Page 15 of Break Away
“It absolutely doesn’t.”
“It counts in my heart.”
“Your heart needs boundaries.”
Before Bliss could weaponize her face at me again, the front door opened and a gust of night air pushed through thebar, carrying the sharp bite of early fall and the sound of Charm’s laugh.
Bliss and I both turned.
Charm came in wearing cream trousers, a cropped burnt-orange sweater, and the kind of effortless polish that made The Sin Bin look like it had been caught underdressed. Her strawberry-blonde hair fell over one shoulder in loose waves, and a notebook was tucked against her chest like she had walked out of a study session instead of into a sports bar loud enough to make sports illegal.
Ryan followed half a step behind her, one hand in the pocket of his dark jeans and the other carrying two books and a laptop like he had been assigned professor to our resident princess instead of being the semi-pro hockey king he was. His tattoos disappeared beneath the sleeves of his black thermal, his dark hair was pushed back, and his expression was unreadable unless you knew where to look.
I knew where to look.
So did Bliss.
Charm said something over her shoulder, and Ryan leaned down to answer near her ear because of the noise. Charm’s smile barely changed, but we knew her better than she knew herself.
Bliss’s eyes widened.
I leaned toward her. “Are we seeing this?”
“We are definitely seeing this.”
“Tutoring,” I said, tasting the word like it had lied to my face.
“English,” Bliss said.
“Dangerous subject.”
“Very emotional.”
“Lots of themes.”
“So many metaphors.”
Charm reached the bar and glanced between us, immediately suspicious. “Why do you both look like that?”
“Like what?” Bliss asked, far too sweetly.
“Like you’ve decided to be awful before I’ve ordered fries.”
Ryan set the books on the bar beside her. “They always look conspicuous.”
I pointed at him. “Nobody asked the frozen-lake hockey cryptid.”
Ryan’s mouth curved. “Qué dramática.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Do not start speaking Spanish now. You do not need another reason for every girl in here to drool on the furniture.”
Bliss nodded. “Seriously. Tattoos, hockey, and whatever mysterious thing you’ve got going on already cause enough structural damage.”
Ryan looked at Charm. “They’re jealous.”
Charm’s mouth twitched. “They’re not entirely wrong.”
“Good to see you too, Aura,” Ryan said.
