Stone squeezes my hand as he replies, “I got a really good night’s sleep, I guess.”
Mid drink, I almost choke on my lemonade. We did indeed sleep well last night, both worn out from amazing orgasms. But I also think about Odin waking him up early by kicking him in the face. Half an hour in the cold, trying to get my dog to do his business.
It was not his normal routine.
If anything, Stone should’ve been discombobulated today. My presence in his life on an intimate level would shake up the most solid of men.
But he takes it all in stride, and that is a big difference from the man I met several weeks ago.
“Is Baden coming?” I ask. He had joined us once before, and I really like the guy.
Gage shakes his head. “He wanted to hang at home with Sophie. He’s officially whipped.”
I knew the backstory about Baden from the news, but Stone filled me in a little more on his new romance with the woman he saved from attackers, which in turn caused the severe injuries that resulted in career-ending paraplegia. It led him to a new position here as the Titans’ goalie coach and reunited him with the woman he saved.
Something beautiful coming out of something so horribly ugly.
I wonder if that’s what this is with me and Stone. Did that plane crash lead him to me?
Did I lose my best friend and he lose his brother, merely so we could find each other?
A family approaches, this time for Gage. A mom, dad, and two little girls, both of whom are wearing Heyward jerseys, ask for pictures. When Gage steps away from the table to mug with the little fans, I turn back to Stone.
“Okay… listen—” I start to say.
Stone puts a finger to my lips and shakes his head. “In my opinion, when somebody starts a sentence with okay, listen, it’s usually bad news. Let’s not go there.”
I bat his hand away and smirk. “It’s not bad news. I’m merely extending an invitation to dinner at my parents’ house on Friday night. They asked if you wanted to join us.”
Stone scowls, not in an irritated or angry way, but confounded. “Did you tell your parents that we had sex?”
I can feel my eyebrows drawing inward, nearly touching each other, so deep is my confusion. “No. Why would I do that?”
“Why would they invite me to dinner?” he throws back, a small insight into his befuddlement. “You and I didn’t sorta become official until last night. I think having sex solidifies that we’re having a relationship. Well, I’ve had sex in the past with women and that did not mean I was in a relationship. Normally—”
Now I’m the one who puts my fingertip to his mouth to stop his adorable but unnecessary rambling. “My parents know we’re friends. They knew Brooks well, and he came to dinner at their house many times. They’re being polite by extending the invitation, which came during the game. Now, as far as dating… I do think that having sex clarifies we’re something more than friends. I think the fact you’re showing PDA in a very public place might also be a hint. However, I want to say, please don’t ever talk about your prior habits with regard to your sexual conquests. I don’t need to know that stuff.”
Stone laughs, taking my hand in his and brushing his lips across my knuckles.
“Sorry I jumped to conclusions. And that’s sweet your parents invited me to dinner.”
“And?” I prompt.
Stone shrugs. “I suppose I should accept. We are having sex, after all, and it would be totally rude to decline at this point.”
I smack him with a playful backhand and then lean in for a kiss. I don’t make it, though, because there’s a commotion across the bar with men shouting and glass breaking.
Stone and I both look that way, and my jaw drops when I see Coen Highsmith grappling with another bar patron. The guy’s got his arm around Coen’s neck, and Coen is trying to break free.
He succeeds, his right arm coming out, and gives the guy two hard punches to the ribs.
Bouncers jump in as well as two of the Titans players who must’ve come in with Coen. The men are broken apart, and the guy who just took two shots to the ribs holds a hand to his side, grimacing in pain.
Coen, on the other hand, is still pissed and trying to jerk away from the people holding him back. His eyes are pinned on the man he just punched, shouting obscenities and trying to reach him for another round.
“Jesus Christ,” Stone mutters as he stands from the table.
I start to get up as well, but he shakes his head. “Stay here. Just going to see what happened.”
Gage also has taken notice of the melee and walks over with Stone. I watch from the table as things calm down and Gage gets in Coen’s face. He has some harsh words that get Coen’s attention off the other man, and then Gage pulls him away from the crowd where he steps in closer to talk to him. Stone has words with the man Coen hit, putting a hand on his shoulder in commiseration.