Page 6 of The Rebound Plan

She laughs, burying her face in her hand.

I swear under my breath, and she wipes her eyes. “Oh, man. Your face right now. I’ve missed you, Rusty.”

“Same, kiddo.” I make a face and down the rest of her drink. “What’s new with you?”

“I went to culinary school. But let’s not change the subject so fast. What’s the problem with hosting what you know is probably a good idea?”

Because it’s getting harder and harder to lie to myself about what I really want. “It’s complicated.”

“Try me.”

“It’s private.”

“I’m good with secrets.”

“Buzz—”

“Do you know why my nickname is Buzz?”

I try to remember, but I’ve had a lot of whiskey and her childhood was a long time ago. “No.”

“My brothers told me to buzz off all the time, and I refused to leave them alone.”

I laugh, because the way she delivers it is funny. And then I stop, because it’s not really funny. “Oh.”

“I’m persistent,” she says.

“I got it. That’s pretty clear.”

“Is this a midlife crisis?” She tips her head to the side. “How old are you?”

I sigh. “I’m thirty-six.”

She pretends to do math on her fingers. “So…it could be. Like Camden marrying a divorce attorney.”

Yeah, that was a weird choice for his third wife. Hopefully she’s his forever person, but the odds aren’t in his favour and I bet that prenup is weighted nicely in hers. “Fuck off.”

She smiles. “Is it a nice cottage?”

Sighing, I pull out my phone and show her the photos. She whistles as she scrolls through them. “Straight out of a fancy magazine, Mr. Armstrong.”

“I’ve never bought a house before. Turns out, I can afford a pretty nice one.”

She snorts. “You think?”

“Hey, have some sympathy for those of us in the bottom six, okay? Being relatively rich but also having constant job security concerns is more stressful than you might think.”

She purses her lips together and nods, mockingly. “Tell the girl skater more about how hard your hockey career is, bro.”

Fuck. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right.” Her eyes twinkle. “All of my brothers have full no-move clauses, so I wouldn’t actually know what this stress is that you talk about.”

“You. Brat.” I swat in the air. “Fully earned your nickname.”

“Won’t it be nice to show off your place to your teammates?”

“It’s not just the guys.” I swallow thickly. “The attached ones are bringing wives and girlfriends.”

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