Page 10 of Rebel Secrets (Devils Hockey #3)

Chapter Seven

R ebel

As Erin passed by me, my jaw locked into place against the words that wanted to push past.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

Erin and I didn’t do heartfelt conversations, but for a few seconds there, I’d almost confessed something I hadn’t even talked to Rowdy or Rain or my parents about.

I wasn’t sure I was going back to the Redtails.

And it wasn’t because I’d played like shit. I hadn’t it was just…

Damn it, this was part of why I was here tonight. To get out of my head. I spent way too much time in it lately. But the conversation in the bookstore was a lot louder than I’d been expecting. There were a lot more people here than I thought there’d be.

Silently following Erin across the room, I set the chairs next to the ones she’d brought in and when she turned her to smile at me, her gaze didn’t meet mine.

“Thanks. I’m just gonna…”

Then she turned and scurried in the opposite direction. Like she wanted to be far away from me.

Shit.

“Hey, Reb. It’s good to see you, man. The Redtails played a hell of a season. You guys should be proud.”

Bobby “Bonesaw” Brassard had come up behind me while I watched Erin walk away.

I turned to see him stop at my side with a huge smile on his broad face.

Towering over me, he grabbed my hand for a shake before he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me so tight, I swore I heard my bones creak.

He was one of the few people who wasn’t afraid to get into my personal space. His face only inches from mine, he put his hands on my shoulders and gave me a little shake.

Now thirty-three, Bobby had always said he wouldn’t quit playing hockey until he couldn’t bend over to tie his skates.

He loved the game, but the game had been hard on him.

He’d broken his nose more than a couple of times, had broken several bones in various parts of his body and had what could’ve been career-ending ligament surgery.

It’s the last one that’d put the coffin nail in his NHL career, at least publicly. Privately, it’d been the cocaine.

Bobby had been with the Devils since the moment he stepped out of rehab. My pop made contact and signed him. And he’d never left.

“Thanks. That last one was a tough series.”

“Yeah, but you got there, and you kicked ass. You made us all proud, man.”

That knot in my gut got tighter with every word, but I kept the smile on my face.

“Thanks. Appreciate it.”

“The Redtails went on a really good run. Too damn bad they didn’t make is all the way to the end,” goalie Kaden Felix added.

I was surprised to see Kaden, but the shocker was Reid Wellar. The young hothead didn’t strike me as a reader, but then some people would say the same about me. I know Erin had been surprised to see me, though she’d tried to hide it.

While the guys discussed hockey and the upcoming Stanley Cup finals, my gaze kept being drawn to Erin. The woman never seemed to stop.

After we’d brought the chairs in, she’d hightailed it over to Rain’s side, probably giving her an earful about not warning her I was coming.

Hell, I hadn’t known until about an hour ago, when Rebel had shown up at my door with a couple six packs of beer.

I’d thought we would spend a couple hours shooting the shit and drinking, but he’d told me to get the hell in the car, we were going to book club. I’d thought he was kidding at first.

Now I was wondering if he’d given me that book just for this reason. So he could drag me here.

I’d only gotten home a few days ago. Our season had ended about a week and a half ago, but I’d taken my time coming home.

It’d only taken two days to pack up, but I’d spent an extra few days with Ian, who hadn’t seemed in a hurry to leave.

He didn’t really talk about his family much, and I hadn’t been able to figure out if there was a problem there or what.

But when I’d told him to give me a call when he got home and maybe he could come spend some time with me before the season started, he’d been all for that. Which led me to believe the kid didn’t want to go home.

When I had gotten home, I’d spent the first two days putting my home on my parents’ property into shape. It was still a work in progress, unlike Rowdy’s place, which was built for a family. And now he had one.

As the guys talked around me, my attention wandered to my brother, who was standing with Tressy, Rain and Erin on the other side of the circle of chairs. I couldn’t hear their conversation, but everyone had a smile and Rowdy laughed a few times, making Tressy smack her hand on his chest.

A few seconds later, Erin left their little group and joined the three women gathered near the bookshelves.

Mitzi, the owner of the Tea Room, was holding a conversation with Brian’s sister, Lindsey, and a woman I didn’t recognize.

She looked younger than me, but I couldn’t get a good look at her.

She was turned to the side, brown hair hiding most of her face.

Erin put her arm around the woman, excitedly telling the group something that made the other woman’s head fall back with laughter and a bright blush flood her cheeks, as the other women congratulated her for some reason.

“You checking out Abby? Don’t bother, dude. She’s married. To an asshole.”

Bobby’s voice broke through the intense focus I seemed to have on Erin tonight, which was just weird.

“Not interested, just don’t recognize her.”

“She and her husband moved to town a few months ago so he could manage the Eisenbrown’s dairy farm.

He’s a distant cousin or something. The Eisenbrowns’ kids don’t want to work on the farm or are at college or some such shit.

Abby and her douchebag dick live on a house out there, but she works here at the bookstore.

Rain said they just hired her to work fulltime at the bookstore. ”

“Seems like you know a lot about her.”

I slid Bobby a glance but only for a second.

My gaze went right back to Erin. I don’t know why.

Whatever the reason, I had to stop. But now she was talking to another group of women, who looked to be more my age.

I recognized Sunny, one of the Devil’s Angels, and the others were familiar, but I couldn’t come up with their names.

