Her stomach rolled. Oh God, the stale beer.
“Hands off, Backhouse.”
He was yanked from behind, and the only reason he didn’t fall on his ass was because Jake held him by the scruff of his neck.
Jake released Matt and he rounded, fists ready, only to fall limply to his side when he gazed up at the dark, intense, and pissed-off Jake. The good humor and easy camaraderie fled as Luke slid between the two men.
“Hey, now,” Luke said, hands up. “Let’s calm down, boys.”
Melinda shoved her chest out and licked her lips. “Jake why don’t we get out of here?”
Jake turned to Melinda, and Raine was suddenly too damn hot and too damn bothered to pay attention. If Jake Edwards wanted to dip his wick into someone like Melinda, then who was she to stand in the way?
At least Melinda wasn’t some platinum-blond trust-fund baby. Nope, she was a good old small-town girl who could show Jake a good time, and she wouldn’t break his heart in the process. Maybe she was what he needed. Someone normal. Someone who kinda sorta understood where he came from.
Raine’s gaze passed over Jake, who was bent down listening intently to whatever the hell was coming out of Melinda’s mouth.
Why did she care who he slept with? Was she that selfish? Did she want him to suffer the way she did?
Raine turned on her heel and shoved through the thinning crowd. She said good-byes to those who shouted at her and made her way off the ice and out into the lobby. Out here the crowd was thinner, though the booze had flowed steadily and the majority of those left behind were going to be nursing some pretty serious hangovers the next day.
Good to see that turkey, beer, and whiskey could raise a crap ton of money for the community center.
Outside the ai
r was crisp, and with one deep breath she banished the stale beer and sweat from inside. For a second she paused, her face lifted upward. The snow fell gently, tickling her nose as the huge, fluffy flakes drifted all around her. Colored lights were strung up across the top of the arena, the reds, blues, yellows, and greens twinkling around her like a fantastical light show. Off to the right, just outside the front doors, was a massive Santa Claus—she wasn’t sure how she’d missed him on the way in—the jovial face frozen in perpetual glee.
Christmas was less than four weeks away, and just the thought of it was enough to make her throat swell with emotion. Time marched on, it seemed, with no regard for those who preferred to be left behind.
There was a time when Christmas had been her favorite time of year. A season of parties and goodwill. Of snowmobiling in the bush and bonfires until the morning hours. It had never been about presents for Raine. It had been about family and love. Of belonging to someone.
And sadly, even though Marnie and Steven tried their best, she just didn’t feel like she belonged to anyone anymore. She thought of the damn empty chair at Thanksgiving. Did she really want to go through that again?
Raine started forward, shrugging off the melancholy as she trudged through the snow in search of her car. She thought briefly of Gloria and wondered if she was going to be around for the holidays. By chance, she’d talked to her mother briefly at the grocery store. If not for Mrs. Lancaster’s presence, she would gladly have slipped down another aisle and ignored her mother altogether. But Mrs. Lancaster was hard to avoid, and the woman had eyes in the back of her head. How many times had Raine been busted for reading Sweet Valley High books in church?
She spied her Volkswagen near the center of the parking lot, an overgrown pile of white, buried beneath at least a foot of snow. Grabbing her keys from her pocket, she was about to unlock the trunk and grab her snow brush when Jake appeared so suddenly, she dropped them.
“Jesus Christ, Jake. What the hell?” Irritated, she searched through the snow at her feet, retrieved her keys, and glared at him. “Aren’t you going somewhere with Melinda?”
His dark eyes narrowed a bit, and though he seemed steady on his feet, he’d consumed enough alcohol to fell most men she knew. “Are you serious?” he said.
She shrugged. His tone was sharp, and she really didn’t want to get into it with him right now. She unlocked her trunk and lifted it up, cursing as snow fell over her hands.
“She was offering, and that’s something most guys wouldn’t turn down.”
“I’m not most guys,” he said roughly, grabbing the snow brush from inside and moving to the front of the vehicle. “You going to warm this thing up, or what?”
“Am I driving you home?” she retorted, opening the driver-side door.
“Do I look like I can drive?” He swooshed a large chunk of snow off her windshield, and she squealed as a good amount of it ended up in the car. In her lap. And in her face.
She didn’t say anything else. She just watched him through the glass as he methodically cleaned her entire car. Snow glistened in his hair, which he hadn’t cut since he was home, and it was now officially—as Mr. Edmonds, their high school football coach, used to say—girlie man. Though with his strong features, large athletic build, and five o’clock shadow, there wasn’t anything remotely girlie about Jake.
There never had been.
When he was done, he tossed the brush back into the trunk and hopped into the passenger seat, his large frame filling up the space in a way that made her nervous.
“Shit,” he exclaimed as he searched for the seat belt, “this thing is a hell of a lot smaller than I remember.” His knee banged against the dash as he twisted, seat belt in hand, trying to find the buckle. He bumped the dash again, swore, grunted, and then laughed.