Chapter 39 I’ll Take a Dartboard, Please
I’LL TAKE A DARTBOARD, PLEASE
CORBIN
“There are only two left,” she says, taking out the next letter as we settle at a table in the bakery, the streetlamps flickering beyond the garage-door windows. “I’m dying to know how they worked it all out.”
So am I. Not gonna lie. I keep hoping there’s a final piece of advice from a couple that worked together decades ago about how to make this work. I might know what I want, but I could also use a road map.
“We’ve been good though. We didn’t gobble them all up at once,” I say.
Mabel fidgets with the corner of the letter. “I wanted to. I was tempted to read one without you,” she admits, a little guilt in her averted eyes.
I lift a brow. I can picture her about to dip her hand in the cookie jar, but resisting. “Over Christmas?”
“No. Before—the night I wanted you to come over.”
For some reason, this admission excites me. Maybe it’s because she wanted me so badly that night—and almost caved by reading a letter solo. “And you waited,” I say.
“I’m used to edging,” she says, her eyes flicking with mischief.
“You’re very patient,” I say, praising her.
“I never was before,” she says as she glances toward the display case. Tomorrow it’ll be filled with brownies, bars, and cookies. Then this shop will be teeming with customers. “Weird for a baker.”
“You’re full of contradictions,” I say. And I love all of them.
“I am. But maybe that’s why I’ve always liked baking. There’s a recipe to follow, and I needed that when my life was a mess.”
“You’re not a mess, Mabel. Not even close,” I reassure.
She draws a deep breath and nods, perhaps finally believing that. She opens the letter. “Oh, it’s a short one.” She unfolds it and passes it to me. “It’s from Russ.”
I smooth out the paper, clear my throat and read.
Dear Harriet,
I shouldn’t do this. I truly shouldn’t. But I can’t hold back anymore.
I can’t stand the nights without you. I think about you all the time. I want to be with you all the time. I know it’s against the rules, but sometimes you have to break them. Will you go out with me?
I’m yours,
Russ
I set it down as Mabel gives me an I caught you look. “Admit it. You read it in advance. Before you asked me out.”
A laugh bursts from me. “Nope.”
“Really?”
I hold up my hands in surrender. “I swear.” I glance around at the firehouse-turned-bakery. “Maybe it’s this place. Maybe it’s got some kind of magic. It worked on them.”
She holds my gaze, her eyes warm, inviting. “Maybe that’s why my grandmother gave this firehouse to me. Their story sort of mirrors ours.”
“It does in a way,” I say.
“It’s almost like she knew. Hey, did you tell her you had a crush on me?” she jokes.
I laugh harder. This woman. She just makes me so happy. “I didn’t even meet your grandmother.”
Mabel shrugs. “Still feels like she wanted this to happen.”
Does she have any idea what these words are doing to my heart? It’s expanding by the minute. I take her hand and squeeze it, then tell her the thing I have to do next. “Before we go out, I want to tell your brother.”
She tenses, but nods. “What are you going to say?”
That’s the easiest part of all. “That I’m crazy about you.”
Her smile falters—not in a bad way, more like surprise. “You are?”
“Mabel. Have I not made myself clear? I was taken with you the first time I met you. And I’m not missing my chance this time around. Even if we have to break the rules.”
The don’t date your business partner rule. The don’t fall for your best friend’s sister rule. The no-romance rules we both set. I’m smashing through all of them.
She brushes her thumb over my knuckles, a soft smile curling at the edges of her lips. “Then break them, business partner.”
“I will.”
Theo’s been traveling, and I’ve been on the road for games, so I haven’t had a shot at a face-to-face with him until several days into the new year.
It comes after Charlotte and I return Lola one morning—we had the sweet senior Beagle mix for one night when her regular foster needed to go out of town for twenty-four hours.
I head to the city and drop off Charlotte at school, then cruise to the arena next, pulling into the players’ lot at the same time as Miller.
He hops out of his car, giving me a chin nod. “Is today the day?”
I push my palm down in a keep it quiet gesture. “Yes, but it hasn’t happened yet. So let’s lower the volume.”
No point hiding my feelings from him. Besides, he figured it out a long time ago.
“Oh gee, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Theo had spies in the parking lot.”
I roll my eyes. “Everyone has spies everywhere.”
“Paranoid much?”
“Nope,” I say, then hedge. “But I do hope I leave his office in one piece.”
“Dude. Me too,” Miller says, shuddering as he yanks the door open. “The guy scares me. He’s intense.”
“Who’s intense?”
Speak of the devil. I gulp. It’s Theo, walking toward us.
I scramble, thinking fast. We’re playing Seattle soon. That’s it. “The Seattle goalie. He’s like the abominable snowman.”
“He’s like a dragon guarding his gold,” Miller adds, backing me up.
“He’s the Loch Ness monster.”
Theo gives us a look like we’ve lost it. “Are you two practicing metaphors now instead of drills?”
And that doesn’t help either. “We were just planning to do some extra sprints, right?” I say, clapping Miller’s shoulder.
“Excellent. More sprints. Less metaphors,” Theo says, then grabs the stairwell door, but before heading up to his second-floor office, he ducks back and looks at me. “I got your text about wanting to meet. Perfect timing. I have something to discuss with you too.”
The door swings shut, and he’s gone.
Miller gawks at me. “What the…?”
I go cold everywhere. “Shit.”
“I mean, this is it,” Miller says, frowning. “He knows.”
My gut twists. It’s not like I’ve been Mister Secretive. I’ve taken Mabel out to lunch, kissed her in the bakery, fake-dated her. I’ve basically stopped hiding.
