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“I’m not.” I pull on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt from my dresser.
“You don’t seem fine.” She leans her shoulder on the doorframe of my bedroom.
“Go shower so you’re not late to meet Alara.” I hurry up and get dressed.
She watches me until I give her one more kiss on the cheek and walk out the door. Once I’m finally away from her, I let go of the breath I was holding, wondering if she was right the first night I met her—maybe she will be the one to break my heart.
Twenty
Rowan
I jog down the steps,out of the security gate, and into Peeper’s Alley. Conor isn’t anywhere that I can see, so I stop at the bar to ask Ruby where he’s at.
“Back room,” she says before I have a chance to even open my mouth. “Where’s my girl?”
“She didn’t want to come,” I say and turn toward the back room, not interested in getting any shit from her. I asked Leigh, she didn’t want to come. End of story.
Conor sits alone at the big, round table in the room that’s always reserved for us and has a television to watch the games. Ruby set this up for the Grizzlies years ago, and us Falcons have taken it over as our own to get away from any fans, a.k.a. puck bunnies, who might come in looking for us.
“Pinkie,” I say, patting him on the shoulder when I approach.
He turns with his beer in his hand, then he slides out of his chair and shakes my hand, pulling me in for a hug. “It’s been too long.”
Though we haven’t been close in recent years, I can tell he’s still the same guy who was my closest friend in college. The cocky dark-haired guy all the girls loved. He’d show up anywhere from class to a party and be surrounded. Sure, a lot of us would, but Conor had this way with the ladies that made him seem older, more confident. The girls just swooned over the guy. He still has the calm “take life as it comes” demeanor about him.
I sit down in the chair, and Ruby brings me my drink, setting it in front of me. “If you would’ve stayed for a second, I wouldn’t have had to walk all the way over here.” She puts her hand on Conor’s shoulder. “Need another one, sweetie?”
What the hell?
“I’m good with this one for now. Thanks, Rubes.”
Conor’s ability to already shorten her name—which she’s not a fan of unless you know her well—just confirms my earlier thoughts. The man wins over everyone.
“Thanks, Ruby,” I say before she can leave the room.
“Uh-huh,” she says under her breath.
Okay then. I guess I’m the asshole today.
“This place is great.” He sips his beer. “I wish you had a fourth unit here. I’d move here in a heartbeat.”
I nod. I have a second bedroom, but I’m a little old for a roommate. Unfortunately, the first thing my mind goes to is how I could possibly fuck Leigh all over my condo with a roommate? “It’s a good setup.”
“Kale’s got a hookup, but it’s not ready for a couple weeks. I might buy something anyway.”
“What about your parents? Could you stay there until it’s ready?”
He shrugs and gulps down his beer. Once he rests it on the table, he stares at the television for a beat. “That’s not an option, and my sister only has a one-bedroom.”
“You have a sister who lives here too?”
He side-eyes me. “You don’t remember Ky?” He looks at the ceiling. “I guess she was pretty young when we were in college, right? Think you only met her a handful of times. But yeah, I could crash on her couch if I really had to, but I won’t fit on it. Not to mention it’s hard to bring women home to my sister’s place. Probably gonna be a hotel.”
“Where are your parents at?” I ask, assuming they’re in the suburbs somewhere.
“They’re in the city, but not around here.” He sits up straight, holding his beer mug between his hands and staring inside it. “Things are rocky.”
“Really?”
