Page 15 of Rowdy Hearts

Her wry smile fired heat in my gut. “I obviously couldn’t do it, so…”

Her gaze dropped and mine followed. I’d never considered bare feet sexy before, but her toes, nails polished with blackpaint, made me think about having her rub them against the back of my bare legs while I?—

My gaze snapped back up, finding a point over her shoulder to look at.

“Yeah, anyway, I think the rim’s bent so you’re gonna need to see Donny. He’s the local mechanic. I should probably get going. Season starts tomorrow.”

Even though she looked exhausted, I still saw interest in her eyes.

“You’re a hockey player, right? Your mom told me you have a game.”

“Yeah.” And then because I couldn’t help myself, I said, “You should come to the game tomorrow night. I’m not sure Donny’s going to be able to fix your tire right away so you could be stuck here for a few days. You should come.”

She didn’t say no right away, and my pulse kicked up.

“I guarantee you’ll have an amazing time.”

“Guarantee, huh?”

Her smile spread, and I had to lock my jaw so my mouth didn’t hang open.

Gorgeous. So fucking pretty.

“Absolutely.”

We stood there staring at each other for several seconds until she blinked, and her slight smile disappeared in a flash. I felt like I’d been robbed.

“I wasn’t planning on being here tomorrow.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m just so tired. I’m not thinking straight. I can’t thank you enough for everything, but?—”

“Rowdy, why don’t you say goodnight, sweetheart?” My mom’s voice knocked me back to reality. “Tressy’s about to fall asleep on her feet.”

Tressy was studying her feet at the moment, blonde hair falling around her face. And I was an asshole because she was clearly exhausted, and I didn’t want to leave.

“Yeah, of course. Goodnight, Tressy.”

She looked up but didn’t meet my gaze directly. “Goodnight, Rowdy. Thank you again for all your help.”

“No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow, Tressy.”

That was a promise.

CHAPTER FOUR

Tressy

I wokeup to absolute silence.

Which was a dead giveaway that I wasn’t at home. When you lived in a city—any city, really—the first thing you noticed when you weren’t there was the absence of sound. No bus engines, no honking horns, no sirens, no traffic sounds at all.

It was kind of freaky, actually.

Opening my eyes, I looked past the foot of the queen bed I’d slept in to the empty twin on the other side of the room. With a gasp, I sat straight up.

Where was Krista? She’d always been an early riser, but I can’t believe she didn’t wake me up when she got out of bed. I hoped she hadn’t gotten herself into any trouble. I checked the bedside table for a clock and caught sight of the note set ontop of my phone.

I hope you don’t mind I set up Krista with some breakfast and cartoons so you could sleep. We’re in the small room just off the kitchen. Join us whenever you’re ready.

Raffi

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