Page 52 of SlapShot Sweetheart

“You’re Theo’s friend, aren’t you?”

“Tonight, I’m obviously your ‘host-with-the-most,’” he began, holding out his arm to her as a mischievous smile split his face. Before she could ask what was going on a third time, hespoke loudly. “And I could even be your date, since I’m the one being put in this uncomfortable position…”

And the scuffle got louder as Theo shot out the swinging door of the kitchen with a dark look on his face, mouthing something in a hostile tone – in French, but the explanation was implied with that look.

“C'est ma femme, espèce d'asticot! Je pensais que nous étions amis mais tu n'es qu'un crétin égoïste qui essaie de voler ma petite amie!”Theo snapped, pointing angrily before shoving him away from Aimee. “Go away, Coeur...”

“Maggot? Why you almost hurt my feelings, Batiste,” the man grinned, winking at Aimee. “I’m a lover, not a fighter – not like this guy.”

“Tu seras mort!”

“E-nough,” another voice started from behind her enunciating the word loudly as if to get his point across right before he flew past her, putting himself between Theo and Coeur. “Hi Aimee…”

“Hello, Mr. Becca,” she chuckled as she realized the team was here, all of them were involved in helping Theo set up this evening for her. How could she be mad if Becca’s husband was helping stage things and de-escalate the pounding that Coeur was about to get. Man, that guy had a snarky, holier-than-thou attitude that needed to be brought down a notch. “Oh, and Coeur?”

“Yes, my pretty?”

“Watch it…” Theo growled protectively, making her practically smile at the way her man got so fired up.

“You know payback is coming, right?” she said sweetly and nearly lost her composure as Theo looked away and Coeur winked at her, giving her a thumbs-up. The man was egging Theo on deliberately.

“I’m going,” Coeur volunteered. “Let’s go, everyone. The first dish is coming up soon, and we’ve gotta be someplace else, any place else…”

Not two seconds later, several guys in T-shirts paraded out from the kitchen, walking past them.

“Here ya’ go, brother…”

“Aimee…”

“I never found the tape, bro…”

“I have two extra Beanie Babies… so here,” Boucher mumbled, handing them to her as they all started to file out of the restaurant, one at a time, dropping off Target bags, a bag of what looked like Christmas bows, a package of condoms that made Aimee’s eyes grow huge in shock as Theo looked at the ceiling praying for patience.

“Y’all have fun – and the Tums are in the baggie… with the other stuff. Y’all be good, but not too good.”

“Au revoir,” Theo muttered pointedly and stood there holding the bags, looking unsure, as she remained beside him holding two beanie babies. “Hi,” he finally said, looking at her warily.

“Hi… um, are these for me?”

“If you want them?”

“What am I going to do with Beanie Babies?” she began and hesitated as she looked around, realizing just how sweet this was of him. He’d gone out of his way to recreate their first date – but better.

Theo was standing there, wearing a suit, and looked so different from the first time she had met him. Then, he was late, and his eye had been purple and swollen before he lost a tooth in the first course, prompting the blistering conversation that ended the evening abruptly.

“I don’t know. I thought they were cute and reminded me of Éclair and Donut,” he murmured giving her a soft, nervoussmile, making her wonder if he was remembering their first date too.

“This is certainly different,” she began carefully, feeling a little unsure of herself. “You look nice.”

“You look exquisite,” he replied, nervously putting the bags down on the chair at the next table before moving behind her to pull out her seat.“Assieds-toi, mon âme sœur…sit down please,” he translated sheepishly. “It’s a habit, and I’m trying to remember to speak English, but French is my native tongue. I slip.”

“It’s okay,” she murmured, feeling her face flush slightly. “I ordered a ‘French for Beginners’ book on Amazon today so that I could learn some.”

“You did?” The surprise in his voice, mixed with the expressive look in his eyes was everything. He looked so pleased in that moment that some of her anxiety seemed to fade away.

“I figured I could try to meet you halfway,” she smiled softly, teasing him. “Maybe we could have our own language, a mix of the two, and…”

“And what?”

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