“Och, ye scared me, yeeejit,” he said, swatting my arm. “M’not gonna lie. I didn’t want the greasy fast food, but I would’ve done it because I told ye to do what ye wanted.”
“Aw. Ye’re so sweet,” I said, doing a bad job of imitating his accent, and I laughed when he tickled my side.
“Ye’re trouble,” he grumped, but he rested his hand on my thigh, and I didn’t think he was really upset with me.
“Let’s just eat junk food at the theater. Popcorn and hot dogs and pizza,” I said, nearly bouncing in my seat. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye to see if he would go for it, then pulled the Spyder onto the road to keep driving.
Rowen growled. “This is not significantly different from a date with Vail.”
My pride was tweaked—but only a little because dates with Vail were fucking great. “Let’s try this place, then,” I said as we passed the Crab Kitchenette, a restaurant that I’d spotted more than once but never stopped at. It wasn’t exactly a fancy joint, but the lot was always packed, which made me suspect the boring log-cabin exterior was hiding some fantastic food.
“Sure.” He ran a hand lightly over my shoulder. “Leastways, I won’t feel like I let ye eat junk yet again while Cillian is out of town.”
“Oh, I’m getting fried food,” I said, winking at him.
He groaned.
“But I bet there’s healthy stuff, too. I’ll let you pick something out for me, okay?” I smiled at him as I parked the car and shut off the engine, and he perked up, nodding.
“Sounds perfect.” He leaned over and pecked a soft kiss on my lips, and I tried to chase after him, but he rested a hand on my chest and smirked. The sun sank low in the sky and lit him up in golden light that made me hold my breath. His irises glowed and I wanted to remember this forever if I could. “Later. Patience.”
“Why? Nowandlater is better.”
He only laughed and got out, so I followed him.
“You embarrassed me!”
I stopped and stared around the parking lot at the shouted words, and Rowen did the same. A man who looked like he might stack thousand-pound weights by hand for a living loomed over a much smaller guy with his back to a green truck. He was probably even slimmer than Vail and shorter than me. There was no way to hear whatever quiet words the smaller guy said, but the huge man laughed.
“I don’t care. My friends all think I’m an asshole now!” The lunkhead slapped a hand to the truck beside the smaller guy and the sound rang out and echoed.
My stomach fell and I started in the direction of the argument, only to have Rowen snag my arm and shake his head.
“It isn’t our business,” he said, but he pursed his lips and glared at the huge man, who crowded in closer to the smaller guy as he put his hands up, clearly trying to get the monster in his face to calm the fuck down.
The shouting started again, and this time I was having trouble understanding the man’s words because he was so hyped up and maybe drunk. I headed toward trouble.
Rowen groaned and walked along beside me out into the gloomy parking lot and away from the restaurant. “We don’t know them, Fallon.”
The lunkhead shoved the smaller guy, and Rowen’s shoulders went back. His hand slipped under his coat, but he didn’t have his gun with him, and he frowned.
“That one guy is little like Vail,” I huffed out.
“Ye’re smaller than me.” Rowen nudged me with his elbow.
I shrugged and sniffed.
Rowen laughed. “He might not need our help.”
“But what if he does?” I asked as we were nearly to the couple—or I’d decided they were together, anyway. Friends didn’t fight that way, all mean and personal.
Rowen stared up at the sky, shaking his head, but he didn’t try to stop me again.
“Hey, your boyfriend is pretty enough you should be nicer, don’t you think? Someone else will steal him if you don’t,” I joked, forcing my silliest smile onto my face.
Rowen sighed. “This is not what I expected from my date.”
The lunkhead swung around and pointed at me. He was handsome with a square jaw, and even the twisted scar on his wide forehead didn’t take away from it. I hadn’t expected that for some reason. “Who the fuck asked you?”
