35. Dylan

Chapter 35

Dylan

After one of the most aggressive handshakes of my life, three chairs were pulled up to the already too-crowded table of Rosie’s three older brothers for me, Bret, and Gage.

A tablet on the tabletop was lit up with a doc titled: TORTURE THE BEAST. My gaze caught on number four: “Comment on all of his social media posts with quotes from Pride and Prejudice . The six-hour version.”

Wait, what?

Haydn turned off the screen before I could read anymore. Were they brainstorming ways to torture me? I focused on the three men staring me down.

Rosie’s brothers all shared some features with her, but she and Jules were the most alike. They had the same auburn colored hair—though his was a tad darker—and expressive dark eyes. But Jules’s eyes were a little more murdery than Rosie’s had ever been toward me.

“Confessing your love online is a jackhole move,” Jules said.

Haydn cleared his throat. “Well, in some situations, it might be justified—”

“Hey, you’re Aurelia Halifax’s husband!” Gage said. We all turned to stare at him and his big, wide grin. “I remember when you went to her concert, and it was all over the news, man. Way to be epic.” He held out a hand for a high-five, and Haydn returned it.

“Gage Jennings,” Haydn said with a smile. “You guys were robbed in the semi-finals.”

While they spoke, I scanned the room until I found Rosie. She was at Max’s table, taking his order. My stomach lurched, seeing the two of them together. She had to be in heaven right now to be so close. She turned and caught my gaze, and when her smile slid to the side, I realized I was frowning.

“Josie,” Max said, loud enough for us to hear it at our table.

“Josie?” Jules said darkly. “Is he talking to Rosie ?”

I didn’t answer, because I kept shamelessly listening to the conversation. Max telling Rosie to do things she’d already done was really irritating me. And then to bring up that dumb book club again as if reading a thousand page book was a priority right now?

Jules must have felt the same way, because he stood and made as though to approach the table. “I’m going to have a talk with him.”

“Don’t,” Bennett said. “She has a crush on him, and it will make her mad.”

It took a few visibly deep breaths on Jules’s part to calm down, but I let my irritation simmer.

Max Eriksson had a very punchable face.

“So what are your intentions with our sister?” Jules said, apparently channeling all his anger toward me.

“The game’s on, Jules,” Haydn complained. “Let’s figure out his intentions later.”

Saved by the game. I relaxed into my chair as everyone’s attention turned toward the screen for face-off, while my attention was drawn back to Rosie. Her every movement reminded me of her smooth brush strokes. She glided through the room like she had a pre-practiced dance through it. It amazed me how she remembered everyone’s usual orders, their names, how people smiled when she approached, and how the entire room was lit up with her glow.

“You’ve got it so bad,” Gage murmured.

I grunted. Why even argue? He wasn’t wrong.

Rosie dropped off our pizza, looking a little more flustered than before. She’d disappeared for a few minutes in the back, and her smile was missing. “What’s wrong?” I asked as she bent close to refill my drink.

“My dad,” she breathed more than actually speaking, then nodded toward the back.

I turned toward her, but she was gone before I could ask her any more questions. I was a little disappointed to see that there weren’t any pineapple pieces on my pizza.

Rosie disappeared into the back again, and I couldn’t shake my concern. I probably shouldn’t be walking through the back of the restaurant, but they were so busy no one even spared me a second glance. The back door was propped open, so I went toward it and heard Rosie’s voice.

“You can’t come to my work, Dad. The boys are here.”

He let out a heavy sigh. “Then I’ll just take what you have.”

“I gave you all I had earlier.”

“But it’s not enough,” Orin said, sounding frustrated. “You said you’d give me all your tips.”

“I needed to replace some of the things I lost in the leak.”

“You say you love me, but I don’t know what to believe.”

It took everything in me not to stroll out and push Orin against the wall for this manipulative bull.

“I do, Dad. There should be more tonight.”

“I hope so, baby girl. I really hope so.”

I stepped back into the store closet when she rushed in so she couldn’t see me, and I backed into someone already hiding in there. “Move out of my way, Savage,” Jules Forrester growled.

I’d faced down some of the most intimidating people alive, but I quickly moved away from Jules.

“Is that my father?” He bit off every word through teeth gritted so tightly the muscle in his jaw bulged.

I nodded.

Jules stormed toward the door, and I followed. Even though it was misdirected and undeserved, Rosie loved her father, and she wouldn’t want Jules to hurt him. And based on Jules’s expression, he was definitely rearing for a fight.

