Rough and Ready, page 28
“Hey,” Liza said, with no remorse. “You were invited to dinner with us the night Keeley told me. You were too busy—as always—cleaning your bedroom.”
Gianna grimaced. “Oh. Yeah. Shit.”
“When did you find out?” Aldo asked Kayden.
Kayden glanced at his phone. “About forty-five minutes ago.”
Aldo gave Gio and Rafe a quick once-over. “Well, considering there’s no blood or bruises on either one of them, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’re okay with it,” he directed to Kayden.
Kayden gripped Rafe’s shoulder. “Of course I am. They’re great guys. And they know if they ever do anything to hurt my sister, I’ll plant evidence on them, arrest them, and throw them in jail with the biggest bruiser I can find, for the rest of their lives.”
Keeley brightened up. “Hey, points for creativity, Kay. Usually you just intimidate my boyfriends by cleaning your gun in front of them. I like the extra effort this time.”
“Figured something this big called for a fresh threat.”
They all settled in around the TV to watch the game. Elio’s team was taking on the Bruins, which ensured a lot of trash-talking.
Fucking Boston.
The living room, like everything else in the mansion, was oversized, so there was room for two couches, a love seat, and a recliner, perfect for entertaining. Plus, Rafe’s grandpa had spared no expense on his big-screen TV.
During a commercial break, Gio overheard Keeley ask Gianna how she was doing. Gianna Duncan had been dating Sam Mannarino for as long as Gio could remember, and he’d always figured they’d be the first in their group of friends to get married. Their break-up had surprised the hell out of everyone.
“Oh, I’m fine,” Gianna said, as if she didn’t have a care in the world…hadn’t just lost the only man she’d ever loved. “My apartment is spotless right now. I had no idea how much of a mess Sam made until I didn’t have to clean up after him anymore.”
Keeley had confessed that she and Liza were worried about Gianna’s lack of emotion about the break-up. Both women feared their friend was in for a fall at some point.
“That’s great,” Liza said, giving Keeley a look behind Gianna’s back that seemed to indicate the opposite.
“Is it just me, or is it chilly in here?” Keeley asked the room at large.
Liza, Luca, and Gianna were sharing the other couch, and all three agreed they felt fine.
Gio agreed with Keeley. He grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch, shaking it open to drape over the two of them. “There’s definitely a draft over here.”
Rafe slid his feet under the blanket, trying to steal his own bit of heat. “Grandpa Albert and Marta seem determined to make this stick.”
At everyone’s curious glances, Rafe, Keeley, and Gio filled them in on all the ways they thought Rafe’s grandparents had been playing matchmaker. Gianna and Liza, like Keeley, were convinced the ghosts were real, while Aldo and Luca seemed more skeptical.
“Second period is starting,” Aldo announced, grabbing a handful of napkins, his hands covered with barbeque sauce from the wings. “Tonight is awesome, by the way. I’ve missed the weekly hockey nights.”
Everyone agreed.
“Should we take turns hosting?” Kayden asked. “Or keep having it here so Albert and Marta can fuck with us?”
Luca laughed. “The ghosts do add an extra element of excitement to the game. Plus, there’s plenty of room for all of us.”
Five minutes before the end of the second period, Elio took a bad hit. Liza jumped up from her spot on the couch and raced to the TV as if she could step through it and onto the ice, worried about her brother.
“That dirty motherfucker!” she cursed, pointing to the Boston player. “There’s no need to check someone that hard into the boards. And from behind too.”
Liza paced, despite her brother Aldo trying to calm her down. “He’s going to be okay, sis,” he reassured her. “Elio’s taken harder hits than that and gone right back out on the ice.”
Liza wasn’t appeased. Especially when Elio was helped off the ice, clearly in pain.
They were a bit more subdued as they watched the rest of the game, and even more so when the announcer gave an update toward the end of the game, reporting that doctors suspected Elio had suffered a broken collarbone.
