Page 169 of Rebound
We’re almost donewith dinner, and the conversation’s been flowing easily so far, mostly focused on hockey and our upcoming games. We’re currently the number one team in the conference, with the Falcons right behind us, and it fills me with a sickening amount of joy to be winning against Josh.
“Dude.” Someone kicks my legs under the table, and I look up to see the guys staring at me expectantly.
“What the fuck?” Reese says, his voice tinged with a bit of hurt. “I’m being entertaining and you’re not paying attention.”
“Sorry, I was thinking about Lavinia.”
“We get it, you’re in love with your wife, almost obsessively,” Holden says, “and you can’t possibly think about anything else. I’m offended that Drew wouldn’t even let us talk about Lavinia in a dating capacity and now he seems okay with it all.”
“It’s not like I had a choice in the matter,” Drew replies. “And I did punch him. What more can I do?”
I’m pretty sure Holden replies, but I can’t move past what he said.
You’re in love with your wife.
I guess I’m really that obvious. Since I’m not planning on letting her go, the onus is on me to change myself. At the very least, I want to be enough for her to stay.
“I’m sorry.” The words are out of my mouth before I realize what I’m saying. Conversation stops, and all the guys turn, waiting for me to continue. Their curiosity burns.
Picking up my glass, I take a sip of my water to stall.
“I’ve obviously made a lot of mistakes but most of it was in the heat of the game. I don’t have any personal animosity towards any of you, and I didn’t plan to physically hurt any of you or be an asshole in general.” I take a breath and swallow. Might as well go all the way now.
“I’m not good with people, okay? My first instinct is distrust, followed immediately by the need to push everyone away.”
Silence follows my confession and that’s fine because I’m not expecting them to say anything. I’m not even expecting their forgiveness. My eyes meet Drew’s for a fleeting second and he nods once.
“Damn it, Kai,” Holden sighs. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls something out and slaps his hand on the table in front of Kai. When he removes it, I see it’s a stack of hundred-dollar bills.
“Care to explain?” Ford asks.
Holden meets my gaze. “Kai has the tendency to see the good in people and he bet me that you’re not really an asshole. For the record, I do like my new nose.”
I wince, remembering the game two years ago when I’d elbowed him in the face. Ford smacks him on the back of the head lightly. “You didn’t need plastic surgery, idiot. Don’t make him feel worse.”
“You’re obviously forgiven,” Kai says. “We don’t hold grudges.”
“Speak for yourself,” Drew says. “I still haven’t forgiven him for the time he stole whiskey from my dad’s liquor cabinet and got caught with my sister in the pool house.”
“Dude, we were sixteen. It’s not like anything happened between me and Lavinia. We were talking.”
Never mind that I asked her to run away with me.
“In a bedroom,” Drew counters.
“Our clothes were on, and we were ten feet apart.”
“I’m ending this before it devolves into an argument,” Ford says.
“I was winning, for the record,” I mumble. Something hits my chest, and I look down to see Ford’s napkin. I pick it up and throw it back, laughing when it hits him in the face.
“Real mature,” Drew grumbles. “At least we’ve finished our food so it’s not a food fight. Again.”
“Do not start a food fight in my apartment,” I say. The hours of cleaning that will require will drive me crazy because I’m not going to leave it all for my cleaner like an absolute asshole.
We carry our dishes to the sink, and I start washing them while Kai dries and Holden and Ford put them away after I tell them where they go. Drew and Reese are cleaning the table and putting away the leftovers when Reese speaks up.
“I have a question. What the hell is a why choose romance?”
