Page 27 of He Has Santa (Boston Brawlers Hockey)
After eating only half her meal, Junie excuses herself to go to the lady’s room and although I might expect Darlene to join her, I’m surprised when Ken stands. He says, “I’ll walk with you.”
She looks more wary than surprised, manages a mild shrug of her shoulder that sayssuit yourself. Still far too polite in my opinion.
“What’s with that guy?” I say to Darlene after they leave.
She laughs. “He’s been trying to prove himself ever since his wife left him. Tries way too hard. He likes to push his weight around since he’s the school’s official physician and signs off on eligibility for participating in athletic programs. I think he needs… counseling?”
“More like a punch in the eye.” I lean past the booth to see where he went with Junie and what I see makes my eyes go hazy with outrage.
He has his hands on her shoulders and anger on his face as he spouts off. Junie is frozen and at his mercy, looking uncomfortable and glancing around like she’s worried about making a scene. I slide from the booth and throw my napkin down. Junie hates being the center of attention. It was always something she put up with rather than enjoyed about our relationship, but she did it for me. Back then. Now she shouldn’t be putting up with this this shit from Dr. Dickhead.
Striding over to where he has her cornered in full view of the dining room, I push both of them back down the short hall towards the rest rooms and around a corner for privacy. Then I turn on him, keeping my voice low, but no less menacing, I vent my outrage.
“I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, what you had to say or why you think you can put your hands on my Junie and speak to her that way, but you’re dead wrong.”
“Who the hell are you—”
“I’m the guy who’s going to make sure you pay fucking hell if you touch her or speak to her that way ever again.”
He tries to scoff, but I can see the nervous twitch, hear the shake in his forced laugh.
“You don’t have any right. She doesn’t belong to you. I’m the one who should be upset that you interrupted our—”
“What?” I step closer, lower my voice. “What did I interrupt?” There’s a beat of silence in the air. He says nothing. Junie clears her throat.
“Nothing at all,” she says. “It was about nothing.” She stares at Dr. Dick waiting for his confirmation and he finally nods. I get the idea he’d been intimidating or threatening her and my fist bunches, itching to pop him in the smug face of his as he turns back to me.
“If you don’t mind,” he says, side-stepping me. Then he walks briskly back down the hall. Joni turns to follow, but I grab her hand and hold it.
“Wait a sec. Tell me what that was all about?” She smiles.
“Don’t worry, Logan. Whatever it was, it’s nothing now.” She tugs on my hand. “Let’s not leave poor Darlene alone with Ken. She doesn’t deserve it.
When we get back, the table is tense while we wait for the server to clear away dinner for desert until Ken gets a call and needs to leave—or so he says. I can see him weighing his need to outdo me, to wait for the check and upstage me.
“Go ahead. You obviously need to leave.” I level him a look that makes it clear I’m not talking about his call, though I want to kiss whoever is on the other end of the line. “Like I said before, dinner is on me.” He nods, acknowledging that I’ve won this round of whatever game we’re playing.
But it only matters if Junie says I’ve won, if she stays with me for a while and is willing to get back some of our former ease with each other. That’s all I can hope for right now in spite of my dick’s insistence that I need a whole lot more than ease.
Once Ken leaves, Darlene follows, making an excuse only slightly less obvious than saying she needs to wash her hair.
“Alone at last.” I’m half kidding, but only for her benefit. The jangle of anticipation along my nerves is fucking serious.
“I might have heard something about you being a player. You going to prove them right?”
“I don’t know who they are, but what’s true is that I’ve had a lot of women come and go and didn’t find any of them worth keeping.” Leaning in, I stare into her eyes. “Because they weren’t you.”
Her laugh may as well be a slap in the face. The sting feels the same.
“Maybe I deserve that. It must sound like a line.” I try again. “But it’s not.”
Her smile fades. “How can that be, Logan? All these years? It’s not like I ever heard from you, like you ever tried to see me before you left for college—”
“I know, I know.” I don’t bother telling her about my one failed attempt. Because I failed. And the last thing I want to do is bring up the fact that I saw her with a guy—her late husband. He’s still my most dangerous competition. His ghost looms in her sadness, in Nicky’s memories of who her daddy is. Maybe I should forget about Junie being anything but a friend, at least for now. It’s too soon. I shift in my chair, uncomfortable with the thought of abandoning the notion of having her in my arms.
“No matter how crazy it seems, Junie, it’s true.” I swipe a hand through my hair and when I see the waiter coming our way I give a subtle shake of my head, stopping him. He nods and grins, turning away.
“Logan, I… don’t know what to say.” Her nervous laugh strings out between us, separating us and I cover her hands, needing to stop her retreat. “I don’t know what that means. The other women weren’t me?” Her voice wavers with desperate tension, like she’s begging me to make her understand.