And yeah, it’s not his business and all, but my stomach curls with the realization I should have had this talk sooner. A lot sooner. “He probably does.”
Miller claps me on the back. “It was good knowing you,” he says as we head to the locker room, the sound of sneakers echoing behind us.
In a second, Lake catches up to us. “Is Knighty Night retiring?”
“Yep. He’s going to bow out because he’s about to get traded,” Miller deadpans.
Riggs is next, and he joins us. “Shit. Seriously?”
“No, I’m not getting traded. I have a no-trade clause. I just need to—” I stop and shed all these worries. She’s worth it. That’s the point of telling Theo. “I need to see Theo and tell him I’m going to date his sister.”
Lake winces, a rare show of emotion. “Got a death wish?”
Riggs pats my shoulder. “It was fun while it lasted. Playing with you and all.”
I flip them the bird, then turn around and hustle down the hall. I was going to do this after practice, but since Theo’s free now, I guess it’s now or never.
I bound up the steps, and rap on Theo’s open door. He’s at his desk, holding a cup of coffee.
“Come in—”
I barely let him finish the sentence. “We’ve been friends for more than a decade, right?”
His brow knits. “Yeah.”
“And I’m guessing you don’t think I’m a dick then.”
“No,” he says, then hesitates. “But should I?”
“Nope. Because I’m not. Was I there for you when Ginny left?”
“Yes. And what are you getting at?”
“Did I water your plants when you went out of town and your plant sitter flaked?”
He motions for me to spill. “’Fess up, Knight.”
“Did I root for you when you wanted to be GM?”
He heaves a sigh. “Yes. What. Is. It?”
Undeterred by his impatience, I square my shoulders, blow out a breath, and come this close to saying, I’m in love with your sister.
Because I am. I’ve been falling for her for a long time.
I’m also sure I fell. Pretty sure I’ve known it on some cellular level since the night she came to my game right before the holidays—when I felt relaxed on the ice, steady even, thanks to her.
When I stopped fighting the way I felt. When I accepted that these feelings weren’t going away.
But I’m not going to tell him before I tell her.
And I’m not going to tell her until the right moment.
For now, I meet Theo’s steely eyes and say, “I’m crazy about your sister, and I wanted you to know we’re going to start dating. For real.”
He drops the mug of coffee he’s holding.
The mug crashes to the wood floor, hot coffee splattering everywhere, along with the handle. Theo doesn’t even flinch. His eyes are locked on me, wide, furious—or maybe just stunned. “You’re what?”
Damn, that felt good to get off my chest. I roll my shoulders and practically strut to the chair opposite his desk. I stop though. The polite thing to do would be to help clean up.
I head to the men’s room, grab some compostable paper towels, and return to wipe up the coffee on the hardwood.
He takes some too, and we clean together. He scrubs harder than anyone needs to, breathing out with each push of the towel.
“Did you just…did you seriously tell me you’re dating my sister in the same tone you’d use to ask me for extra tickets to a game?”
“I did,” I say, feeling a thousand times lighter.
He shakes his head. “Back this up. Try again. Tell me something that doesn’t end with me wanting to aim darts at your picture.”
“Want me to pick you up some new darts? Game store’s right by the rink.”
He exhales heavily. “And she’s…into you?” He sounds like he can’t quite believe it.
A small laugh escapes me. The floor’s clean enough now so I rise, toss the towels in the compost bin, then nod. “She is. And I’m…just fucking besotted.”
He blinks. “Fucking besotted? Are you a wordsmith today? From your metaphors to this?”
Maybe the love letters are rubbing off on me. “I guess I am.”
“I…” he begins, but he can’t seem to form words. He’s never speechless.
So I take the reins. “Listen, I get that you don’t like her exes. I don’t either. I get that you’re protective. I am too. I also understand that you don’t want her to be hurt. I don’t either. And you should know I’m going to treat her like a queen.”
He doesn’t need to know I’ve already been doing that.
“When did this start?” he asks.
And that’s also something I won’t answer entirely. But I can be honest when I say, “I’ve been interested in her since I met her. You might even say she’s the one who got away.”
He runs a hand through his hair, blows out a breath. “I’ll need an addendum to your contract. A waiver signed by Mabel saying she won’t sue when this ends badly.”
“It won’t end badly.”
He stares hard at me. His voice is steely now. “If you break her heart, you’re dead to me.”
And that’s fair. I nod. “I hear you.”
He pins me with a hard-edged stare. “I mean it. I don’t want to see her hurt. I don’t want to see her cry. I don’t want to see you talking shit about her ever.”
I hold up a hand. “You have my word.”
“It’s not that you aren’t a good man, but if by chance you do any of those things, we’re done.” Then he smirks. “And I will find a way to trade you, or bench you, or make sure you never get any ice time. I will call up a young guy and tell them to give him ice time right away.”
I love this guy. He has to find a way to get the last word.
But I’m not worried. I know what I want. And it’s not simply to date her. It’s to win her heart. So all those threats—they don’t mean a thing because I won’t hurt her.
“Heard,” I say, then extend a hand.
He huffs, but he shakes back.
I head to the door when I remember he had something to discuss. I turn back. “You wanted to talk about something?”
He still looks shell-shocked, but he clears that away, his expression all businesslike. “Right. I do. Remember Romance Beach?”
How could I forget? “Of course.”
“I was in touch with them,” he explains, and I have no clue where this is going. “And then Ronnie started posting about you two and mentioned you to them. They emailed me today asking for your contact info. They want the two of you to come on a reunion episode and serve some cake.”
If I had a cup of coffee it’d spill right now.