Page 71 of Breathe Me In

“Bradley and I were talking, and we decided we were going to spend more time together. We’re still pretty close,” Sherry said loudly to her friend. Maybe Sherry would see I wasn’t a threat if I left with Hayne. I was way past the enemies-in-high-school thing.

Kennedy nudged me. “Don’t trust a word out of her mouth, Bree. The woman’s a compulsive liar.”

“And all the more reason to stay out of her way.” I raised a brow at Kennedy. “You know what, Hayne, let’s have that dinner.” The moment the words pushed off my tongue, I instantly regretted them.

“Whoop!” Hayne yelled out, and I wanted to sink into the floor as people looked our way, including Sherry and her friend. Brad skated by right on cue and squinted when he saw me next to Hayne. His face was hard to see with the glare from the lights on his half visor, but he didn’t look pleased.

Kennedy made a hand signal at Brad.

“What was that?”

“It’s just something from when we were kids.” He didn’t look at me.

“You know what I remember from when we were kids?” I raised my chin as he met my gaze. “That you two barely had to speak to communicate. Don’t start trouble where trouble doesn’t need to be. I’ve made it perfectly clear to Hayne that this dinner is only about friends. If Brad thinks otherwise, I’ll set him straight.”

“I didn’t start anything.” He leaned in. “That was all you.”

Suddenly, the whistle blew, and Sherry’s angry voice could be heard over the crowd.

“Bradley Stone, you let him go this instant!” She was on her feet and shook her finger toward the fight that had broken out on the ice. I had to muffle my laughter at her outrage. Brad had an arm around a guy’s neck as he got in a few punches. The fellow’s helmet went flying across the ice. I was a sucker for a good hockey scrap, mainly because I knew it stayed on the ice. These guys all knew the line not to cross. Even when Brad played for the school, he’d been the same way. He liked a good fight—but only during the game with the ref there.

“Interesting.” Kennedy rubbed his chin. “He hasn’t had a good fight in a while.”

“Who’s the guy?”

“Dillan Overbeck,” Hayne answered for Kennedy. “He’s a cop over in New York division. Good guy, but those two often get into it.” Kennedy snickered something, and Hayne rolled his eyes. “So, Bree.” He turned to me. “Ready to go?”

“Okay.”

He stood and offered me a hand, and I let him pull me to my feet. “Great. Trust me, you’re going to love this place. Just give me a sec. I’ll be right back.” He hurried toward the rink office.

“So, you don’t need a ride home?” Kennedy threw me a worried expression.

“I guess not, but thank you for the offer.” I gave him a hug. “Bye, Ronnie.” I waved, then followed Hayne.

“Is that her?” Sherry’s friend sneered as we reached the bottom.

“Yes, but don’t say anything,” she warned her friend as she watched me step down onto the rubber flooring. “Wait, Bree,” she called out, and I stopped. My shoulders stiffened. This can’t be good. Her smile fell as she approached me.

“I just want to make sure that you’re okay. The last time I saw you, well, you were in bad shape.”

“Well, considering I’d just been run off the road, had my head slammed into a windshield, almost drowned, and had a major concussion, I was in bad shape.”

“Yeah, that was bad.” She nodded a few times, and we both stood there in our awkwardness. “So you and Bradley have been working—”

“I have to go. Hayne is waiting for me.”

Her eyes bugged. “A date? Really? Wow, that’s great!” Her enjoyment was enough for me to turn and walk away, but I didn’t give her that, nor did I correct her. “Go have fun.” Her smile ate at my core.

I nodded, turned on my heel, and began to walk away. I saw Brad watching us from the centerline.

“Ready?” Hayne was back and held up his keys.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” As the door closed to the rink, I heard the ref blowing his whistle furiously as another fight broke out.

We stepped out into the chilly evening and got into his car. I couldn’t resist glancing back a few times to see if we were being followed. Thankfully, the restaurant wasn’t that far, and when we parked, I drew in a breath of relief.

The place was a hole-in-the-wall downtown, in an area with a lot of nightlife. I might have been only twenty-nine, but I didn’t miss those days of going out to drink and party. I had to admit I was happy to leave that all behind in New York City.