He dusted his fingernails on his sweater, smug and not seeming sorry about it. “If you’re going to be public about your affair, you have to handle scrutiny from the masses.”
“First of all, it’s not an affair.”
Damon leaned closer. “It totally is.”
She shoved him back with her elbow.
“Oomph.”
“Second of all, the masses? My parents aren’t the masses.”
“No, but we are,” Steve growled.
Suddenly, her brothers surrounded her, Damon, and Jeff while the rest of the group sat at their collection of tables, watching with amusement.
“This is better than the game,” Sabrina said.
Marlie frowned. Wasn’t that chick on the other team? “Don’t you people have anything better to do?” she asked, using her teacher voice.
“Nope.” Tad, one of the teams’ defensemen, sat back and drank, his gaze on her. “So you’re doing the demon then?”
“Yep,” Damon said.
“No.” She glared at Damon. “Not doing. Dating.”
“We’re not dating?” He sounded hurt.
“Yes, we’re dating. We’re not doing each other. This isn’t a porno.”
“Too bad.” Tad sighed and turned to his buddies. “She’s dating him.”
“Ah, hell.”
“What’s that about?” she asked Steve, nearest her.
“I think Lee wanted to ask you out,” Ed answered for him. “But it’s probably for the best. Steve or Will would have given him a hard time. Now he can pretend he’s scared of Damon and escape our wrath.”
“Pretend?” Damon asked with a dark laugh. He cracked his knuckles. “The mean chick is mine. Back off,” he growled at the team.
Who gave back a collective hoot, cheers, and laughter.
“Nice one, coach.”
“Good catch.”
“Good luck.”
Her brothers dragged Damon, who kept pumping his fist in the air as if he’d won another victory, away.
Jeff laughed. “He’s a clown. I like him.”
Lee held up a pitcher. “Yo, Marlie. Grab a glass.”
She sat with the team and had fun talking to people she hadn’t seen in a while, all of them busy living their lives. She’d gone to school with a lot of the people at the table. Though none of them had brought children to the party, she knew several of them had family at home.
She glanced back at her brothers talking to Damon by the bar, all of them intense about something but not angry. At least her family wasn’t trying to break him down. Not like they’d been with Ben, Trevor, and the guys before that.
Did that mean they liked Damon? Did they just want to keep him around until hockey season ended? Or did they like the idea of him with Marlie? Huh. What if that was the answer?
