Page 97 of Skating to Him

“Thank you, sir.” Rowan shook his hand, and then I thanked him and did the same.

“Of course.” The man left and a waiter brought us more drinks.

My gaze cut to Teddy, staring at us, slack-jawed. With a sharp laugh, I said, “Hey, you okay over there?”

He blinked. “I’m still trying to process.” He gave a soft snort and shook his head.

“Hey, let’s get a picture of us for social media. What do you say?” Rowan plucked his phone off the table and sat in his chair.

I shifted my chair closer to his as Teddy did the same.

“Say lobster roll.” He barked out a laugh.

“Very funny, Rowan.” Teddy tsked.

We all leaned in toward Rowan and smiled while he took the shot.

“Okay, let me get this posted.” He tapped on his phone. “Perfect. Now, the rest of the guys will see what a great time we’re having at the official Ward 8 bar.” He beamed at me.

As the gameended and people finished their drinks and food, they filtered out of the bar. We’d each ordered burgers to prepare for more drinking at the gay bars down on the South End. I took the last bite of my burger, chewed, and swallowed. “This was so much fun, Rowan.”

“Yeah?” He dunked a fry in some ketchup, then grabbed the back of my head and pulled me in for a hard kiss. “Having you here with me has been?—”

“Mackenzie, guess you switched teams, huh?” a male voice said behind me. “No wonder Hodge was so sweet on you in the game.”

Rowan’s face went white. “Uh, Knight. What the hell are you doing here?” He freed me and sat back, stiffening his shoulders.

“Saw your shitty little post on Insta and thought I’d pay you a visit since I was in the neighborhood,” Knight snarled.

“Who is that?” Teddy asked, staring behind me.

I twisted in my chair. It was the fucker from Providence who’dtried to take Rowan out. The asshole with the cheating girlfriend. I stood, my chair groaning across the concrete floor. “What’s it to you, Knight?” As heat surged in my chest, I fisted my hands.

“Nothing…” With a smirk, he turned and glanced behind him as two guys as big as he was entered the bar.

More Providence hockey players? My gaze darted between them all. There were three of us and three of them. But Teddy didn’t look very scrappy… What was I thinking? I’d seen twinks go ballistic on guys twice their size and take them out. A slow smirk crawled over my lips. “How about you leave us alone?”

“How about…no.” Knight stomped around me to stand chest to chest with Rowan, who was now standing too. Poking him in the chest, Knight said loud enough for the whole bar to hear, “This guy’s a player. He’ll take your girl and then come back and try and suck your cock.” With a cackle, he said, “And he’s a shitty fucking hockey player. Let’s his team down every time.”

“Shut the fuck up, Knight.” I grabbed him by the back of the jacket and yanked him backward. “You don’t know anything about him.”

With a sneer, he reared his arm back and slugged me in the jaw, the impact throwing me to the table and crashing our plates on the floor. “You son of a bitch.”

Rowan jumped on him and they fell to the floor in a heap of fists and flailing arms, some punches landing and some blocked.

“Rowan!” As I lunged forward, someone caught my arms behind me. I threw myself this way and that, attempting to wriggle free. “Let me go, asshole!”

The man behind me turned me around and head-butted me.

Seeing stars, I stumbled backward. Holy fuck, who does that? As my vision cleared, the older man from earlier grabbed Knight and threw him off Rowan. “That’s enough, boys.” The guy was stronger than he looked.

Teddy stood a few feet away, with his jaw dropped open, his wide-eyed gaze on Rowan.

Knight rose and brushed himself off. “Sorry, Dorsey. Didn’tknow you were here.” With a grimace, he peeked at the larger man from under his messy bangs.

Dorsey shook a finger at Knight. “No fighting in my bar. Those are the rules.” He pointed toward the door. “Now, get out before I call the cops.”

With a jeer, Knight stomped toward his buddies and slapped them on the arms. “Come on. This asshole isn’t worth my time.”

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