Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
I screwed my eyes shut as I clapped along with the rest of Smithton, internally chiding myself to get my shit together. Gus was my roommate…my recently converted from being annoying and generally horrible roommate.
Besides Gus was not in any way, shape, or form infatuation material. Eli was.
Eli was graceful, mature, interesting, and…stuff. Maybe.
At the moment, I couldn’t remember anything about Eli. He might as well have been a figment of my imagination. I should have been searching him out in the crowd, but I didn’t care if he was here while I had Gus on the brain.
My common sense had obviously gone on a wicked hiatus, which possibly explained the heart palpitations and odd roommate fixation and—
“Earth to Rafe! Celebration time, baby. Let’s go.” Celine elbowed my ribs and motioned for me to follow.
Twenty minutes later, I was hanging a cheek at a corner booth at Vincento’s, sipping house white wine and snacking on garlic balls with Celine and a few of our teammates: Kelsi, Ingrid, Miles, Erik, and Jackson.
After Celine, Jackson was my favorite person at Smithton. He was easygoing almost to a fault—the type of person who could find a silver lining in every crappy situation. I had high hopes that a smidge of his positivity would rub off on me.
“Bea says my berry muffins aren’t selling at the bakery. She wants me to add sugar, but that changes the recipe. I have a bad feeling she’ll revoke my baking privileges if I don’t produce the gooey chocolatey junk Smithton loves,” he groused. “Do you think anyone will notice if I substitute with carob?”
“I think you’ll get arrested,” I replied, only half joking.
Jackson hooted merrily and opened his mouth, but if he spoke, I couldn’t hear above the din of blood whooshing in my ears as the hockey team strode through the entrance. The entire restaurant whooped and hollered.
“Go, Bears!”
“Way to go, Bears!”
“Get those boys some pizza and beer!”
Vincento Junior greeted them personally, shaking hands with the hulking athletes as if they were celebrities. Which…they were. It was a long-standing bone of contention that hockey and football were the only sports to get the full royal treatment in town. It wasn’t fair, but it hadn’t made hockey players less popular amongst my teammates who’d collectively paused their conversations to admire the jocks hovering nearby.
Myself included.
They were all good-looking. Brady had a boy-next-door appeal, Ty was tattooed drop-dead deliciousness, Regan was broody but in a soulful way, and Gus…
Gus was the class clown, everyone’s pal, the good-time guy who couldn’t remember to put his dishes in the dishwasher, forgot everyone’s name yet somehow still made you feel important.
He cleaned up nicely in a snug-fitted Henley shirt and dark jeans. His wavy hair had been finger-combed into submission, his smile was like a ray of sunshine, and—
Yikes. What is wrong with me?
I sipped my tepid wine, casting another clandestine glance at Gus pumping Vincento’s hand. His animated gesturing probably meant he was giving the older man highlights from the game.
That was very Gus. No doubt he’d just finagled a prime table with drinks and pizza on the house for him and his buddies. I had to admit that his ability to charm his way into everyone’s good graces was strangely endearing. Emphasis on strange.
In my preoccupied state I hadn’t noticed Kelsi squeeze out of our booth and wrap herself around Gus’s left arm like a serpent. He pivoted with a lazy grin, chuckling when she grabbed his ass and nipped his jaw. I ripped my gaze away as a flash of heat crawled up my spine, clouding my vision.
Holy moly. Am I jealous?
That was bonkers. Absolutely bonkers.
I frowned, doubling my effort to engage in conversation with Jackson, who was yammering on about soy pancakes and no-bake peanut butter cookies. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Gus, though, and I didn’t relax until Kelsi returned to the table. She was giddy and silly, and I thought I overheard her say something like, “tapping that later.”
Yep…pretty sure I was jealous.
Eventually, the last of the pizzas were demolished at our table, the bill was paid, and I was free to go home and scrub my brain. I zipped my lightweight jacket and headed for the door.
A hand shot out from a nearby booth, halting my progress. “Yo, roomie! I thought that was you. What’d you order?”
I blinked up at Gus. “Uh…vegetarian with cauliflower crust.”
Gus’s expression of abject horror was nothing short of hilarious. “That’s a nightmare come true. Man, I feel sorry for you.”
“Ha. I got a piece of the meat lovers too, so it wasn’t too terrible.”
“Phew.” He patted my shoulder and stepped aside. “Gotta hit the john. See you at home.”
“Yes, um…congratulations on the win tonight.”
Gus smiled. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome and…” Oh, geez. Why was I still speaking?
“Yeah?”
“I did it. I asked Eli out. We have a date on Friday,” I blurted.