Orin had disappeared into a shadowy patch of dense trees, but it only took a few long steps for us to catch up with him. The dirt path was muddy from the drizzle of rain we got earlier that day. Jules reached out and grabbed Orin’s arm, yanking him to a stop, and they both skidded in the mud. I grabbed Jules’s arm to keep him from falling. I let him go as quickly as I could but stayed close.

“What are you doing here, Orin?” Jules said.

Orin shook his arm free and stepped back. “I’m not allowed to visit my daughter?”

“Not when you’re only here on a grift,” Jules growled.

“You and your brothers have kept me from Rosie long enough.”

Jules barked out a humorless laugh. “For her own good. And we were right to do it. The first time you can make contact with her, and you’re taking her money?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Orin turned to take off, but I positioned myself behind him, so he was caught between me and Jules.

“Is this all about money?” I asked him.

“Of course not. I love my daughter. I just needed a little help, and none of my sons would do it. It wasn’t even worth asking them.”

“So if I gave you money to leave town, you wouldn’t take it.” I shouldn’t tempt him like this, but I’d come across so many men like him—ones who’d suck you completely dry for their own purposes and show no remorse when they abandoned your empty shell.

“You’re that hockey player who’s been hanging around my girl. The one that was in the news.” He sized me up. “How much are you talking?”

My stomach plunged with disgust. “How much do you want?” Rosie would never forgive me for this. But I couldn’t let him stay here, manipulating her into giving him more and more money, either. For all her saltiness, Rosie was a softie at her core. And she wanted so much for her dad to love her. It was going to destroy her if he left town without saying goodbye.

“No way.” Jules came around to stand next to me and face his dad down. “This is a family problem.” He took out his wallet and pulled several hundred dollar bills from it. “Take this and go.”

Orin sneered at the cash. “No.”

Jules took a credit card from his wallet and flicked it at Orin. “This has a twenty-five thousand dollar limit. I’m cutting you off once it’s spent.”

Orin stared at the credit card in his hand. “I really do love Rosie.”

“So do I.” Jules folded his arms and waited.

Orin stuck the credit card in his pocket and with a final glare for both of us, strolled away.

“How long has he been hanging around for?” Jules asked.

“Since I got back to town last month,” I said. “I don’t know how much longer before that.”

“She’s going to be devastated.” Jules sighed. “She was so young when he left. She doesn’t remember all the promises he broke or all the times he drained the account from every penny Mom had saved, then took off and left us scrambling to eat and keep a roof over our heads. He knows just what to say to make you think he’s changed and that you’re the villain for not believing him.”

“For her sake, I hope he doesn’t come back,” I said, watching the empty space where he’d retreated to.

“Oh, he’ll come back. And she’ll need someone to help her stand up to him when he does.” Jules pounded my back with all the frustration of a person who didn’t get the fight they’d been gunning for. But I understood that he was giving me the green light to be that person, in the unlikely event Rosie would be interested after today.

Since I was on a roll, and had most likely imploded any chance of having a relationship with Rosie, I decided to stand up when Max did, and follow him out of the restaurant. I threw a handful of cash onto the table and headed outside after him. Jules caught my glance with a raised brow, but I shook my head. I had this.

The hockey finals were intense, point for point, and my teammates and Rosie’s brothers had hit it off immediately. Jules had been quiet the rest of the night since we got back from confronting their father, but no one else seemed to notice anything was off, so maybe quiet was his default setting.

“Max, wait a minute,” I called out as I jogged down the wooden steps after him.

He picked up his nephew and tossed him onto his shoulders and then turned to me. His nephew was adorable, with a deep side dimple and wild blond hair. His little hands gripped Max’s hair so tight, I almost winced.

“What’s up?” Max said, guarded.

“Her name is Rosie, not Josie.”

Max’s eyebrows winged upward.

“She loves to paint whimsical things, read romance, and is brilliant at knowing what people are going to love.”

Max went to open his mouth, but I ran right over whatever he was about to say. “She’s intelligent, remembers everyone’s orders because she cares about them, creative in the kind of way that makes you pause and wonder if you’ve ever had an actual original thought in your life, and you’d be lucky if she gave you a second look.” I stuck my finger in his chest, probably a little too hard. “Rosie Forrester is the best thing that could ever happen to you.”

“The best thing!” his nephew repeated in his adorable little voice.

I gave the kid knuckles, while Max looked at me in surprise, then I bounded down the steps and walked toward home.