Page 13
CHAPTER 13
Tempe
G lancing around at the bar Farren chose, I have to admit… it’s not a place I’d think of going to watch a hockey game. The dark-paneled room has a real singles feel with its crystal highball glasses and fancy twenty-dollar craft cocktails. Urbanites who took advantage of the happy hour specials after work now laugh a little louder from their buzzes and men prowl around the single women sipping martinis and flirting over the edge of their glasses.
Farren and I seem out of place, sitting at a high-top table near the sole TV, which has the hockey game on only because Farren requested it.
“Got to say… this place isn’t exactly giving off Titans fan vibes,” I muse as I take a sip of my beer, a local IPA.
Farren’s gaze, previously focused on two men at the end of the bar, comes to me. “I like trying new places and since I’m scouting potential jobs, thought I’d see how they run this establishment before I apply.”
“Oh,” I say with a quick blink. “That makes sense.”
Farren looks back to the men who are now openly staring at both of us, only sparing them the barest of glances before she gives me a smirk. “This crowd is full of big tippers. This place has potential.”
I have to laugh because I didn’t think tonight would be a reconnaissance mission for a potential bartending job, but I’m happy all the same that she reached out to me to go for drinks.
Admittedly, I’ve been confused since Rafferty pulled me into the bathroom last night at Stone and Harlow’s wedding. I walked in thinking we were one thing and came out thinking it was something different.
Actually, that’s not quite true. I probably knew things had shifted—at least for me—when I saw Tansy walking our way and pulled Rafferty in for a kiss. My motive wasn’t in trying to convince her we were a couple—it was because I wanted to kiss him and I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity handed to me on a platter. Not when I have given in to the fact that I’m not only physically attracted to Rafferty but I really like him as a person.
But then things got confusing because we didn’t talk about what happened. Not that a conversation about him performing oral sex on me in a bathroom would be considered ordinary but the fact he did something so intimate, and clearly took immense pleasure from it himself, left me thinking we’re both on a path different to what we originally intended.
So confusing that we didn’t talk about it.
In fact, Rafferty went right back to acting like we were a fake couple pretending to be a real couple. I got a hug and a kiss on the cheek when he dropped me off, and absolutely no plans to see each other again. It made for a very restless night with little sleep.
Of course, things changed a bit this morning. Rafferty texted after he landed in Florida and asked me over for dinner tomorrow night, and within that invitation was the clear anticipation that we were going to end up in bed. It gives me hope that Rafferty is in this for something more than a fling, yet who can blame me for such a worry. It’s why he’s in this predicament to begin with. He had a one-night stand with Tansy and then wanted to move on.
That still could be the case with us as far as I know, which leads me to why I’m sitting here with Farren right now. When she texted me around midday to get together, I saw it as an opportunity to learn more about Rafferty so I could figure out where his head might be. It’s also the perfect distraction from the swirl of emotions her brother left me with.
Our table offers a clear view of the game on the large screen above the bar. In looking around, I don’t see anyone else watching other than me and Farren, and I’m guessing that TV is normally tuned into something like the news. A channel that would have a stock market ticker across the bottom, which aligns with us being in the heart of the city’s bank district.
“Go, brother, go,” Farren murmurs with a hum of excitement and I focus on the action.
Rafferty zips across the ice, and I point him out with a mix of pride and nerves. “There he goes—look at that defense!”
Farren’s eyes are alight with the same pride I’m feeling. “That’s my brother—so good at what he does.”
We watch as Rafferty’s line foils a scoring attempt, both of us letting out a rousing cheer that turns heads, and the action moves back down to the other end after a line change.
It’s Farren who speaks first and I’m shocked by the question.
“Do you have feelings for my brother?”
I turn on my stool to look at her. It’s a good question, one I’m not exactly able to answer with clarity, but I do have an inkling. “Yes, I do. It wasn’t planned and honestly, I had not considered this would happen. But… I’m not sure how your brother feels.”
