The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)(57)

“Not a long time,” she argued.

“It was a pretty long time.”

“How long?”

“Two months.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s a lie.”

He laughed and held up his hands. “I swear.”

“You were coming to that coffeehouse for two months before I noticed you?”

“Yep. Broke my heart every day until you finally looked up one day and smiled at me.”

“But I noticed you before we smiled at each other.”

“Fine. How long?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. A few times.”

“Yeah, well, I hated coffee and only started going there hoping to see you again, so . . .”

Thea’s lips parted. “You did?”

“Yep.”

“How come you never told me that before?”

“Once I finally got up the nerve to talk to you, there was too much else I wanted to talk about, I guess.”

And because there were things they never talked about, like her parents. He’d tried several times, but Thea always shut down those conversations. He was dumb enough, apparently, to think that meant there was nothing worth talking about. But when he asked her if she wanted him to deal with her father, the wall went up like it always did. At least he now recognized the wall for what it was. At least he now knew that the wall needed to be knocked down.

The waitress interrupted quietly and asked if they wanted a bottle of wine. Gavin motioned for Thea to do the honors, because she was way better at that shit than he was. She quickly scanned the wine list and ordered a French-sounding chardonnay.

The waitress delivered the wine, poured two glasses, and then took their orders. Gavin moved his chair around to be closer to her and clinked his glass against hers.

Thea lifted an eyebrow. “Are we toasting?”

“Yes.”

“To what?

He considered saying something glib, like to washi tape. But he opted for something more mature and meaningful. “To our first date.”

Thea smiled into her wine, but then she glanced over his shoulder at the bar below and narrowed her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“You remember those two guys I told you about at the store?”

His spine went rigid. “What about them?”

“They’re here.”

“Where?” He followed Thea’s point down to the bar. Two men quickly turned away. One wore a cowboy hat and sunglasses, the other a Detroit Red Wings jersey. He couldn’t see faces from this far up, but he’d know that cocky stance anywhere.

Braden-Fucking-Mack in a shit-assed disguise.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN




He was going to kill him. Trying to keep his voice neutral, Gavin asked, “You’re sure it’s the same guys?”

“Yeah. But it’s probably just coincidence, right?”

Gavin threw his napkin on the table. “Stay here.”

“What?” He stood, and Thea grabbed his arm. “What are you doing? Gavin, you can’t confront them!”

“Trust me.”

The two “guys” knew they’d been busted the instant his feet hit the stairs. Gavin followed them with his eyes as they pushed through the crowded bar toward a dark hallway in the back with a neon RESTROOMS sign illuminating the floor in a pink glow.

Gavin dodged dancing couples and drunk assholes in pursuit and finally threw open the bathroom door with both hands. “I know you’re in here, Mack,” he barked.

“No one by that name in here,” came a voice from the second stall.

Gavin banged on the stainless steel door. “Out. Now.”

The door opened. Gavin backed up, fists forming against his thighs. Mack walked out, hat in hand. “Why aren’t you answering our texts?”

Gavin felt something like a growl rip through his chest. “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s all you have to say to me? What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Trying to help you.”

Gavin walked down the aisle, banging on other doors. “Who else is with you?”

A second door opened, and out walked the Russian hockey player with the bad digestive system. “Ask wife if she want to dance.”

“Seriously?” he squawked in Mack’s direction. “You dragged him along?”

“He’s right,” Mack said. “She keeps looking at the dance floor. Ask her to dance.”

“I am doing just fine on this date without your help, thank you very much. And by the way, that hat and those glasses are the worst fucking disguise I’ve ever seen. Do you really think no one recognizes you?”

“No one has yet.”

“They’re probably just too embarrassed for you. They think you’ve gone crazy. And you know what? You are crazy. Certifiable. Don’t you have a goddamn life?”

“What about my disguise?” the Russian asked, looking down at his rival Red Wings’ shirt.

“It sucks.”

“No one recognizes you, anyway,” Mack said. “You were right about that washi tape, by the way. She kissed you!”

Gavin grabbed a handful of Mack’s shirt. “I swear to God—”

A toilet flushed. Gavin felt a blood vessel burst in his brain. A short, round man walked out of the stall at the end and stopped to stare at them. Mack began to whistle and look around. Gavin clenched his jaw so tightly he heard a bone crunch.