Page 122 of Good Girl's Guide to Love
I pull away just enough to see her eyes heat and her body squirm at my words. “Does that sound good, Ainsley Mae? Or do you want to stay here?”
She nods. “Take me home, Linc.”
That’s my girl.
In true Irish goodbye fashion, I take Ainsley’s hand and pull her up, giving Wyatt a quick nod so he knows we’re out, but I’m not spending the next twenty minutes shaking hands with my teammates, who I’ll see tomorrow. It’s also why I don’t bother looking for Maddox, though we do pass him as we head to the elevator to take us to the first floor. He has his eyes on his conquest of the night. I can tell she’s older than him, probably in her mid-thirties, but my man doesn’t seem deterred. If anything, he’s all in.
Good for him.
We duck and weave our way through the crowd and make it to the elevator, making sure we avoid Katie and Dipshit. When we step off, I wasn’t prepared for the crowd we’d be walking into on the first floor. I hold on to Ainsley’s hand as I snake our way through the crowd. We’re almost to the door when I get bumped by someone. Next thing I know I lose hold of Ainsley, but when I turn around to try to look for her, I’m pushed from behind. I assume it’s just because the bar is packed; that is, until I turn around and see the man I never want to see again.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Rockwell?”
The bastard has a smug smile on his face that gives me an unsettling feeling. “We’re on a bye this week. Told the team I needed to pack up some things at my old place. Figured I’d come out for a drink. Place isn’t my style, a little too juvenile. But it’ll do for the night.”
I don’t know why this man is walking around town like he has the biggest bank account out of all of us. He wasn’t even the highest paid Fury player, and his contract went with him to Wisconsin. And, the locker room gossip is that if the Fury couldn’t find a trade, then they were going to release him mid-contract for behavioral issues inside the clubhouse.
“Well you have fun.” I turn back to look for Ainsley, hoping that she’s not too far. I can see over most of the people, and I try to look for her hair and the bow she’s wearing, and just as I get an eye on her, I feel Rockwell pull me back again.
“You have a lot of nerve, you know that, right?” he says.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m in fucking Milwaukee because of you.”
“Or maybe you’re there because the Fury saw a toxic player and didn’t want to infect their locker room. And when they have a better player who doesn’t like to start shit with teammates,they choose that option. As far as I’m concerned, this is your find-out stage, Rockwell.”
He narrows his eyes. “You’ve been a pain in my ass since college. Why won’t you just go away?”
I step up closer to him, getting right in his face. “You did this to yourself. Now, I need to find my girl and you need to fuck off.”
He gives me a shove, and I think about pushing back. For just a second. But I can tell in his eyes he wants this. But I do the thing that I know pisses him off even more. I just turn and walk away.
I keep looking for Ainsley, and I finally spot her toward a side exit that the guys use from time to time to avoid the crowds. I start making my way toward her, when I notice she’s literally being pulled out by someone.
Fucking Dipshit.
“Ainsley!” I yell, all but throwing people out of my way to get to her. Which is how I don’t notice that I nearly walk over Katie.
“Oh, Linc! Funny seeing you here!”
“It’s really not,” I say, not having time for her bullshit.
“Where you going?”
“Leaving. Which doesn’t concern you.”
She’s on my heels, following me as I finally get to the exit.
“Let me guess, need to find your girlfriend?”
I don’t answer her—again, I feel like silence here is the best way to go—and I’m glad I don’t. It’s why the second we step out of the bar, I hear every word out of Ainsley’s mouth.
“You crazy fucking bitch!”
Stunned doesn’t even remotely come close to what I’m feeling as I watch my normally reserved, sometimes shy, never cursing, girlfriend, shriek words I never thought I’d hear coming from her mouth as she all but tackles Katie the second we exit the bar.
“Holy shit! Ainsley!” I go to grab her, pulling her off Katie as she starts pulling her hair. “Not saying that she probably doesn’t deserve this, but want to fill me in?”
