Chloe walks into the kitchen with Emily and Bri. She rushes to me and throws her arms around me.

“God, you two are obnoxious,” Shaw says from beside me.

We had our exhibition game tonight and a party at The White House after is protocol every year.

“Want something to drink?”

She nods, and I grab her a cup.

“Where’s Sydney?” Shaw asks my girl.

“She’s coming. She had a date with that tennis guy she met last week.”

Shaw mutters under his breath, takes his drink, and storms off. Damn, something went sideways there.

I nod to Emily and Bri. “Can I get you guys something to drink?”

“I got it. I got it.” Datson sweeps in front of me and winks at them. I chuckle but leave him to it.

“Come on, Gabby’s outside. She’s been waiting for you to get here.”

I hold her hand tightly as we join my friends outside. They’ve pulled chairs into a circle off to the side of the party. Blair and Wes, Joel and Katrina, Mario and Vanessa, and Gabby all greet us as we join them.

As I predicted, Gabby tries to steal Chloe, but I hold on tighter. “You’re not stealing her tonight.”

Gabby pouts and I give in. I love that my best friend and my girl are close, but she gets five minutes before I’m taking her back.

Gabby talks a mile a minute about our upcoming trip to watch Zeke play, and I just watch them, completely in awe that this is my life. Great friends, great girl. Even the family situation has improved. Mom’s still struggling more days than not, but she’s showing up more and when I told her I was going to start talking to somebody about the nightmares, she agreed to talk to someone too. Everything is moving forward, and I’m finally looking ahead more than one day at a time.

I take the flask out of my pocket and catch Chloe’s eye. Lifting it, I give it a little shake. Haven’t pulled this thing out in a long time, but I think tonight might be the night to get stupid. Tomorrow, she’s definitely not pulling a fast one on me and kicking me out. Or vice versa. She fakes left; I’ll be waiting right to catch her.

She walks toward me, eyeing the flask with humor and mischief. “Whatcha got in there? Everclear?”

“I want you to remember how awesome I’m going to be later when I fuck you senseless, so I went for something a little less potent.”

She takes it from my hand and tips it back so the liquor flows into her mouth.

“Champagne?” she asks after she’s had a taste.

I nod. “Everclear is for forgetting; champagne is for the nights you want to remember.”