Page 30 of Rainbow Kisses

I didn’t need to. I knew exactly what I saw every morning. The bags under my eyes from restless sleep. Because I couldn’t’ stop thinking about a certain hockey player. “I’m perfectly fine being by myself right now.”

Erin’s brows rose. “Uh-huh. You should try saying that a few more times. Maybe you’ll believe it then.”

“Rainy!Can you shoot me those sweater designs for the games in March? Dad said I need to get them approved by the other teams before we send them to be made.”

Closing my eyes, I took a breath and reached for calm, because this was the third time Rowdy had yelled from his office next door. I wanted to go next door and smack him on the head with the desk phone that he could use instead of yelling, then walk out again and not answer his goddamn question.

And since I refused to dignify his yelling with my own, when we had a perfectly working intercom system, I ignored him.

“Rain, you over there?”

I pulled up the file for the sweater designs then opened the program I used to create our social media posts and got to work on next week’s posts. And waited.

“Rain? You know I can hear you typing.”

I clenched my teeth together and flexed my fingers over the keyboard before I started to type again.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I barely heard Rowdy grumble, before he yelled, “Fine!”

I didn’t bother to hide my grin when Rowdy walked into my office. I waited for him, leaning back in my chair, arms crossed over my chest.

“Yes, I know there’s an intercom,” he groused. “Don’t start on me. Can you please send me the designs? Pretty please. Oh, and come to dinner tonight. I totally forgot to say something earlier.”

“I sent the file as soon as I heard you get up to walk over here. And why are you inviting me to dinner? You never invite me to dinner.”

He gave me a confused look. “Bullshit. You’re just always too busy to come.”

I had to give him that. “Okay, thanks, but why the sudden invite?”

“Brian and Maddy are coming. I told him about the ECHL thing, and I wanna pick his brain. I figured you’d want to be there too.”

“You told him?”

“Yeah. He won’t say anything. You know that. I want another player’s perspective. You and I, we’re too close to it. Be good to have an outsider’s viewpoint.”

Since I couldn’t fault him for his logic, I gave him grudging props.

“Damn, look at you being all business-minded and shit.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, which I had to say was a pretty damn good impression of our dad. “And look at you being a brat. Like always. Just come to dinner.”

Since I didn’t have plans, and my brother was a really good cook, damn him, I sighed dramatically and gave in. “Since you asked so nice…”

I thought he’d leave then, but he surprised me by falling into the chair in front of me. I looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to spit out what he wanted to say.

“So, I need to go to Harrisburg, and I was hoping you’d go with me.”

“What? Why?” My brain still stuck in hockey mode, I didn’t realize the weird way he was looking at me meant— “Oh. Oh! Rowdy, are you gonna?—”

“Don’t say it.” He spoke in a low whisper. “I haven’t told anyone else. But yeah, I am. And I want you to go with me to help pick out a, ah, well, you know.”

My brother looked so adorably out of his depth that I couldn’t help but squeal, just a little. I jumped up out of my chair and ran around my desk to wrap him in a big hug. Then I gave him a smack on the back of the head just because.

“Finally,” I said. “I was beginning to think you were going to let this drag on too long. When do you wanna go?”

Rowdy’s grin stretched from ear to ear when I pulled back to sit on the edge of my desk.

“I was thinking the first week in January. She and Krista are going to spend New Year’s Eve in New York and stay for a few days to see her coworkers and her former neighbor. They’ll be back late Wednesday night, so we could leave early Wednesday and be in Harrisburg by eleven. I’ll even treat you to lunch. If you’re busy?—”

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