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I look over my shoulder, cringing when I notice the booth next to us is throwing curious glances at my friend. Lightly kicking her under the table, I quickly promise, “I’ll make you a pumpkin pie this week, ’kay?”
“Yes!” She pumps her arms in the air. “Bring on the Thanksgiving goodness. I love this time of year!”
Great. Now she’s shouting and three booths of people are turning to look at us.
I give them polite smiles, mouthing apologies for my loud friend.
“Mick, seriously.” I make a face at her. “Chillax, little girl.”
She leans forward and laughs at me. “I’m trying to get you to relax and lighten up. I know you’ve had the worst week, but let’s just pretend that it’s you and me and none of that shit matters.”
Oh thank God. She’s not after a serious chat.
I bob my head, a relieved smile blooming on my face.
“Okay. Tell me about your life in Hockey House. How’s it going?”
She blows out a puff that makes the locks of hair around her face dance. “It’s good.” Her nose wrinkles. “I mean, it’s just a temporary thing. I can’t linger there forever, you know?”
“What does that mean?” I point at her. “You’ve got scrunchy face going on. Scrunchy face is never good.”
“It means…” She purses her lips. “It means that sleeping every night with Ethan is epic. The sex is off the charts, and waking up in his arms every morning is my new favorite thing to do.”
I smile, happy for her. The way her eyes are dancing is awesome. I want Ethan to be good and wonderful. I want him to be her forever guy, because I love her so damn much, and I never want her to hurt the way I am right now.
But then her happy grin starts to fade.
“But…,” I prompt her.
She slumps. “But living in Hockey House can have its moments. I mean, I love the guys. I do. I fit… mostly. Baxter’s not a huge fan, but I’m not sure he likes anyone, so…” Her shoulder hitches. “Hanging with the guys is fun, and I love gaming with Casey and teasing Asher for being a rich prick and shooting the breeze with Liam. He’s the best to talk to, seriously. Ethan, Liam, and I will often sit on the back patio at the end of the day and talk about everything and nothing. It’s one of my favorite things to do. And sometimes the house is filled with the whole team, and it’s loud and fun and…” Her voice trails off into a sigh.
“But…” I raise my eyebrows.
And she slumps even farther down in the booth. “But guys can be gross, okay? Even I have my limits.” She throws her hand up in the air. “Casey’s dumps are smelly enough to drop an elephant from ten yards away, so sharing a bathroom with the guy can be fatal. And Baxter leaves his toenail clippings in the sink.” She sticks out her tongue, pretending to gag. “And…” She holds up her finger. “This one tops it. I walked in on Asher jacking off the other day.”
My mouth drops open. “Where?”
“In his man cave. Just sitting there on the couch with his pants around his knees. His bare ass on the cushions while he grunted and—” Mick shudders, like the memories are giving her hives. “He’d left the door wide open, and I was just popping in to return a comic book.”
I slap a hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh at her, but it’s impossible. The expression on her face right now is too funny.
“Are you talking about the couch that poor Liam had to sleep on last night?” I cringe.
Mikayla jerks up in her seat, her eyes popping wide as the realization dawns. Then her face cracks into a wide grin, and she starts to giggle. “Oh, poor Liam.”
We laugh together, me trying to dodge my guilt at the fact that he was down there while I was taking over his big comfy bed upstairs.
Mick shakes her head, smiling at the waiter when he delivers our drinks. Pulling her soda toward her, she takes a big suck from the straw and sighs. “You know, I thought living in the sorority house with a bunch of girls was bad.”
“That’s just because you weren’t living with the right girls.”
Mick grabs my hand. “Move in with me?”
I let out a soft snicker and don’t say anything.
What can I say?
Right now, I have zero idea what my future holds. My only thought had been to get away from Theo. Now what?
