is it casual now? - e. edwards

chapter three!

august 2021

lacy's perspective

"hey we're having a team dinner at some restaurant downtown at around six, wanna come? you can be my date," luke playfully says as we walk in and out of the different buildings around campus. "and dylan's dying to see you again" he adds hoping that'll convince me

i thought about it; i mean, i'll be practically living on the stands at the yost arena, so i should meet everyone. "yeah, i guess i have to be your plus one again," i tease luke.

"good, i was gonna force you to come anyways," luke says as he grabs my hand to drop me off at my dorm.

when we arrived at my dorm, just as i was about to close the door, luke keeps it open with his hand, "i'll pick you up at like 5:45, you better hurry." i roll my eyes and laugh, "yeah, yeah get out of here lukey boy."

luke rolls his eyes and laughs as he walks away.

"hey where were you? we were going to watch a movie if you wanted to join us," arabella smiles as i walk inside and close the door as she sits down on the couch.

"oh, i wish i could, but luke invited to some dinner downtown with his new teammates," i say as i head to my closet.

"oh, can we please come? i'm dying to go explore," stella asks with a glimmer in her eyes, "you can totally say no if you don't want us coming though," she adds with a comforting voice.

i think about it; it would be nice to get to know everyone in one setting, and they did want to meet luke. "let me text luke and see if it's okay."

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

IMESSAGE
to 'lukey'

ace
can my roommates come?

lukey
sure why not

ace
okay, be nice.
thanks, lukey.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

"get dressed; he said it's okay," i say while walking back to my closet with a warm giggle.

we all stare at our closet for what seemed hours, trying to decide what to wear; something fancy? casual?

at around 5:40, luke comes knocking on the door, and we all step out.

"luke, this is stella lynn and arabella brown, my roommates," i say excitedly.

"hey, i'm luke hughes, lacy's best friend," luke says sweetly and goes to shake their hands, which they accept.

"so luke, how long have you played hockey for?" arabella asks, trying to make conversation but ultimately knows nothing about hockey.

"all my life; my brothers play for the nhl and plan to do so too."

"oh shit, is your brother jack hughes?"

"yeah, jack's my brother," luke says as he leaves stella with wide eyes.

we all start walking downtown, stella and arabella trailing behind us. we hear arabella quickly whisper to stella, "how do you know him?"

stella rolls her eyes, "i watch hockey." arabella grabs her phone and types out jack's name into tiktok. "oh my fucking god, he's hot," arabella gushes quietly over to stella.

me and luke, not far in front of them, hear the whole encounter and look at each other giggling.

as arabella continues to show stella all the edits she's found of jack, i start shivering, not used to the colder climate that michigan brings. luke sees this and quietly offers his arm; i gratefully grab luke's arm and comfortably hug it and try to lean my head on his shoulder, which i fail to do due to him being so tall.