Chapter Twelve Bree #4
“Sweet Lord, you’d think they’d add a little heat to this locker room–smelling rink,” Sherry said loudly to another woman as they took a seat at the bottom of the bleachers.
“I really do have the worst luck,” I muttered to Kennedy under my breath.
“What the hell! She never comes to the rink,” Kennedy whispered back. His face was scrunched in confusion.
“Well, I’m back, and apparently I’ve made Brad appealing again.”
He snorted and rolled his eyes. “She’s always made it known that she hates this sport and everything to do with it.”
I didn’t think she’d spotted me, and I wondered how I could possibly get down and out of there before she did. I looked for an escape but saw no way to get by her. I pulled my coat up around my neck and tried to look as small as I could. Kennedy grinned at me, and I wanted to swat him.
“Well, regardless, she’s here, and so am I. No matter what I do, I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well.”
“One can only hope,” Kennedy whispered.
“Yay, Bradley!” Sherry shouted and clapped her hands like a groupie, and Brad got bodychecked by a guy as his gaze flew toward the stands. As he got up off the ice, he looked directly at Kennedy and mouthed, “What the fuck!”
“Well, well, well, who do we have here?” Hayne’s voice caught my attention as he and Ronnie climbed the bleachers toward us.
Sherry turned immediately to see the commotion as Ronnie sat next to me, and her look of distaste settled on me.
I looked away so as not to give her the satisfaction of knowing how uncomfortable I was.
Kennedy stood and offered his hand to Brad’s brother. “Nice to see you, Ronnie.”
“You, too, man.” Ronnie smiled at me. “How are ya, Bree?”
“Great.” I smiled as Hayne went behind us and stepped down onto the seat next to me. It also wasn’t lost on me that Kennedy didn’t greet Hayne the same way he did Ronnie. In fact, the two of them didn’t greet each other at all.
“We meet again.” Hayne beamed down at me. “So about that Italian restaurant, as friends.” He held up his hands to stop me from making a comment.
“You sure are persistent about wanting to eat together.”
He squared his shoulders. “Yes, Bree, will you go to dinner with me?”
I felt Kennedy shift, then say, “Trouble.”
“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.
Hayne’s attention was glued to his phone.
He’d told me he was waiting for a call from work and that’s why he’d chosen this place, since his office was right next door.
I knew from our chat over coffee he was a medical-supplies salesman.
I didn’t mind if he had to take a call, as it would give me a little time to be alone with my thoughts.
The case looped in my head, and I found myself picturing the murder board.
Did Maggie or Shelly sit in a place like this with a date while their killer watched them?
I wondered how long he might have stalked them.
“So, what’s your deal with Stone?”
Wow, that brought me back with a jerk. I reached for my water to buy myself some time to think of a good answer. “What do you mean?”
He tilted his head and studied me. I felt my cheeks go hot. “I’d have to be blind not to see you have feelings for the guy.” He sat back.
“I think what you might be seeing is just the strange bond we share. I know you’ve heard the story.” I huffed and bit my lip. “Things like that can warp you. I’m sure you can get that, of all people—you’ve shared your PTSD stories with me. You and Ronnie have a strong bond because of it.”
“We do, but I don’t have feelings for him.”
“Okay, then here’s a question.” I looked away, then decided to flip the tables on him. “If you think I have feelings for Brad—”
“I do.” He smirked.
I shot him a look to tread carefully. “Are you having dinner with me as friends, or are you toying with Brad to upset him by taking his partner out for a date?”
“Stone can use a little competition. I’ve seen women fall at his feet just because he’s good looking and the fact he wears a badge.”
“So you do have an ulterior motive.”
“I saw the way he looked at you. So, yeah, at first it was to get under his skin,” he said and sipped his beer, “but you’re an attractive woman and I thought maybe you getting to know me, you’ll see that I’m not as bad as Stone and Kennedy make me out to be.”
“At least you’re finally being honest.” But I wasn’t about to let my guard down. Brad and Kennedy were wary of Hayne, and I knew to take that into consideration.
“I just want a fighting chance here.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“You are, and I’m happy you’re here.” He smiled, then picked up his menu. “Let’s order, shall we?”