Gio whistled low. “That could put him on the bench for a while. Weeks. Poor Elio. That’s really gonna fuck up his season.”
Liza stood up and pulled out her phone. She walked into the kitchen, but not before they heard her asking Elio how he was doing.
Aldo sighed. “She worries about him a lot. He’s taken some nasty hits the last few seasons. Two concussions, a broken finger, now this.”
“She told me she wished he’d just quit for good and come home,” Gianna added, petting Cricket, who had curled up on her lap.
“He’s played professionally for ten years. That’s a hell of a career for someone in the NHL,” Luca said.
“Yeah, but what will he do if he retires?” Gianna asked.
Aldo shook his head. “I have no idea. That boy has lived and breathed hockey from the second he was old enough to strap on a pair of skates.”
Liza returned and informed them that while Elio was still awaiting X-rays, the doctor was certain it was a broken collarbone, which meant—best case—six weeks in a sling. “He’s not happy, but like he said, it’s the nature of the game,” she added, pointing out what they all figured was pretty obvious. “Then he said, on the bright side, he might be able to come home for a longer visit while he’s healing.”
The game, despite the drama, ended with a Baltimore win, which cheered them up a little bit. Losing to Boston would have added too much salt to the wound.
They all tidied up, then headed out, confirming that they wanted to do hockey night again.
Once everyone was gone, Gio wrapped his arm around Keeley’s waist.
“We have great friends,” she said.
“Your brother’s pretty awesome too,” Gio said, giving her a quick kiss. “Not gonna lie. I had some concerns about how tonight might go down.”
Keeley waved his apprehension away. “Oh, I knew that was going to be okay. My horoscope today told me so.”
Rafe chuckled. “What did it say?”
“That I’m ready to embrace a challenge of a personal nature and my support network will come through for me.”
“And you took that to mean Kayden would approve of our relationship?” Gio asked.
Keeley gave him a look like he was six eggs short of a dozen. “Of course.”
Rafe reached for her hand and pulled it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles before drawing his tongue along them suggestively. “What else did your horoscope say?” he asked, before sucking her pointer finger into his mouth.
Her eyes darkened with arousal, but her mischievous grin never wavered. “It said I was going to encounter two tall, dark, and handsome men who would seduce me, lure me to their lair, and give me a very, very happy ending.”
Gio ran his hand along her spine, loving the way she shivered in response. “Is that right? Well, we wouldn’t want to thumb our noses at fate, would we?”
Rafe released Keeley’s finger. “Or piss off Grandpa Albert.”
Keeley laughed, wiggling her way out from between them as they’d begun to close ranks. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked over her shoulder and laughed when she yelled, “Race ya!”
* * *
Ready for more Italian Stallions? Book four (Elio and Gianna’s story) releases February 2023! It’s one-night stand, surprise pregnancy, hockey romance. What more could you want? And you can preorder it now!
Wild and Wicked
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Be sure to be on the lookout for the rest of the Italian Stallions series.
Down and Dirty
Hard and Fast
Hot and Heavy
Steady and Strong
Tempted and Taken
Kiss and Tell
* * *
Want to see how Layla Moretti met her guys, Finn and Miguel? Want to see how the Moretti brothers got their Italian Stallions nickname? What to find out what’s up with Baltimore?! Check out these books, standalone within the Wilder Irish series!
Wild Side
Wild Dreams
Wild Chance
* * *
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And be sure to join Mari’s mailing list to receive a FREE sexy novella, Midnight Wild.
About the Author
Virginia native Mari Carr is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller of contemporary romance novels. With over three million copies of her books sold, Mari was the winner of the Romance Writers of America’s Passionate Plume award for her novella, Erotic Research. She has over a hundred published works, including her popular Wild Irish and Compass books, along with the Trinity Masters series she writes with Lila Dubois.
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www.maricarr.com
mari@maricarr.com
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Mari Carr, Rough and Ready
