Page 12 of Home for the Hockey-Days (Cedar Rapids Raccoons)

CHAPTER 12

August

“ G us!” Aunt Maggie’s screech can be heard across two zip codes. “What in the world are you doing here?” She comes out from behind the counter of The Blue Line diner and makes a beeline straight for Rowan and me.

She grabs my face with both her hands. “And why the fuck has it taken you so long to come visit me?” She glances over my shoulder, clocks Rowan, and steps back with a gasp. “Who is this?” she hisses in a shit-poor stage whisper.

“Aunt Maggie, this is Rowan. Rowan, this is my Aunt Maggie.”

Maggie gives me a sharp dig in the ribs with her elbow. “I need context, August. Friend? More than a friend?”

I’m already regretting my decision to bring Rowan to my aunt’s diner for lunch, but now, the only way out is through.

Not waiting for an introduction, Rowan steps forward, arm out-stretched. “Hi, I’m Rowan. And this is our very first official date.”

It’s only been a couple of hours since breakfast in the hotel, but Rowan was so very sure we’d work together as a couple, it’s time to show her just how wrong she is.

Maggie claps her hands. “First date!” Mirth dances in her eyes. “If I’d known you were coming I’d have brought the baby pictures with me to work.”

Rowan snorts. “Now that I’d have paid to see.”

“Come on.” Maggie leads the way to my favorite booth in the back, grabbing menus as she passes the till.

When Rowan and I are settled, menus in hand, Maggie pops her hip. “Been to see your brother lately?”

My stomach clenches. I knew she’d ask, it’s even part of why I brought Rowan here, so she’d see all my skeletons up close and personal in one fell swoop. “No. Mom went a few weeks ago. She sees him weekly.”

Maggie’s face turns somber. “Poor woman. Having to go to a place like that over the holidays can’t be easy. Are you ready for Christmas? Or as ready as you can be?” The sadness in her eyes drills at the seed of guilt in my chest. I don’t miss having my brother or his shitty schemes around the house. Things at home feel less unhinged with him behind bars.

Rowan watches the exchange with silent curiosity. The look on her face tells me she’s bursting to ask what my aunt is talking about.

“Rowan, my dear. I recommend the Blue Line BLT, or the Goaltender grilled cheese, obviously with a Slapshot shake. And if you feel like a shake and dessert, the Breakaway Brownies are delicious if I do say so myself.”

She turns to me, taking the menu back out of my hands. “We both know you don’t need that, Gus. The usual?”

My stomach growls in answer.

“Hat trick and penalty box fries it is.”

Rowan’s face lights up. “Wait.” She scans the menu. “What’s that?” After a quick beat, she reads the description out loud. “Hat trick burger, triple stacked beef patties with all the trimmings. Hmmm.” She taps a fingernail off the menu. “Penalty box fries... loaded fries with cheese, bacon, and jalapenos. Sounds good on all counts, make it two please, Maggie! Oh, and I’ll have a strawberry slapshot shake since they come so highly recommended.”

Rowan beams at Maggie, who returns her grin right back. “No problem honey. I’ve got you.” Maggie takes Rowan’s menu, but before she leaves, she thwaps me on the head with both of them. “Don’t fuck it up August Nathaniel Kade. I like her.”

She can’t possibly like Rowan. She’s said less than a dozen words to her. But the threat in her tone tells me she’ll smack me with more than a couple of laminated menus if I mess things up. Except that’s exactly what this is about, isn’t it? Letting Rowan see my dark underbelly and watching her run for the hills in terror.

“Do I ignore the way your face puckered like you chewed a lemon when she mentioned your brother and pretend I didn’t see it? Or do we talk about it?”

Fuck. She doesn’t cut corners or fuck around, does she?

I shrug. “My brother’s in prison for grand theft auto.” I study her face as the information sinks in, but it doesn’t give anything away until she breaks into a huge smile.

