Why the fuck did I offer up my house?
You know why, asshole. You want her.
Xander drags a hand down his face, clearly trying to hide a laugh.
Meanwhile, Gio keeps looking between Penny and me, a knowing expression settling on his face.
“You two are grown adults,” he says resignedly. “I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”
No, of course I don’t fucking know what I’m doing.
But when has common sense ever stopped me from following my gut?
That’s right. Fucking never.
“I’m not going to lie,” Gio adds lightly. “I’m a little hurt about how fast you picked Miles’s house over mine and Ruin’s.”
Everyone bursts out laughing, exactly the tension reliever the room needed.
“Aww, I’m sorry, Gio,” Penny says as she delicately dabs beneath her eyes with a tissue. “But you have to admit, you and Ruin have an eternal lovefest going on, and sometimes it’s too much to watch.”
She visibly cringes after delivering that hard truth.
“You got me there,“ Gio admits, laughing under his breath.
“I can’t fault you for loving my sister, but man, keep it in the bedroom,” I say with fake disgust.
“Miles, shut up,” Xander says as he looks at Gio. “If they stay in their room, they’ll have more babies. They’re three and counting.” Xander laughs.
“I hate you all, no one will stop me from having as many kids as Ruin wants. Which just to be clear it’s none of your fucking business.” Gio twists his face, making his best attempt at a mad face. But the man doesn’t have a bad cell in his body.
“Ohhh. Gio cursed. We’re fucked,” Xander says, clutching his chest like he’s terrified. “Let’s just get out of here before the man removes his investment from the rink.” Xander jokes.
Gio sighs, pretending to be tired of dealing with Xander’s silly ass.
“Penny, go ahead and proceed with the plan. We’ll talk later.”
Gio pushes to his feet and walks over to Penny, giving her a quick hug before throwing a casual, “Bye, losers,” at Xander and me on his way out.
“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Miles, Xander,” Penny says without even looking at either of us. “His silly jokes are rubbing off on you.”
“Silly jokes? Nah, boss.” I lean back in my chair. “I'm a first-class act.”
That earns me an eye roll, which honestly feels like a victory at this point.
“Seriously, though,” Xander says, his tone turning more serious, “thank you both for all of your hard work. This place wouldn’t be possible without you.”
I nod awkwardly, never really knowing what to do when people thank me for doing my job.
“See you both at the cookie exchange, yeah?” he asks as he stands.
Then he stops in front of me and raises a fist.
We bump knuckles, but instead of pulling away, he leans closer and lowers his voice.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, man. Last time I promised myself I was going to focus on my career and nothing else, I met a redhead who completely wrecked my plans.” He smirks. “Next thing I knew, I’d moved to a small town for her and left professional hockey behind.”
I swallow hard.
