Page 67 of Riding the Pine

That makes her laugh, and the sound is worth it. My phone buzzes against my ass. See if these fuckers are going to stand me u—wait. That would be totally fine by me. I’m here, I showed up, no questions could be asked about where I was while they all had lunch together. But iftheycancel, I’m golden.

The name on my screen isn’t one of my hockey brothers. In fact, it’s not anyone who’s name I want to see. My cousin’s asking for money. I ignore him, delete the message, and as I move to put my phone back in my pants, it buzzes again.

Mom: Your cousin Christian’s been arrested.

She missed a word: again. My cousin Christian has been arrestedagain. Felony larceny last time. As curious as I am to know how shit a criminal my cousin is or remind Mom of the irony that someone calledChristiancould be such a stain on humanity, I don’t want a reminder of my life right now.

I’m in a sex bubble with Athena, and even though her brothers are about to arrive any moment and make me leave her side to eat with them, I don’t need the trip down family history lane.

The guys crash through the door in a blaze of sound and a blur of movement. No one on the team loves anything more than coming to Guac ‘n Roll for food. It’s the best in town, bar none. And I’m not simply saying that because it’s run by the family of my best friends, and my girlfriend.

I grin at myself. Girlfriend.

Athena de la Peña is my girlfriend. At long fucking last, too.

Ares gives me a not-too-subtle wink behind Athena’s back while his brothers are focused on pulling a couple of tables together. My cheeks heat, but I simply roll my eyes and turn to Athena. “The loud, smelly boys have arrived, so I need to go eat with them.”

She grins at me. “You know you’re a loud, smelly boy too, right?”

I nod solemnly. “Sure, but I’m your loud, smelly boy.”

The eye roll she bestows upon me is worth it.

I sit with my back to my girl, because if I don’t, if I sit facing her, I’ll stare at her the whole time, and we haven’t yet had The Talk. Does she want people to know? If not, we may have an issue because I’m pretty sure the happiness is written all over my face.

Especially because Ares keeps casting me not-too-subtle questioning looks. He can’t be that astute, can he? I mean, he knows I like her, fine, more than like her, but how can he have worked out that I’ve taken the next step already?

My face gets hotter under his gaze. He’s probably not even staring at me, he’s probably looking at something, or someone behind me, but itfeelslike he’s looking at me, analyzing me, peering into the depths of my soul.

And while I have nothing to feel guilty about, there’s every chance they might think I’m hiding it from them, and we never hide anything from each other.

As I shovel potatoes bravas into my mouth, without a second thought to the impending heartburn at the speed with which I’m consuming these spicy carbs, my brain runs wild with visions of the trio of brothers kicking my ass over their sister.

Speaking of el diablo, she appears next to me, smelling of temptation and sin.

“Who ordered the fish tacos?”

Ares isdefinitelywatching me right now. There’s a gif where a guy’s got streams of sweat pouring down his face like he’s guilty of something. That’s what I feel like right now.

Don’t look at her.

Do look at her. If I don’t it’ll look weird because we’re friends. But if I look too much that’s weird too.

Fuck sake. I’m losing my mind overthinking everything. We definitely need to have a talk about this, because I’m tangling myself in knots, and she might not even care if they find out.

CHAPTER 28

Athena

What the hell is wrong with Scott?

He’s sitting there looking like he’s trying to hold in diarrhea. Which we all know can only end in tears.

He doesn’t look at me. In fact, it’s like he’s pointedly trying not to look at me. Jesus Christ, did someone say something to him? If so, who?

Two of the team accept their plates from me, freeing up my arms. Surveying the table, there are at least three more waiting for food, and my brothers will need their second round soon enough. They can never get enough of Abuelita’s cooking.

When Scott eventually looks up at me, there’s a mania in his eyes I’ve never seen before. Is he on something? Fuck, he’s… something’s up with this man. I’m going to have to text him. Inconspicuously.

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