I pull out of Sadie’s hug and look at her. “It’s a standard clause in sports organizations. And the team is already treating me with less respect after finding out I’m Jude’s sister, so imagine how much worse it would be if they knew I was sleeping with their teammate.”
“Levi told me the guy who was hitting on me had been calling you Baby Braddock, so I dumped a drink on his head,” Sadie tells me with a bright smile.
“Vincent LaMarche?” She nods. I’m horrified but also more than a little impressed. That guy is a douche on a good day. And not the Eddie Rollins kind of creepy-but-harmless douche. Vinnie is an actual asshole. “You can’t do that, Sadie. Although I’m kind of happy you did. Don’t do it again to anyone else, okay?”
“Okay, fine. But you’re here tonight as Jude’s sister and not a Thunder employee, so I was defending my sister,” she explains. “Now back to the important stuff. What are you going to do about tall, dark and unavailable?”
“How’d he get the scar on his neck?” Winnie asks as she jumps up to sit on the counter. “It’s totally badass.”
“He had his jugular cut open by a skate blade,” I inform her and her whole face falls. “They’ve talked about it relentlessly since he joined the team. Do you watch anything Thunder-related at all?”
“Nope. Not a hockey fan.” Winnie’s face is draining of color the more she thinks about my explanation. “I didn’t know that could happen. Could that happen to Jude?”
She looks terrified.
“Yes. But the odds are slim. Please don’t worry about it.” She nods reluctantly. I turn to Sadie. “I’m going home.”
“Are you taking Eli with you?”
“No. I can’t.” I sigh, annoyed that she’s not getting it. “I’m proud of my job. I’m on the verge of a promotion. If I get it I’ll be the first person in Thunder history to go from intern to assistant communications manager in less than three years. That’s a big deal.”
“Okay,” Sadie says and lifts her hands as if to say “don’t shoot.” “As long as you’re happy.”
“I’m not, but losing my job isn’t going to make me happier,” I retort. “I just need to get out of here.”
“Okay. Do you want us to go with you?” Winnie asks.
“No. I honestly just want to go home and go to sleep,” I tell her. “Stay and keep hitting on Jude’s teammates. Make sure he sees so it drives him nuts.”
They both smile at that. Someone knocks on the door. I hug them both and open the door and we step out, letting a tall, annoyed blond girl in to pee. We make our way downstairs together, but I dig through the coats piled on the hall bench as they head toward the kitchen. I find my coat and put it on, glancing into the living room. I see everyone but Elijah. He’s nowhere to be found.
I slip out the front door. The air is cold and damp and it feels like it’s the slap in the face I need right now, so I decide not to call a Lyft and walk at least a little bit of the way. I get to the corner and feel a hand wrap around my upper arm. My adrenaline surges and I turn, free arm up, heel of my hand poised to go into the attacker’s throat. But he grabs that one too. “It’s me!”
I blink and stare up into Eli’s perfect face. “Crap. Say something next time!”
He smiles, but it’s sad. “Sorry. I just saw you leaving and…”
He looks back down the street toward Duncan and Carla’s house. He lets go of my arm, but his stare pins me in place. It’s lost and a total reflection of how I feel right now too. “Can I walk with you?”
The request is soft and raw and I can’t seem to find my voice, so I just nod and we turn left down a side street that will take us away from possible prying eyes. We walk in silence for a couple blocks, slowly meandering through the bustling Saturday night foot traffic. It feels good to just be with him. It’s probably a feeling I should fight, but I don’t want to. Finally he stops and looks down at me with an expression that I can’t read. “I’m starving. Wanna grab a bite with me?”
I glance down at my mouse costume and then let my eyes slide up his gladiator outfit. “Like go into a restaurant? Dressed like this?”
He just shrugs like it’s no big deal. As if on cue two guys pass us on the sidewalk and start to chuckle. “You guys know Halloween was a week ago, right?”
Eli looks over and flashes them a bright smile. “That’s your Halloween. In our religion it’s today. And it lasts a week. Got any candy?”
The guys both look perplexed, shake their heads and continue to walk away. Eli smiles at me and winks. I can’t help but laugh. “If anyone gives us grief in the restaurant we’ll tell them the same thing. They won’t bother to ask which religion, but if they do we’ll tell them Flying Spaghetti Monster. It’s an actual religion, believe it or not.”
“You’re nuts,” I reply, still smiling.
“Yeah, and you need a little nuts in your life,” he says and wiggles his eyebrows, which makes the comment instantly dirty. “Especially if it’s my nuts.”
“Oh my God. You never change,” I say in mock exasperation, but I have to admit to myself that I’ve smiled more in the last three minutes than I have all week.
“Eat with me. Nothing more, I promise,” he says. “Because the fact is I think we could both use each other’s company.”
I hesitate. This is just going to make my life harder. He dips his head slightly so his face is closer to mine, and then he says in a rough whisper, “Please.”