“I can’t help you there. I mean, if I knew, I’d share it with you because I like you a lot and I want Rafferty to be with someone who makes him happy. I think that could be you. Unfortunately, I haven’t had any time to talk to him since I got here. But now that I know you have feelings, I’m totally going to interfere.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Oh God… no. Don’t interfere. I can figure it out on my own. He asked me to dinner tomorrow night at his place and—” I stop, a thought dawning on me because, in addition to food, it’s clear sex is on the agenda. “To which I’m sure you’re invited, of course.”
Farren snickers. “If I’m there, you two can’t get wild and crazy with each other. I’ll make myself scarce.”
“No!” I exclaim. “We can’t run you out of your own home.”
She holds up her hand, giving me a quelling look. “I’ve got friends in the area. I’ll go stay with them.”
I’m immediately suspicious. “What friends?”
“Friends,” she says with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “But back to my brother… so you have feelings for him, he probably has feelings for you since he invited you to dinner at his place and that has nothing to do with Tansy, which, by the way… where does that stand?”
I shrug. “At the wedding reception, she still seemed skeptical, but your brother appears to not care anymore. I think his plan is to tell her to mind her own fucking business if she approaches him again.”
Farren grins broadly and points at me. “That right there is proof of his feelings. He has no intention of exploiting you with continuing this scheme and he’s being protective of you. That’s his way of saying it’s not a ploy anymore.”
“You think?” I ask, head tilted.
“I’ll tell you what I think,” a deep voice intones behind me, and Farren’s looks past my shoulder. I turn to see a tall blond man in a business suit, his tie loosened, and a confident smile stretched across his face. I recognize him as one of the two men from the end of the bar who were staring at us a bit ago. He moves around me to lean an elbow on the table, looking between me and Farren. “I think you two ladies need another drink.”
“We’re good,” Farren says sweetly, nodding to our beers.
“I’m Ian,” he says, and then nods back at the bar. “My buddy Stephan is over there. What brings you two beauties out tonight?”
Farren nods to the TV. “Just watching the Titans play.”
He glances back at the game, a grin falling into place. “You girls need some help in understanding what’s going on? I can explain it to you.”
My mouth sags at his blatant offer to mansplain hockey to us and I’m almost ready to tell him off when Farren puts her chin in the palm of her hand and croons at him. “Please… I’d love to have you explain a bit of it to us.”
“Yes,” I say, keeping my tone light and curious. “Please explain it to us.”
Ian puffs out his chest and launches into a basic explanation of hockey, mentioning the puck, the icing rule—things I knew as a casual fan even before meeting Rafferty. Farren nods along, her expression a mask of feigned fascination.
Then, without missing a beat, she interjects with a stat bomb. “Did you know Rafferty Abrams leads the team in penalty minutes and is third in the league for assists by a defenseman? Also, the Titans are leading this season in power-play percentage, thanks largely to their aggressive forechecking strategy, especially in the neutral zone.”
The guy blinks, his smile shuttering, then sliding right off his face. Farren adds the kicker by pointing at the TV. “I know that stat and a million more because that’s my brother we’re watching.”
The man winces. “Rafferty Abrams is your brother?”
Farren beams a smile and points at me. “And she’s dating him. To answer your questions so there’s no ambiguity, no, we don’t want a drink, and we most certainly don’t need the game explained to us.”
Poor Ian. He mumbles something about us enjoying the game, says an awkward “Go Titans,” and then quickly retreats back to the end of the bar where he explains to his buddy why he struck out.
Farren and I burst into laughter, clinking our beers together.
“God, that felt good,” Farren says, wiping tears from her eyes. “Men can be such idiots sometimes.”
I nod, still chuckling. “You’re wickedly smart, you know that?”
“Runs in the family.” She winks. “But enough about those losers. Let’s talk about you and my brother again. You like him. Like, really like him, don’t you?”
I sigh, giving a shrug as if I’m not sure, but my words say otherwise. “Yes, I do. And I think he likes me too, but with everything going on, with Tansy and all, it’s just a lot.”
Farren nods sympathetically. “Rafferty doesn’t open up easily. If he’s showing you his real self, that’s huge. He must really trust you.”
The game continues in the background, but for a moment, it’s just white noise as we delve deeper into our conversation. Farren shares stories about their childhood, painting a picture of a brother who always stood up for her, protective but not smothering.
