16. Darcy

CHAPTER 16

DARCY

"Don't listen to her," Hayden tells the musician, eyes gleaming. "She's just being modest. She would love a song."

Even as I'm giving him a death glare that promises pain, I'm smiling. The band starts playing, and the song is so sappily romantic, ridiculous, and humiliating that I clamp my mouth shut to avoid laughing. Hayden's eyes are bright, brimming with entertainment, and something happy, warm, and liquid overflows in my chest.

The singer warbles, and Hayden grins and nods at me.

My stomach tenses with restrained laughter, but I refuse to be rude and offend the band. Hayden pulls out his phone and films while I sit there, captive. He gestures to his lips and mouths smile , and a laugh bursts out of me. I cover it with a cough, but the musicians aren't convinced.

"I'm so sorry," I tell the band, who are giving us dirty looks. "We're not laughing at you."

They finish up—I think they skipped a few verses on account of our weird reactions—and leave to torture some other couple.

"Wow." I beam at Hayden. "Thanks a lot. Some friend you are. "

"Worth it. You looked like you were about to crack a rib."

Even though I'm red-faced and embarrassed, I can't stop smiling. If this is what celebrating Valentine's Day is like, I've been missing out.

We're waiting for our bill when a server passes behind Hayden, carrying a giant cake with sparklers on it.

I lean in, thinking about my teasing him about porn earlier, and tilt my chin at the cake. "Does that turn you on?" I whisper, wincing. "Do you need a napkin for your lap?"

He groans, rubbing his forehead. "God, you're weird."

"I know." I smile at him. "And you love me anyway."

Like , I meant to say. And he likes me anyway.

I'm about to change the subject when the server appears back at our table, sliding a plate between us.

"I have a tiramisu here." She sets two spoons down with it.

I frown. "We didn't order?—"

"On the house." Her eyes glow with excitement before she disappears.

Hayden and I exchange a strange look. "Maybe she's a Storm fan," I muse, although she was looking at me, not Hayden.

Spoons in hand, we both lean forward to dig in.

We see it at the same time.

An engagement ring.

My heart stops. I feel sick. My spoon hovers midair. Hayden's wide eyes are on me, but I can't tear my gaze away from the diamond ring on the plate.

It's placed gently on top of the tiramisu, sitting there innocently, sparkling in the warm restaurant lighting. It's similar to the one Kit gave me, with a big center diamond and a white-gold band.

Marry me? is written in chocolate syrup along the rim of the plate, and all the happy feelings and enjoyment I collected throughout the evening scatter like marbles.

In my mind, I'm back in the bar on New Year's Eve while Kit kneels in front of me, and everyone stares, waiting for my answer.

"I'm so sorry." The server reappears, looking sheepish as she reaches for the plate. "I got the tables mixed up."

"Can we get our bill, please?" There's an authoritative edge to Hayden's tone I've never heard. "As soon as possible."

"Of course." The server takes one look at my devastated expression and winces again. She probably thinks I'm disappointed the ring wasn't for me.

"Are you okay?" Hayden's hand covers mine as the server hurries away.

"Yeah." I try to clear my head and bring myself back to the present. Back to the fun we were having just a few minutes ago. "I'm fine. That was just weird."

His hand is so warm, and without thinking, I flip mine over so we're palm to palm, craving more contact. The light scrape of his callouses against my skin anchors me, and I draw my gaze up, meeting his.

The tension behind my ribs releases, and I exhale. "I'm okay. Honestly."

"I know."

His gaze is so gentle and caring. I know him holding my hand is just because he's worried, and it doesn't mean anything, but the intimacy makes my breath catch. Every nerve in my palm tingles against his. I bet a scan of my brain would show it lighting up like a firecracker.

"I tried to break up with Kit in December." I don't know why I'm admitting this when I told myself I'd keep my mouth shut about it so it wouldn't affect their friendship.

I want to explain my weird reaction to the engagement ring, though, and I don't want to risk Hayden thinking I was careless with Kit's heart.

Hayden's gaze sharpens and his hand flexes around mine. "What?"

"Remember that charity skate event where you dressed up like an elf?" I rub my free hand over my stomach, over all the knots tightening at the memory. "And he brought up having kids and getting married and stuff?"

Hayden's jaw tightens and he nods once.

"I broke up with him that night." My face falls. "Or, I tried to."

"Tried to?" he repeats in a low, deadly voice.

I blow out a tight breath as the memory of Kit's crushed expression floods my head. "He wanted to focus on hockey for the next month because he had a lot of big games. He said we should talk about it in January."

Hayden's expression is unreadable. "And what did you want to do?"

"I wanted to break up." The words come out with more force than I mean. "I wanted to break up with him back in August, but it was his birthday, and you can't break up with someone around their birthday, and then the season was starting and he was away a lot…"

"So you waited until January." His jaw ticks again, expression hard.

"That's what we agreed on." I swallow past the rocks in my throat, frowning down at the table.

"And then he proposed on New Year's in front of everyone."

I nod, chewing my lip .

"Fuck," he mutters, letting out a heavy breath and tightening his hand around mine. "Fucking hell, Darce."

"I don't want you to blame him." I shake my head, wincing. "I think he thought it would solve things?—"

"Don't make excuses for him." His eyes lock on mine, sharp with intensity. "That was a really fucked-up thing for him to do."

"I don't want to come between you guys. I just wanted to explain why I freaked out."

His eyes are soft like velvet, so kind and understanding and affectionate that I want to drop myself into his lap, wrap my arms around him, and bury my face in his neck so I can inhale his warm scent and let him comfort me.

It was a really fucked up thing for Kit to do, and the relief that Hayden thinks so too has all the tension in my chest dissolving.

Hayden frowns at our hands, then pulls his away, and the moment's over. "Sorry," he mutters.

I try not to deflate. He's a touchy-feely guy, except with me.

The server comes by with the bill, and Hayden rolls his eyes when I try to pull out my credit card.

"Darcy, no." His voice is firm as he pays it. "Don't even try that."

The server leaves, and I give him a grateful smile. "Thank you." I pick my napkin up off my lap and drop it on the table, putting on a confident smile. "Let's go home. I got you a little something."

"Oh, yeah?" He grins, and there's my Hayden again.

I mean, not my Hayden. The old Hayden I know and love. Like . Whatever.

"Great." He stands and helps me into my coat. "Because I got you something, too."