She looked wildly around for the mouse and saw it heading down the apartment hallway just outside of her front door that Griff had forgotten to close. She leaped for the front door, slammed it closed, and blocked the crack with the blanket.
“It’s gone!” she declared.
“Get off me,” Dave said.
Griff and Dave untangled from each other and stood.
Steph took a deep, calming breath. “That was exciting.”
She took the bat and broom from the two men. “Thanks for helping,” she said. She peered behind them into her bedroom. There was a splinter in the post of the footboard.
“Griff, you ruined my bed frame,” she said.
“That’s why a broom is better,” Dave said.
“I’ll buy you a new one,” Griff said.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Griff.
He looked uneasy for a moment, but quickly recovered. “I made us reservations for lunch at Grinaldi's in the city tomorrow. I stopped by to see if you’d go. For old times’ sake. I got us a table with an amazing skyline view.”
Grinaldi’s was one of the top restaurants in the city, and the place to see and be seen. Celebrities flocked to the restaurant that took up the top floor of the Metro Six building. Still, Steph was suspicious. He could’ve called for that invitation. He had to have been camped out close by.
She shook her head.
Dave piped up. “Old times are dead and gone.”
Griff’s head whipped around. “I deserve at least one meal with my wife. We have things to talk about.”
“Then you should’ve called her at least once in the last five years,” Dave said.
The two men glared at each other. The testosterone level rose in the room.
“Everyone calm down,” Steph said. “Griff, no, but thanks. I have plans with Dave.” She didn’t, but he didn’t know that.
“She’s got plans with me,” Dave immediately agreed.
“Have a good trip tomorrow,” Steph said to Griff. “Be a stranger, would ya?”
Griff turned to Dave with a murderous look. “What kind of plans?”
The corner of Dave’s mouth lifted. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Griff got in Dave’s face. “I have a right to know. A husband’s right.”
Dave didn’t back down. “You have zero rights,” he barked. “Less than zero. Zilch.”
“I’m not leaving until Steph and I talk,” Griff snarled.
“Oh, you’re leaving all right,” Dave said, grabbing Griff’s arm and escorting him to the door. Griff shook him off and shoved him hard. Dave stumbled backward.
“Griff, stop!” Steph said. “No fighting.”
Dave rushed forward and shoved Griff, who stumbled back into the door. Steph’s eyes widened.
“I said no fighting!” she hollered.
The two men circled each other. Dave held both fists up like a boxer and started bobbing and weaving. Steph groaned. This could not end well.
“Both of you out,” she said. “If you’re going to beat up on each other, I don’t want to see it.” She grabbed both their arms and pushed them out the door.
“But, Steph,” Dave said.
“Come on,” Griff said.
“Out,” she said before she shut the door and locked it. She sank against the door, exhausted. She hoped they would calm down without her as a witness. She figured it was their pride and ego they were trying to preserve in front of her.
She really did not need to see Dave get his ass kicked.
~ ~ ~
Dave stood on the sidewalk for a moment, unsure if he should go back for Steph or give her some space. He’d only gone to Pokémon night because Steph was going to girls’ night. Also, he figured he could ask the guys what they thought his next move should be. He had zero ideas. How could he? He’d never had to compete with a famous rock star before. Unfortunately, his guy friends had even less of a clue than he had with women. Frank had suggested inviting her to Pokémon night, but Dave suspected that was because Frank wanted a beautiful woman there. He’d been single for a couple of years now and would likely hit on Steph. Andy had suggested giving her a puppy, but she already had a cat. Kyle suggested Dave cook her dinner and had even given him The Player’s Guide to Eating In from his own bookshelf. Except Dave couldn’t cook. He usually got four orders of chicken with mixed vegetables from Sunny Garden and ate that all week. The mouse had been the perfect excuse to both look like a hero to Steph and hang out with her. Until Griffin arrived.