He never thought he would meet her there. On his 21st birthday.

The whole day had been shitty. They lost the game, he got benched for most of it again, and he’d taken a hit straight to the face during the second period. His head was still buzzing from it. Frustrating didn’t even begin to cover it.

He just needed to loosen up a little.

So he went to a bar with a few of his friends and teammates, planning to get a little drunk and at least try to celebrate his birthday.

They ordered drinks and were halfway through complaining about the coach being an idiot when he spotted her.

She was sitting a few tables away with her friends, laughing about something. God, her smile was incredible.

He didn’t even realize he was staring until she met his eyes and gave him a small smile.

A smile that felt like it was only for him.

He quickly looked away and forced himself to refocus on the conversation with his buddies, but his eyes kept drifting back to her.

"Dude," Macklin suddenly said, leaning closer with a smirk. "You’re staring so hard you’re gonna burn a hole through her."

"Shut up," he muttered, taking a sip of his drink.

Macklin followed his gaze and let out a quiet laugh. "Ohhh. I see. Birthday boy found his present."

"I said shut up."

"Go talk to her," Macklin added, nudging his shoulder. "Or are you suddenly shy?"

He just rolled his eyes but didn’t answer.

A few minutes later, her friends got up and left somewhere, probably to grab the drinks they had ordered, leaving her alone at the table.

He took a deep breath, grabbed his drink for confidence, and stood up walking over to her