Page 71 of Ask Your Mom If I'm Real

“He is,” I confirmed. “There’s a reason I consider him my best friend. Odd or not, he always has my back. On and off the ice.”

“Speaking of ice,” she said. “Did you hear that it’s going to snow this week?”

“I did,” I said. “They said we might have a white Christmas.”

“I hope so,” she said. “Even better if that white Christmas happens before Christmas Eve, so I can spend some time at home and not making candy.”

“Sounds to me like you already have your answer on whether you want to do this for the rest of your life,” I pointed out. “Why not try to make it as profitable as possible, then sell it?”

“My dad would kill me if I did that,” she said. “He loves that place.”

But the way she said it almost made her sound…scared. Like she was terrified to find out what he’d do if she did that.

“Doesn’t mean that he can’t accept that you don’t want to,” I pointed out, studying her carefully.

She shrugged, her eyes darting to mine before they slid away.

What was she hiding?

Her phone pinged, and she glanced down at it, wincing slightly.

“Shit,” she said. “I have to go.”

My brows pinched together at the momentary flash of fear on her face.

“Oh, I brought you, though.” Gisela started to quickly lick her fingers clean. “Eliska, are you done?”

The urgency in Gisela’s voice had me tensing even more.

What had happened to make both women freak out the way they were doing?

“I’ll take you home,” I offered.

Merriam offered me a weary smile, and I knew her answer before she gave it. “That’s nice, but no thank you.”

I stilled my body, forcing myself not to reach for her.

“Can I have your number?” I asked quietly, hoping it would only reach her ears only.

She pushed back her chair and offered me a sad smile. “If I were in a place right now that would allow dating you, Kermit, I’d take it.” She looked at her phone when it pinged again. “But unfortunately, I’m not.”

The two women left, throwing enough money onto the table to cover more than their fair share.

The moment they were gone, I looked at the rest of the table and said, “Did y’all get a bad feeling like I did?”

“Sure did.”

“Yep.”

“Yes.”

Fuck.

Chapter

Six

I think he’s old enough to be changed to Ryan Goose now…

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