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But, shocking as shit, he didn’t.
He just looked down at his menu too, and when the waitress—Gabi—came by the table, he ordered a beer. I ordered my wine. Joel ordered a beer. My mom stuck with water.
And then…we had dinner.
It was quiet and awkward and not at all like any other family dinner I’d ever had.
It definitely wasn’t like dinner with Joel’s family.
Not atall.
But…it wasn’t bad.
And I thought that for me, for us, for this moment, it was better than anything I could have ever hoped for.
Thirty-Nine
Joel
“And then we looked at each other and were in perfect kismet.”
I rolled my eyes at Fox, who was trying to charm my woman, and standing too damned close tomywoman, and talking too damned much tomywoman.
“Kismet?” Billie giggled.
A solemn nod from my annoying teammate.
Who’d just gotten word to pack his bags because he was taking his turn with the Gold.
He’d already had a few stints with the NHL team, and things were looking good for his progress to stay in the big leagues permanently.
It wouldn’t be long now.
We might get him back, at least for a few more games.
But it wouldn’t be permanent.
He was our team’s leading goal-scorer, a pain in the ass on the ice (for our opponents), and he lightened the locker room.
Just like he was lighteningthissituation.
Me. Billie Rose. Ryan. Dessie. Fox. A couple of my teammates.
All sitting in a booth at Monroe’s.
The last time I’d been here, Billie Rose’s thigh pressed to mine, I hadn’t understood what I was feeling.
Now…I was all in.
And I really didn’t like that Fox was pressed to her other side, making her laugh and smile and—
“You’re gone, man.”
Ryan’s quiet words had my gaze jerking from Fox and Billie to my teammate, who was smirking at me.
“What are you talking about?”
“The mayor.” Ry grinned. “You. Both of you are fucking gone for each other.”
