Page 33 of Mr. Broody

“Eloise, what is going on?” I grab her upper arms, and her body relaxes when she meets my gaze.

“Nothing. I’m good. I just… I need some air.”

“I’ll go with you.”

She shakes her head. “I’ll call you, okay? I’m sorry.”

She twists out of my hold and walks out of the changing room.

I hang up the dress and walk back into the main area of the shop to find everyone’s eyes on me. “Um…”

“It’s okay, I see it a lot. It can be nerve-racking and a lot of pressure once you start looking for your wedding gown. I’m sure she’s fine.” Kyleigh waves off my concern.

She has more experience than I do with brides, but I thought there would be tears of happiness, not Eloise practically ripping off the dress and running out of the store.

My gaze flickers to Henry standing with his hands in his pockets, waiting for me to give him an answer. I really want to accept Henry’s invitation. But my life is a mess, and Henry has his entire life mapped out and a son who doesn’t need some woman making his dad sad or giving him false hope.

I grab my coffee and whisper to Henry, “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

Then I say my goodbyes to Kyleigh, Alara, and Rowan before rushing out of the bridal shop like Eloise 2.0.

Fourteen

Henry

Three sets of eyes are laser-focused on me standing in the middle of the bridal shop as the woman I love runs away. I can’t be the only one who sees the irony here.

“Why are you still standing there?” Rowan asks.

And he’s right. I’m just letting her go. Whatever is happening here, we need to talk this out. See where we stand. Clear the air at the very least.

“I’m out for the game,” I say, jogging by them.

“No shit,” Rowan says.

Alara and Kyleigh’s laughter dies when the door shuts behind me. I stop and look right and left, spotting her down by the corner, waiting for the light to change. I weave through the heavy weekend foot traffic, but the walk sign appears, and Jade starts across the street.

Oh fuck no.

I increase my speed, dodging people and mumbling my apologies. Thank goodness for all that extra cardio I’ve been doing to build my endurance.

“Jade,” I say, reaching her on the other side of the curb.

“Henry.” She looks around.

Most people are in their own worlds, but a few guys stop and linger before catching up to their wives or girlfriends ahead of them.

“Just lunch.” I wait for her to answer, which feels like the same torture as waiting for Bodhi to eat his peas.

Her phone is in her hand. “Eloise isn’t answering me.”

For a long time, I resented Eloise. She took Jade from me. Or at least that’s how I thought about it back then, but years later, I realized that I left Jade for hockey. Eloise was always supportive of our relationship, never gave Jade shit for coming to Minnesota with me like some other people did, and I hope for these past few years that she’s been a good friend to Jade when I haven’t.

“Maybe she’s just getting nervous.”

She exhales and purses her lips. “It’s not like her. She was so happy on the way to the shop. Like, beaming, and then she put on that dress and just froze.”

I run my hand over her arm. Jade’s always been one to worry about her friends. Hell, I think she worried more than I did if I would get drafted into the professional hockey league I’m in now. “Give it an hour and call her back. In the meantime, you can eat lunch with me to kill time.”

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