Page 115 of Romancing the Grump
My parents appear beside the fire pit moments later, and Lucy, Audrey, and Flint follow quickly behind. Nathan holds his own, blushing the tiniest bit when Flint admits to being an Appies fan, but he doesn’t even flinch when my dad brings up left wing locks and wants to know whether it’sever something the Appies implement in their defensive strategies.
Eventually, the rest of the party moves outside too, and it becomes more about everyone hanging out than everyonemeetingmy new boyfriend.
My newoldboyfriend? My no-longer-fakeboyfriend.
After Lucy’s doctor goes home, she finds me next to the fire, snuggled up in an Appies hoodie Nathan retrieved from his car. “Nice sweatshirt,” she says.
“You know, Nathan has a lot of teammates. And some of them areverypretty.”
“As pretty as he is?”
“Hmm,” I say. “Not a single one.”
“You’re biased.”
“Yes. But for real. Nice guys. And all with amazing glutes. I’d be happy to introduce you.”
She eyes me. “You hated him that much, huh?”
I grimace. “Lucy, I think he would have put a nametag on you if you’d have let him.”
She sighs. “I know. I’m beginning to think he doesn’t ever actually look at my face.”
“I think you can do better.”
She drops her head onto my shoulder. “I think I can too.”
Across the fire pit, Nathan is talking to Flint, the firelight picking up the hints of honey-gold in his hair.
“He’s really great, Summer,” Lucy says, her voice low. “He was so sweet when he called me to ask if I would help.”
“So that’s why you said you had a good feeling about things. You already knew he was on his way.”
“I did,” she says. “And it killed me not to tell you. He called to get the gate code, and I almost caved right then. But that look on your face when you saw him—that was worth it.”
I look up and catch Nathan’s gaze across the fire, and he smiles, sending a wave of peace and contentedness washing over me.
Later, after everyone else has gone home and Flint and Audrey have gone to bed, Nathan and I sit alone in the quiet living room. He’s leaned back on the couch, and I’m curled into his side, my head resting on his chest while his hand runs up and down my back.
“Do you ever get weirded out by the fact that you’re staying in Flint Hawthorne’s house?” he asks.
“No more than I get weirded out about being Nathan Sanders’s girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend, huh?”
I lift my head and smile up at him. “A real one this time. I picked the title myself. Do you like it?”
He smirks. “I like it. But I’m not even a tenth as famous as Flint Hawthorne.”
“Depends on who you ask. In some circles, you’re more famous.”
“In zero circles, Summer. He’s Flint Hawthorne.”
I lift my shoulder in a playful shrug. “Meh. He’s not that special. You’ve got at least three inches on the guy. And you beat people up for a living, while he only pretends to.”
“Are you saying you’d take a hockey player over a movie star?”
“I’m saying I’d takeyouover anyone. And that doesn’t have anything to do with hockey. Though,” I say, lifting my hand and sliding it under his shirt, which he untucked once everyone left. I brush my fingers over the ridges of his abdominal muscles. “I don’t mindthispart of hockey.”
