Page 28 of Rainbow Kisses

“About that. You know I didn’t expect you to give me your spot on the team.”

Rowdy and Tressy exchanged a look that made my brain churn.

“Actually,” Rowdy looked back at me, “there’s some stuff going on behind the scenes that made this a good time for me to take some time off.”

“Can you tell me?”

He exchanged another look with Tressy, her smile encouraging him to continue. “We’re not broadcasting this, but I know you can keep your mouth shut. Only Dad, Mom, Rain, me, and Tressy know about this, but… We got an offer from the ECHL to join the league.”

My mouth dropped open in surprise. That had not been anything I’d even thought about.

“Holy shit, Rowdy, that’s…great?”

From his expression, I could tell he was torn. Rowdy couldn’t hide what he was thinking for shit. And honestly, I didn’t know what to think. The ECHL was a different level of play. More rules. More teams. More logistics. More headaches.

“We’re not sure we’re going to do it yet. Rain and I need to talk about it more. Rebel made it clear he’s leaving management of the Devils up to us, so we’re kicking it around. Right now, I’m stuck between ‘Hey, we made it’ and ‘No fucking way.’”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate.”

“Understatement, man. Total understatement. And Rain’s coming at this with a totally different perspective, which is great, but I need to bounce shit off another player, so you’ve been nominated.”

“Gee, thanks. I think.” I huffed, shaking my head. “You know I’m here for you, whatever you need.”

“I know, man. And I appreciate the hell out of that. I know you’re still getting settled, but we’d love for you and Maddy to come for dinner tomorrow at our place. Not gonna lie, I wannapick your brain.” He exchanged a quick look with Tressy, whose mouth curved into a smile. “We’ll invite Rain too.”

I blinked, my heart beating a little faster at the mention of her name.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Christ, I sounded like an idiot. “That sounds great. Thanks.”

Rowdy’s expression split in a shit-eating grin, which I chose to ignore.

“Then we’ll see you tomorrow around six. Hey, Krista, we gotta go.”

I looked over to see Krista pout, but it was the look on Maddy’s face that made me want to smile. She looked happy, smiling down at Krista and taking her hand when the other girl reached out to pull her along with her.

Dinner tomorrow night would be good for her. Good for her to be around other people.

And being with Rain wouldn’t hurt my mood either.

EIGHT

Rain

Blinking,I thought about my words carefully before I gave Erin a response.

“Are you nuts? I mean, seriously. Because that’s crazy.”

Erin rolled her eyes and huffed out a sigh before flopping into the chair opposite mine in her café.

“So you think it’s stupid?”

“No, that’s not what I said. I said it’s crazy. Not stupid. I actually think it’s brilliant, but I also think you’re nuts for wanting to add this to your plate. Don’t you have enough to do? Seriously, you need to get laid.”

Erin waved that thought away like it was a bad smell. “I don’t have time to get laid. Besides, all the good guys around here are taken or they’re hockey players.”

And Erin wouldn’t be caught dead dating a hockey player. Although, unlike me, she’d never actually dated one. I hadn’t learned my lesson, apparently, since all I could think about was?—

“And you’ve got dibs on the only one I’d even consider dating.”

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