And accepting of what I’m learning are quirks Farren proudly embraces. “Rafferty will tell you I’m impulsive, flighty and prone to jumping feet first into trouble. But he’d lay his life down for me in the defense of one of my idiotic adventures.”
“Your family sounds so much like mine, in that you’re all super close and supportive of each other.”
“Which is something that is important to both you and Rafferty. It’s a value you both share. A match made in heaven.”
I don’t know about that, though I’m willing to poke around. But we’ve been talking about me enough. “So, tell me more about you. What exactly brought you to Pittsburgh?” I ask, shifting the focus from my tangled emotions.
She shrugs. “Got bored with my job. My boyfriend was an asshole. It was time for a change.”
“What are your plans? Will you stay here for a while?”
Farren smiles, circling her finger around the lip of the bottle. “I think so. Rafferty says I have to get a job and pay him rent, and well…” She waves her hand at the bar where the urbanites are paying for fancy drinks. “I could make good tips in a place like this. It’ll do.”
I find it odd that Farren isn’t the ambitious type. I know she’s brilliant as Rafferty was bragging about her at the reception last night, calling her a genius, and I don’t think he was being tongue in cheek. But this isn’t something I want to press her on. I don’t want her to think I don’t respect her.
She cranes her neck, checks out the two men at the end of the bar. They’re no longer staring at us but looking a few tables over at some women. She sighs, lifts her bottle to her lips. “Why are men so complicated?”
I think about Rafferty, and putting the issues of Tansy aside, he’s one of the least complicated men I know. “We still talking about your ex-boyfriend, the asshole?” I ask.
Farren looks over at me. “I’m talking about all men. Except my brother, of course, who is the best person ever. But I’ve always been unlucky in love, so I think I’m just going to try something else.”
“Like what?”
“I think I need to play the field. Quit looking for forever and be happy with just right now.”
I lift my beer and salute her. “There’s great merit in being that way as a woman. There’s always been a double standard that men can play the field but women can’t. So, I say go sow your wild oats.”
“Really?” She cocks an eyebrow in skepticism.
“Really,” I assure her. “Why shouldn’t you be able to do that?”
Farren considers it and then grins. “I am rather reckless and impulsive. It wouldn’t be that much of a leap to, say”—she looks over at those men—“hook up with that blond dude. He’s quite good-looking.”
I wrinkle my nose. “He’s very handsome, but ugh… the mansplaining.”
Snickering, Farren bobs her head. “Yeah… that would drive me nuts. Maybe I’ll just burn through the single Titans.”
I had been taking a swallow of my beer and it ends up shooting out my nostrils I laugh so hard. I grab napkins and wipe my nose and table as Farren doubles over with laughter.
“Are you serious?” I gasp, still feeling the fizz in my nasal cavity.
“Maybe,” she says slyly. “I mean… that’s a whole lot of muscles for the taking.”
“Your brother would flip,” I say in warning, but I’m still chuckling.
Farren sobers, pursing her lips. “He’d totally be the type who would put them off-limits to me.”
“Yes, he is that type,” I say assuredly.
“But,” she says with an evil glint in her eyes, “what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Stop it,” I say, giving her a dismissive wave. “You’re just asking for trouble.”
“Yeah,” she says glumly, drumming her fingers on the table. “Probably not a good idea. Like, if you weren’t dating Rafferty—”
“But am I? Am I really dating him?” I interject.
“I say you are,” she says, holding a palm out to me to keep quiet. “But if you weren’t dating him, what would your dream guy look like? I’m not talking just looks but what things do you want in a man?”
I have to think about that for a bit because it’s not a question I’ve ever put too much thought into before. Only after I list a handful of qualifications do I realize I’m describing Rafferty. I’m not sure if Farren picks up on that, but if she does, she keeps it to herself.
We dive down the rabbit hole of men, keeping our eyes on the game and breaking our conversation when something exciting happens. Our chat meanders from the men back to us, to what it means to find a place where we fit, whether in someone’s life or in a new city. As the game winds down and the Titans secure a win, I feel a kinship with Farren that goes beyond our connection through Rafferty. She’s a friend, someone who just gets it, and I look forward to strengthening that bond as well.