Page 78 of The Ex Puck Bunny
Whit nods. “I know.”
I tuck my chin. “You do?”
“Sophia mentioned it.”
“Probably so I go splat.”
“She and I talked.” Whit’s mouth bunches up.
I arch my eyebrow.
“Yeah, that kind of talk. This may be a farm town, but we’re not a bunch of cackling hens. She saw you move home and thought she had to assert herself in the pecking order. That’s not how this works.”
I straighten my spine. “Well, thank you. And um, sorry for snitching on you in Mr. Gardener’s class.”
She rolls her eyes. “Someone had to keep me in line.”
“So do you think you could get away for one day?” Margo asks.
“That would be wonderful.” I glance over at my parents who have a major surprise in store after the honeymoon. “One day? I think it could be arranged.”
Deborah and a few others get in on the conversation before a gaggle of exhausted children dive-bomb the dessert table.
Grady is on it though and has Bunny in flight, distracting her from what might be her third “Bird’s Nest,” It’s a Rice Krispie treat shaped into a nest and topped with chocolate eggs.
“Can we play Buckaroo?” she asks.
“Hey, that’s my move,” Derek says.
“We can play Buckaroo tomorrow after you have a good night’s rest,” Grady says in his dad voice.
Derek snorts. “Princess Unicorn, I’ll play Buckaroo with you anytime.”
Grady, having taken on a paternal role, says, “Is that how it’s going to be? You do realize you’re about to have a kid and Uncle Grady will play this game too if only to torment you.”
Derek winces. “Fair enough. Next time you visit, we’ll play Buckaroo,” he tells Bunny.
After we say goodbye to everyone, she falls asleep the instant her exhausted little body drops into the car seat.
Grady rubs his eyes. I’ll admit that I like when he gets tired, takes out his contacts, and puts on his glasses. There’s just something about a huge tough guy, an enforcer, in Clark Kents. I fan my face.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he says in the otherwise quiet car.
“What’s that?”
“About how awesome I looked out there tonight.”
“You’re close . . .”
“It would destroy you if I was in full hockey gear and glasses, huh?”
He hit the nail on the head. Imagining that, with a breathy sigh, I say, “Yes, yes it would.”
“I have to say, the win tonight felt good. I came here to get my hockey career back.”
“Mission accomplished.”
At the traffic light, he turns to me and adds, “But I got so much more. You, Bunny, a family, a home. You distracted me in the best of ways.”
