Page 12 of If You Need Me

Bert fucks off. I turn back to Marianna, who holds up a bottle of prosecco. “We don’t have champagne, but we have this.”

“Perfect. Pop that baby.”

“You don’t need to do that, Marianna. Dallas is kidding.” Willy tries to push my hand off her shoulder.

I squeeze tighter because Bert can still see us. “Isn’t she so cute? She’s just so damn cute, being all shy about how in love we are.” I hold out my free hand as I approach the bar. “You can just pass me the bottle and the glasses. I’ll do the honors. We’ll tuck ourselves into the cozy table.”

Marianna hands me the prosecco and two wineglasses. I guide Willy to the back corner and pull out a chair. She crosses her arms and glances at the bar, the stools are empty. “Bert is gone. You can stop the charade.”

I pop the cork. “Who says it’s a charade?”

Ever since I was traded to Toronto and Willy came on board, I’ve had to face my biggest fuckup, day in and day out. And I’ve fucked up a lot in my lifetime. But today is a new beginning. Today, she let me help her and didn’t tell me to eat my own dick.

She rolls her big, beautiful brown eyes. They’re the color of extra-dark maple syrup. Her lashes are thick and long, and her eyebrows are expressive and sharply contoured. And then there’s her mouth. Good God, those lips were made for kissing. Among other, less appropriate things. But definitely for kissing.

“Ugh.” She covers my face with her hand. “Stop looking at me like that. It’s weird.”

I cover her hand with mine and barely resist the urge to kiss her knuckles as I remove it. I would not put it past her to lay me out. So I hold back.

Instead, I pour two glasses of prosecco. “Went on four dates with Dr. Bert, huh?”

“Three of them were coffee. One of them was drinks.”

“I was right about the beer, wasn’t I?”

She rolls her eyes. “Close. Vodka and club soda. I’ve been trying to shake him for a couple of weeks, but he’s not great at taking a hint.” I try to hand her a glass. “What are you doing?”

“Celebrating. What does it look like?” I hold up both glasses.

She gives me another one of her looks that makes me hard.

I clink the glasses together. “To progress in our relationship.”

Gracefully, she gets up from the table. “Thanks for the save. If you rub it in my face, I’ll put you on kids’ camp check in with the aggressive parents every year for the rest of your career.” She spins, hair furling in a glorious wave, hips swaying as she heads for the door.

“Honey, what about the prosecco?”

“Enjoy the headache tomorrow.” She pushes through the door and disappears down the street.

I would chase after her if I wasn’t already half in the bag and also fairly convinced she would cause me bodily harm.

I polish off the bottle of prosecco and take an Uber home. There, I get out the good scotch and pour myself a glass. Drunkenly, I wish I could make Willy my date to our reunion. I could pose as her boyfriend. I’d prove that I’m not just the asshole prom king who lucked into being good at hockey.

While I drink my scotch, I scroll through my photos. My smile is so wide I can feel it stretching my cheeks. In most of them Willy looks stiff. But in one of them she’s smiling.

She’s so damn beautiful with those expressive eyes and that stunning smile. I hold my phone to my chest and close my eyes. Drinking a bottle of prosecco after four whiskeys and following it up with scotch definitely wasn’t my best plan.

Maybe I can convince Wills to be my date after all.

And hopefully I’ll figure out how to keep her, too.

CHAPTER 6

HEMI

Igrab my phone from my dresser as I roll out of bed and pad to my bathroom. I have five missed calls from Shilpa and one text message.

Shilps

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