Page 30 of Romancing the Grump
Nathan shrugs. “He grew up here. But when he’s talking to his family on the phone, you can definitely hear traces of one.”
“Wow,” I say to Dumbo, ignoring the tingling sensation still tiptoeing up my neck. “And we call you Dumbo because…?”
Dumbo stands up straight and pushes his blond hair away from his face, then wiggles his ears up and down.
“Oh my gosh,” I say as I start to laugh. “A man of many talents.”
He drops back into his chair, and Tucker wraps an armaround him in a half-chokehold, half-joking bro-hug that makes me roll my eyes.
Dumbo fights him off, shoving him back into his own seat with a laugh. “You’ll tell your sister for me?” he says with a wink.
“Seriously?” I say. “You’re hopeless.”
“Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt,” a voice says from behind me, “but do you guys play for the Appies?”
Sure enough, it’s one of the women from a few tables over who has been staring through most of our meal.
The guys all look at Alec. Apparently, he functions as team captain off the ice too.
Alec sits up a little taller, his expression shifting as he smiles wide. It’s actually kind of miraculous to watch him shift into his public persona. It’s not a bad persona at all—he’s charming and charismatic. But I definitely prefer the more unguarded version of Alec.
“We sure do,” he says, his voice smooth and confident. “Are you a fan?”
“I knew it!” the woman says, her nerves making her voice tremble. “I’m a huge fan. I don’t know much about hockey, but I love your TikTok account.” She holds up her phone. “Do you think I could get a picture with all of you?”
When the guys nod, I jump out of my seat. “Here. I’ll take it for you.”
The guys crowd together around the table, and the woman crouches down so she’s in the frame next to them.
I snap a few photos, then try to return the phone, but the woman doesn’t take it. “Maybe just one more of me and Nathan?”
A few of the guys chuckle and let out a chorus ofoohsandahhsthat make the woman blush and Nathan frown, but he gets up anyway, moving in next to the woman. He keeps hishands clasped in front of him, standing like a stone statue next to her while I wrestle an unexpected flash of jealousy into submission. It shouldn’t matter—he isn’t interested inthiswoman because he isn’t interested inanywoman. But I still don’t like it.
I can at least take comfort in how miserable Nathan looks. I hesitate to even take the picture because he literally looks furious, like some kind of looming specter of doom. “Do you…want to smile, Nathan?” I ask.
“No, no, don’t smile,” the woman says. “Just look broody like you do in all the TikToks.”
I press my lips together, trying not to laugh as I watch Nathan’s jaw clench. Parkerdidwarn him this might happen, but I’d put money on how much he hates it.
Nathan doesn’t even sit down after the woman walks back to her friends. He just pulls a couple of twenties out of his wallet and tosses them onto the table. “I’m heading back to the hotel. That should cover my part of the pizza.”
“I’ll walk back with you,” I quickly say, and Nathan’s head swivels to me, his expression a combination of both surprise and displeasure.
My gut tightens, his gaze cutting right through me. “Is that…okay?”
He was the one who said he wanted to talk to me in private, so I don't know why he’s acting irritated now. Though—maybe I was wrong about how much he hated posing for the photo and he actually wants to go after the woman.
Did I just inadvertently stifle Nathan’s attempt at a casual hookup? The woman looked a little older than us, probably in her late thirties, but who am I to judge? Maybe Nathan likes older women.
The jealousy already pulsing in my gut flares bigger andbrighter, but I will it away. A crush—and one I’m beginning to suspect is completely unrequited—is not a reason to feel jealous of a total stranger.
Nathan can do what he wants. What do I care?
He quickly schools his features into something more neutral and less horrified. “Yeah. Of course you can,” he says. “No problem.”
Alec waves me away when I try to add to the cash Nathan left. “This is more than enough to cover you both,” he says, “and you hardly ate anything. Now you can owe Nathan instead of me.”
I hardly ate anything because I’m a normal-sized human who doesn’t need two dinners every night, but that’s a different conversation for a different time.
