Page 84 of Dating Goals
“Like I said. I don’t know, really.”
“So you hide behind the bar?” Colin raises an eyebrow.
“What else am I supposed to do?” I throw the rag on the counter dramatically. “March up to his cabin and say, ‘Hey, some creepy strangers in a bathroom told me you’re in danger, so please pack your bags and flee the country’?”
“Yes,” all three men say in unison.
I open my mouth to argue, but the sound of something hitting the window makes us all turn. Griffin is standing outside, breath fogging the glass, writing something backward so we can read it from inside.
P-L-E-A-S-E
Then, below that, he repeats it in German.
B-I-T-T-E
“He is learning Swiss German well, really,” observes Lars. “It would be a shame if he went back to Canada now.”
I’ve never known a grown man could look like an abandoned puppy until now, but Griffin somehow manages it with devastating effectiveness.
His shoulders slump as he stands outside the window, his fingertips slowly sliding down the glass where he wrote “BITTE.” The falling snow catches in his hair, making him look like some sort of tragic hero in a foreign film. For a moment, our eyes connect through the frosted pane, and I feel a physical tug in my chest.
He stares through the frosted glass for one more long moment before turning away. Then he’s gone, trudging away through the snow with his hands shoved in his pockets.
“That was painful to watch,” Evan says, breaking the silence.
“Happy now?” Lars asks, gathering his cards. “You’ve successfully broken the Canadian.”
“I haven’t broken anyone,” I protest, but the words sound hollow even to me. “He’ll be fine. Hockey players are tough.”
“Not when it comes to matters of the heart,” Evan says with the confidence of someone who’s read too many romance novels. “I’ve never seen a man look so miserable.”
“Good thing you’re not interested in him,” Colin adds with a smirk.
I throw a peanut at his head. “Don’t you three have homes to go to?”
“And miss this entertainment?” Lars chuckles. “Besides, we still have half a game to finish.”
“Stöck!” Colin announces, sliding a card across the table.
“That’s not how you announceStöck,” Evan snaps. “You have to play both cards first.”
“I know the rules,” Colin grumbles. “I’m just trying to distract Anika from her broken heart.”
“My heart is perfectly intact, thank you very much,” I say. “Can we please talk about something else?”
“Like what?” Lars asks, taking a sip of his beer. “The weather? The latest internet gossip? The fact that you’re letting the best thing that’s happened to you in years walk away because some strangers in a bathroom told you to?”
“Yes!” I exclaim, pointing at him. “Exactly like that last one. Let’s not talk about that.”
Evan shakes his head. “Anika, when was the last time you were this interested in a man?”
“I’m not.”
“Never,” Lars interrupts. “The answer is never.”
“That’s it!” I snap, grabbing their half-empty beer glasses. “You’re all cut off.”
The three men exchange looks of mock horror.
