Page 73 of Rainbow Kisses

Tressy and Krista had gone to New York City to visit her agent friends. Since the team had had a game yesterday and a game tomorrow, Rowdy had stayed home. I’m pretty sure he was cool with that. For all that Rowdy loved a good party, he was still a small-town boy. He’d been happy to have an excuse not to go.

And Brian and Maddy had gone to visit Maddy’s mom at rehab. I’d been thinking about them all day, hoping everything was okay. Hating that this was something I couldn’t help them with. It made me twitchy.

Mom had given me one of her looks in the kitchen and asked if I was okay. Of course, I said yes. And then she’d just looked at me until I’d said I needed to get something and retreated to this room. Yes, I was hiding.

Apparently so was Rowdy.

“What are you doing in here?”

“Same thing as you. Hiding.”

I made a face at him and sat on the chair opposite his.

Rowdy grinned at half the wattage of his normal smiles. “We need to figure out what we’re going to do about that offer.”

Making a noncommittal grunt that must be passed down in the family, I stared out the window at the snow-covered hills in the distance. We’d gotten a few inches the previous night and our little valley looked like a Hallmark movie. More snow was forecast for next week, and sometimes that meant low attendance at the games. It was weird that people freaked out about a few inches of snow, when we could deal with feet later in the season, if it was a bad year.

I’d decided to increase my social media posts and add another email to the regular lists. Tomorrow. I’d planned to take today off. Like, do nothing related to work at all. But I’d probably break that plan tonight when I got home because I wasn’t going to see Brian.

Which sucked. And I probably wouldn’t see him tomorrow either.

“Hey, Rainy Day.” Rowdy snapped his fingers, and I snapped back to reality. “Earth to Flower Child.”

I blinked and refocused my gaze on Rowdy, his mouth curved in a slight grin.

“What?” Ooh, that sounded kinda bitchy. “Sorry. Things on my mind.”

“I said, I think we should meet with Rebel and Rocky for lunch next week and talk about this.”

My brain immediately said no to a lunch date. I didn’t want to give up the time with Brian. But I also didn’t want to tell my brother no because he’d know something was up. Because I never said no.

“Sure.” I nodded, smiling a little for good measure. “What day?”

Rowdy didn’t respond right away, like he was thinking it over. Then he crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair.

“Whatever day you don’t want to meet up with Brian.”

Shock made my eyes widen and my mouth drop open before I could control my expression. But I’m pretty sure my cheeks had burst into flames, and the fact that I couldn’t hold his gaze laid my secret wide open.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His grin was lopsided. “Neither did I until just now.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Then you still don’t know what you’re talking about. I can do any day next week?—”

“Except for Monday through Thursday, but youcando Friday because he’ll be getting ready for the game.”

“And you still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Rowdy’s grin grew. “Get it straight, Rainy. Either you don’t know what I’m talking about, or I don’t. Either way, it’s odd that you’ve been working at home so much. And that Brian doesn’t get to the gym to work out until after you get back to work.”

I didn’t want to lie to my brother, but I would if I had to. And I wasn’t adverse to a little bodily harm either. Like my boot toe against his shin. “Pick a day, whatever day, and I’ll be there.”

“Hey, no judgment from me.” Brian held up his hands. “I think the man’s great. Hell, I’d date him if I wasn’t in love with the most amazing woman in the world. And I want you to know he hasn’t said anything to me. But if I can figure out what’s going on, Rebel’s not gonna be far behind. He’s more intuitive than he lets on, and he can be a judgmental prick.”

I saw an opening, and I took it. “Do you know why Rebel hates him?”

Rowdy gave me a look that said he knew I was deflecting. “I think hate is a strong word. Majorly pissed off is probably better. And no, Reb never told me.”

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