Page 28 of Home for the Hockey-Days

When she eventually leaves us again, Rowan has drunk half her shake and is making all the right yummy noises. Maggie keeps grinning over at us.

“What kind of cake are we having?” Rowan looks at me with such sincerity in her eyes it’s as though she truly believes we’re going to get married. “And I’m going to need a ring.”

I open my mouth to reply, but nothing comes out.

She tips her head in expectation. “Well?”

I close my mouth but can’t swallow. It's as dry as the desert. Is it hot in here?

After what feels like the longest pause in history, her lips twitch, and she bursts out laughing. “You’re so fucking easy,Gus.” She uses the name Maggie called me, leaning into it when she says it. She’s clutching her chest, her shoulders shaking so hard the silverware dances on the table.

“Well, well, well. Of all the burger joints in Cedar Rapids.” Johnny White’s syrupy voice meets my ears from behind, and I don’t even swallow my groan.

Rowan’s stopped laughing. Her face tells me all I need to know about how she’s feeling at this moment. If looks could kill, JW would not only be dead, but he’d be shredded into a million teeny tiny pieces and scattered into the wind. Her nostrils flare, but it’s the hardness in her eyes that shares the depth of her dislike for her ex.

I shouldn’t enjoy her loathing of another person, but since it’s Johnny, and he deserves it ten times over, it fans the embers in my chest.

I haven’t asked her what went down between them, can’t say Ireallycare. Unless of course he hurt her or did something that might need for me to rearrange his face on the ice sometime, but the hard-set of her jaw tells me I was right not to pry for details.

“I didn’t bring bug spray.” She stabs at the bottom of her milkshake with her straw.

“Huh?” I cant my head, not following her train of thought.

“You can’t hear that buzzing noise? Sounds like a mosquito.”

Slowly, her meaning sinks into my brain. She’s talking about JW, and I can’t help chuckling. “More like an angry bee than a mosquito.”

She snorts. “If only he died after he stung people.”

Ouch. That’s harsh, even for Johnny Fucking White.

The sinister laugh gets closer. “That was a good one, Row-boat.” He comes to a stop beside the table and snickers. “I heard you were slumming it. Had to come to see for myself.”

The blood coursing through my veins heats, but I’m not going to react to this prick and give him the satisfaction. I don’t need to defend Rowan’s honor, she can handle herself. But if he goes too far, I’m not above throwing this asshole out on his ass.

His sister acted faster than I expected her to. And how did he find out where we were?

“Can’t say I thought you’d be down for my sloppy seconds, Gus Gus.”

What the fuck? I thought he was talking about her slumming it with me, not the other way around. When Rowan’s face hardens, my fist flexes. I want to knock this asshole out, but she gives me an almost imperceptible headshake.

“And you.” He points at her. “You know his brother’s in jail, right? Trailer trash piece of shit. Clearly he’s only with you for your money. You stillhavemoney, right? Daddy dearest didn’t gamble it all away at the track?”

A growl catches in the back of my throat. I’d never useanother person for their money, not ever. And from the way Rowan’s cheeks turn pink, there’s an element of truth to what he’s saying about her Dad being a gambler.

She folds her arms, like she’s using them to protect her chest, but she lengthens her spine, straightening to square her body up to the man who’s taking cheap shots atbothof us.

“Are you finished?” Her tone is so caustic I’m afraid she’s going to melt the table. Aunt Maggie will understand, though, she hates entitled assholes too.

“You know me, Row-Boat, I’m never finished.” He winks at her in a way that suggests he’s talking in a sexual way, and it makes my stomach churn. “Always have more in the tank.”

“How did you find me?”

He wiggles his phone at her. “Find my friend.”

Fucking stalker.

Rowan opens her mouth to reply but Maggie appears, next to us. “You need to leave.”

---