Page 42 of The Breakaway

He dragged a hand over his jaw. “It’s not not stressful. Why?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. You always seem calm. In control.”

“We hardly ever cross paths.”

I dabbed my chin with my napkin. There was no way to eat this gracefully. “Yeah, well, up until a couple of weeks ago, I thought you wanted me to crawl into a hole and die.”

He huffed out a breath, staring at his hands on the table.

I twirled my noodles with my chopsticks. “I heard what you said. When you told Logan I wasn’t good for him. What did I do to make you think that?”

Rob considered for a moment. “Not sure what you’re talking about.”

“In the hall. Outside the rink. When we first started dating.”

Rob stiffened. “I didn’t know anyone was listening.”

“Does that really matter?” I drank broth from my spoon. “I just—you said you didn’t hate me. But then you were mean?—”

“I wasn’t mean.”

I looked up, my eyes wide. “You were a total asshole to me. Are you serious?”

A muscle in Rob’s jaw flexed. “Can we not talk about this right now?”

I shrugged, not able to hide my annoyance. “I don’t know. Will you give me an answer at some point?” I played it off like my heart wasn’t jackhammering in my chest.

“Sure.”

“For Christmas. It can be my present.”

The corner of Rob’s mouth lifted. “Who says I was planning to get you anything?”

The pounding of my heart transformed into a flutter. “See? Asshole.”

Rob shook his head. “Are you almost done?”

I nodded and pointed at my bowl. “You sure you don’t want any?”

“You drooled in that.”

My jaw dropped. “I did not drool!”

“You were licking the noodles.”

I barked a laugh and lifted my tray, transporting it to the bin of dirty dishes over the trash. I wiped my hands on my soon-to-be piss-covered jeans, then gave him a salute. “Alright. At your service.”

Rob reached out and smacked my hand away from my forehead. “You’re making a scene.”

I sucked in a breath, resisting the urge to grab my hand and feel the skin where he’d touched. Make sure it wasn’t on literal fire.

I followed Rob outside and we continued on toward the GRB. When we got to the side door, Rob pulled out his keyring and unlocked it. He held the door open with a mocking bow.

“Now who’s making a scene?”

He grunted. “There’s nobody here.”

“There were, like, two people in the noodle place.”

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