“Oooooh. Is that what this is?” She gestures around the diner. “Bring me out to lunch at your family’s diner. Introduce me to your aunt whom you knew would bring up your criminal brother?” She snorts. “You’re going to have to try harder than that to scare me off August Nathaniel Kade. Not to mention burger joints are a guilty pleasure of mine. Granted I’ve never been here, though as a hockey fan I have no idea why not. But that’s beside the point. You can’t scare me off with diner food, or meeting your charming aunt, or talking about a brother who’s in prison.” She sits back smug. “But points for trying I suppose. ”

I don’t answer, so she leans toward me. “Were you expecting me to paint you as guilty by association? My uncle is on the sex offender list for date-raping his female secretary. He got away without a conviction because he was friends with the judge. As scandals go.” She shrugs. “Yours is pretty tame.”

I had expected her to be surprised, disgusted, judgmental, but it’s me who’s taken aback. “Th-that's awful.”

She nods. “I know. Poor woman. Am I guilty of being a criminal because he is?”

“No.”

“Well then. What were you trying to accomplish? You just wanted to eat me out for dessert this morning, feed me a burger, and send me on my way?”

She tasted sweeter than any milkshake Maggie could bring to the table. I lick my lips hoping there’s a faint taste of her on my tongue. “You tasted fucking delicious.”

Her cheeks turn pink. “Thank you. But I’m not letting you away with dismissing this. I don’t know what preconceptions you’ve made about me, August, or rather about yourself, but I feel like it’s unfair as fuck. You barely know me, I barely know you. Just because you have a felon for a brother doesn’t mean I’m automatically going to think you’re a felon too, or that you’re going to get some kind of criminal ick on me. Or whatever fucked up thoughts you’ve been stewing over in that thick skull of yours.”

Maggie appears with a milkshake in each hand. “Peanut butter for my favorite nephew, and strawberry for his beautiful future wife.”

Rowan doesn’t miss a beat. “You better wear a big hat, Maggie.” She slurps her shake. “And if you’re not careful, you’ll be on the hook for catering, too. Shakes for all the guests would be a bitch for you to put together, but they’re delicious as fuck.”

Maggie grins. “I like her. ”

I nod. “I know, you said.”

“And I’ll say it again. I. Like. Her.” She winks at Rowan who takes another drink. “If he fucks this up, you come find me, I’ll beat him with my shoe.” She fucking would and all.

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 I really care. Unless of course he hurt her or did something that might need for me to rearrange his face on the ice some time, 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 still have money, right? Daddy dearest didn’t gamble it all away at the track?”

A growl catches in the back of my throat. I’d never use another 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 at both of 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.”

“The fuck I do.”

My cheeks flex from the pressure of grinding my teeth. I swear, if he starts on Aunt Maggie, I’ll?—

“Why don’t you scoot back into the kitchen and make my lunch like a good little server?” He dismisses Maggie with a flick of his wrist. “This isn’t your usual type of place to eat, Row-Boat.”

If he calls her that one more fucking time I’m going to break his nose. She flinches every time he does. It’s clearly not a nickname she remembers with affection.

“You could do with laying off the burgers though, no? Getting a bit squishy around the middle.” When he leans forward like he’s going to poke her stomach, I grab his finger, bending it back to the point where his breathing quickens, and he hisses through his teeth.

“Struck a nerve did I, Gus Gus? It’s okay.” He turns his attention back to Rowan. “He likes the fat ones. ”

I’m on my feet, and before he takes his next breath, my fist connects with his face with a satisfying crunch. As blood drips onto the table, I cuff my hand around his bicep and squeeze until he winces. “You’re leaving. And you’re never going to come back here again. You hear me, JW?” He must notice the shaking in my muscles and how much self-restraint it’s taking not to drag his ass back into the kitchen and put his face on a hot plate.

“You broke my fucking nose.”

“And if I ever see or hear of you talking to my girl again, I’m going to do more than just break your nose.”

Johnny grabs a stack of napkins and presses them against his bleeding face. “I’ll get you back for this, asshole. He’s a worthless piece of shit, Row. He’s not good enough for you.”

As he strides out of the diner, I can’t help but replay the conversation in my head as I stare at his back. No matter what he said about Rowan, he’s right about me, I’m definitely not good enough for her.