Her head dipped down and then she glared. “I’m not even wearing buttons, punk.” She reached for his hair, but he skirted away.
“Don’t you dare.”
“Sorry, they’re always like this. It’s endearing. Sometimes. I’m Rick,” Mal’s boyfriend held out his hand to me.
I returned the handshake and said hello. I loved seeing this side of Dani with her brother. “Totally get it. I have three sisters.”
“Then you understand my suffering. And I’m Mal, by the way. Nice to meet you.” I shook his hand as well.
“If you’re done being annoying, the nice hostess is trying to seat us,” Dani grumbled.
“Think she’s hangry?” Mal asked. Rick shook his head.
“She’s going to punch you, and it’ll be deserved.”
Mal scoffed as we slid into the booth. “Some supportive boyfriend you are.”
“Would you rather get a table?” Mal asked.
“What? No. This is good,” she said as the hostess walked away.
“I know you hate attention, which is why this thing”—he waved his hand in a circle in front of us—“is beyond amusing.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“I saw the picture that asshole posted with our father. We’ll post something tonight with the family you actually love. You love me again, right?” Mal asked, giving her puppy-dog eyes that rivaled Pucks’s.
“Of course I love you, dummy. And I really don’t know what Roger’s deal is. I’m still kicking myself for even dating him.”
A few days into my road trip, Jenzy had posted a picture of himself with their father from the Stampede charity event. He’d captioned it something stupid along the lines of hanging out with his idol, who he considered family. And a handful of comments had mentioned how sad they were that Roger and Dani had broken up. She’d been livid about it and part of me wondered if he’d done it just to see how she would react, see if she’d unblock him. Thankfully, she’d held strong and refused to rise to his bait, but I knew it pissed her off, as it fucking should.
“Assholes shouldn’t be so good in bed. It’s just wrong,” Mal said, grabbing my attention.
“Gabe is way better,” she said. Then she dropped her head in her hands. “Why the hell did I say that?”
My cheeks heated and I felt both smug and awkward as her brother burst out laughing.
“I knew you two were hooking up,” Mal crowed. Her head darted up.
“Geez, baby brother, I don’t think they heard you in Australia. Would you keep it down?” she bit out.
“What? You want people to think you’re together. Isn’t that the entire point?” he said, his voice blissfully lower.
I had no clue what to do to help, so I put my hand on her thigh and gave her a gentle squeeze.
“Sorry about my insane brother,” she muttered.
“You’re fine. I’m sure my sisters say the same about me.” Then I leaned in, my lips against her ear. “And it’s nice to know that I’m better than your ex. I can’t wait to show you how much when we get out of here.”
Her body trembled. Fucking hell, I loved taunting her.
“Men,” she muttered, shaking her head softly.
I brushed my lips against her earlobe for good measure, making her suck in a short breath.
Dinner better be fast.
Chapter 19
