When Alec Met Evie (Appies, #6)

by Jenny Proctor

Beside me, Camden digs an elbow into my ribs, and I realize I’ve been staring. I said hello, called Evie a nerd, then she smiled, and I apparently lost my ability to speak. Luckily, Evie fills the silence for me. “I am never going to live that down, am I? It was one game.” I glance over my shoulder at my teammates. “She brought a textbook to one of my college playoff games.” “I had a really important history exam,” she counters. “Sounds like a logical choice to me,” Felix says from just over my right shoulder. “Especially if the alternative was watching you play,” Nathan adds. The insult doesn’t hold an ounce of water coming from Nathan, who has been my defensive partner for the past four seasons. We’re rarely on the ice without the other, so if I play well, he usually does too, and vice versa. But then Camden adds, “Without Nathan next to you to make you look good, watching had to be painful.” My teammates chuckle, and Evie’s eyes dance as she looks us over, like she finds them dogging on me highly entertaining. I roll my eyes and step to the side, waving a hand toward my friends. “If it wasn’t obvious, these idiots are a few of my teammates, and they’ve clearly forgotten how to respect their captain. Evie, meet Nathan, Camden, and Felix.”