best friends, and Callie’s stepsister questions as she walks into the kitchen.

“Running.” I say, glancing at her with a disgusted look on my face.

She grimaces as she takes a seat beside me. “Yeah, I’m with you on that one.”

Callie shakes her head, a smile tinting her lips as she pours Payton a mug of coffee and places it down in front of her. “You’re the best, Cal,” Payton hums, grabbing the vanilla creamer and pouring a generous amount in before lifting the mug to her lips and moaning. “I fucking love coffee.”

Grabbing another strip of bacon and shoving it into my mouth, I say. “I agree, best invention ever.”

“Ugh, I’m dying.” Nina, the last of my best friends walks into the kitchen. Pulling her shoulder length brunette hair into a claw clip, she yawns and takes a seat opposite me.

I met the girl's freshman year at Riverside State, and I wouldn’t exactly say I was shy to begin with, but I definitely came out of my bubble the more time I spent with them. Payton and I were roommates, and since she and Callie are stepsisters and Nina was Callie's roommate, the four of us became inseparable by the end of fall semester.

Meeting them was the best thing that ever happened to me. And without them, I feel like I wouldn’t be as mentally stable as I am today. I’ve had a rough few years since freshman year starte, but having them by my side through it all made everything feel a whole lot easier. And their friendship is one I’d never take for granted, because those girls are my ride or die.

“Hmmm,” Nina moans around her mug. “This is better than sex.”

“I’d argue with that,” Callie laughs, as she takes a seat opposite Payton and scoops eggs onto her plate. “You’ve clearly never experienced amazing, mind blowing, and out of this world sex before then.”

“Ugh, can we not talk about sex this early in the morning.” Payton grumbles over a mouthful of bacon.

“Why not?” Callie asks with an amused look on her face as she diverts her attention from Payton and glances at Nina. “Would you not say last year was—”

“Omg,” Nina raises her hands to cover her face. “We said we weren’t going to speak of that again.”

“You said you weren’t going to speak of it again,” she points a strip of bacon in her direction. “I, however—”

“Callie,” Payton scolds in a warning tone. “Sex, and you two having that—” she cuts herself off, shaking her head from the thoughts I knew came to mind. “We’re not discussing anything related to sex over breakfast.”

“Why not?” Callie tilts her head to the side.

“Yeah, P,” I try to hold in my smirk. “Why not?”

“Maybe because it’s 8 a.m.” Payton deadpans.

“It’s 5 o’clock somewhere,” Callie shrugs, sipping her cranberry juice. “But for you, P…sure.”

“Thank you.”

Callie starts singing the chorus of “let’s talk about sex” by Salt-N-Pepa, making Payton lean across to try and stop her.

“Stop!” Payton can’t hold her laughter in as Callie moves side to side, dodging Payton’s hand that’s trying to clasp her mouth shut.

She continues rapping the lyrics, laughing as Payton manages to place her hand over her mouth. And even though it’s now muffled, you could still faintly hear her continuing, which has me holding in my laughter as I bring the mug of coffee to my lips.

“Callie!” Payton tries to scold her, but she bursts out laughing.

“Fine,” Callie huffs, her brown eyes sparkling with mischief as she removes Payton’s hand from her mouth. “I’ll shut up.”

“Than—”

“Let’s talk about—”

“Callie!”

Callie bursts out laughing before taking a huge mouthful of hash browns and smirking at Payton as she chews. Shaking my head at their antics, I scoop some scrambled egg onto my plate, grab a few more strips of bacon and hash browns before placing a little dollop of ketchup on the side—Nina gives me a questioning look at this, but I shrug. You can’t have hash browns without a side of ketchup to go along with it.

I needed as much energy as my body could muster up because today is the day research for the article starts, which means I’ll officially be meeting the hockey players. Sitting in on their practices, games, and interviewing them to gather as much information as I could to make this article worthy enough for a place in the Riverside Gazette.

Once I’ve demolished my breakfast in a world record breaking time, I lean my back against the chair and rest my hands on my stomach, further proving my point of feeling full. Glancing around the table, I see the girls are almost done too. Nina’s on her phone, her cheeks flushing as she types away.

“What’s got you smiling?” I smirk at her.

“Would it happen to be because of a certain hockey player?” Payton teases.

Nina’s cheeks tinge pinker as she tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Shut up.” She grumbles, chewing her lip, trying to hide a smile.

Last week when we went to Jinx—the local bar slash grill in Riverside—Nina bumped into Hunter, a guy she knew in high school who happens to be the co-captain on the hockey team.

He invited us all to the first game of the season Saturday just gone, and afterward, they threw a party to celebrate their win and Hunter asked her out on a date, but she’s scared of commitment, so she told him she’d check her schedule.

She’s always been persistent since the minute I met her that she never wanted a relationship in fear of them abandoning her like her dad had done. But it’s clear as day, even if it’s early days, that Hunter is going to be the one who changes that.

“She’s totally texting him.” Payton grins.

“So, what’s on everyone’s agenda today?” Nina changes the subject, placing her phone face down on the table as she glances at us.

“You’re not changing the subject,” I give her a pointed look and she groans. “Have you decided if you’re going to say yes to that date?”

Her cheeks flush more. “Maybe.” She mumbles over her mug.

When I’m about to respond, my phone alarm goes off. Reaching my hand out, I click stop before glancing at the time. “Fuck,” I hiss, scraping my chair back and standing up. “I need to head to hockey practice.”

“You start that today?” Payton asks as she stands too.

“Unfortunately,” I sigh, taking my hair out of the low pony I put it in to eat. “I’ll be sure to send Hunter your hellos.” I tease Nina.

“Stop!” She holds her hands to her face in embarrassment.

“Maybe give him a little kiss.” Teasing, I pucker my lips and make kissing sounds.

“You’re so annoying.” She grumbles with a hint of a smile.

I grin, walking backward out of the kitchen. “See you guys later?”

“Yeah, later.” They confirm.