Which didn’t matter. I hadn’t come to find a date. I was here because Rowdy had told me I was coming and practically dragged me out of my house.

“Not a lot.” And then under his breath, he said, “Not like I’d like to.”

Huh. Bobby had a crush on a married woman. That never ended well.

“So, what’re you planning to do this summer, anyway? Just gonna golf and kick back like the pros do?”

Erin saved me from answering by announcing that book club was about to start.

“Get a drink if you want one and take a seat and let’s talk about our book.”

I was going to kill Rowdy.

Two hours later, I stuffed a second cherry almond scone in my mouth and reconsidered murdering my brother.

I’d actually had a good time. I’d even considered adding to the conversation once or twice, though that wasn’t like me. I really hated public speaking, even among friends. And somehow Erin seemed to know that.

She’d been the perfect host. She kept the conversation moving, always having another question ready when the conversation lagged, and somehow managing not to dominate the discussion.

I’d learned a few things about the book I hadn’t known, which made me want to go back and read it again.

Everyone else here seemed to have loved it just as much as I had.

The big surprise, though, had been Reid. The guy talked like a fucking English lit teacher, about themes and journeys and character arcs. Rowdy didn’t look surprised, but Bobby and I had exchanged raised eyebrows. We’d grill the kid later. Apparently, he had hidden depths.

At the moment, everyone else was gathered in little groups again, talking. And I was hanging in a corner, letting my people battery recharge with some peace and quiet. Until a few seconds later, when the hair on my arms rose.

“Everything okay over here?”

Erin had finally made her way around the room to me.

I’d been watching her approach out of the corner of my eye, muscles tightening as she came closer.

It wasn’t like I was afraid of her. She posed absolutely no threat to me.

The top of her head was barely level with my eyes, and she didn’t look like she spent time doing reps.

That’s not to say she was overweight. She had slight curves, which I usually like on women, when I could get past the insane awkwardness I felt around most of them.

Most people thought I was just a grump with a chip on my shoulder. Very few people knew that it’d taken me a hell of a long time to come to terms with the fact that I just didn’t feel comfortable around people I didn’t know. That it took me a fucking long time to make friends who weren’t teammates.

And there was just something about Erin…

I nodded in response to her question, as she approached me with uncertainty in her eyes and her teeth in her bottom lip.

I stifled a sigh. I knew this was all my fault, this awkwardness between us, and I needed to do better.

At least until the wedding was over, and I figured out what the fuck I was going to do next season.

“Good.” She paused. “Did you have a good time? Did you like the book? You didn’t really say anything during the talk, so I wasn’t sure if you did or not.

Or if Rowdy just dragged you along. Although I can’t imagine anyone being able to make you do anything you don’t want to do. ” She blinked. “I mean?—”

“Yes, I had a good time.”

I realized at that moment that Erin rambled when she was uncomfortable. I made her uncomfortable.

Join the club.

She blinked a few times, making me notice how her eyes weren’t just green, which is what I’d always assumed because they matched the whole redhead-with-green-eyes theme. They were swirled with pale blue. Unusual. Kind of mesmerizing, actually.

“I’m glad.”

Then we stood there and stared at each other for a few seconds before I swore I could see the gears of her brain fire up due to too much silence. Her lips curved in a smile that made the tightness return to my muscles, which just pissed me off.

“Well,” she said, “I’m just gonna?—”

“I think we should probably have lunch sometime next week. Before we’re shoved into each other’s personal space for this dance at the wedding.”

Apparently, I’d struck her dumb with my brilliance. Or maybe she thought I’d been taken over by aliens, since I was the last person she’d expect to ask her to lunch. And honestly, maybe I had been.

“I’m not sure I can. Lunch is the busiest time of day for me and I’m not?—.”

“Shit, I totally forgot the bakery’s only open for breakfast and lunch.” And before I realized what I was going to say, the words were out of my mouth. “Then how about dinner?”

Her eyes widened, as if she were considering the aliens thing again. And maybe that the aliens were here to cause mass destruction.

“Dinner?”

“Yeah.” Then my brain started spinning in circles because it had caught up with my mouth and now it was trying to figure out what the hell I’d gotten it into. Dinner was a whole universe away from lunch.

Lunch was all bright light and busy people rushing around to get something to eat before heading back to work. Lunch was a finite period of time.

Dinner… Well, dinner was dark lighting and way too much time to sit and fuck up a conversation.

“Dinner would be…good. Sure. Dinner is fine. Is there a night that’s better for you?

I have another book club next week for the teens on Thursday.

Oh, and Tuesday we’re having a painting class.

We’re going to paint bricks to look like books to decorate a garden.

I’m really kind of excited about that one.

I only have a little garden, but it definitely could use some work. Oh wait, Wednesday’s out too?—”

“How about Monday? Paolo’s work for you?”

Paolo’s was the local pizzeria. Bright lights, families with kids, groups of teenagers. Lots of noise and laughter and talking. Enough distraction to keep him from stressing too much about who he was with.

“Sure. That works.”

“You want to meet there around six-thirty?”

“Sure. That—That’s good. I’ll see you there.” Then she looked over her shoulder like she was desperate for an exit. “I should get back to?—”

“Yeah, no problem. And Erin?”

“Yeah?”

“Book club was good.”