“I’ll be fine tomorrow.” I tip my head his way, giving him a quick, sly smile. “Besides… aren’t you just dying to play with the tractor tomorrow? That’s way more fun than a movie.”
Raul’s head falls back as he laughs, his hat catching on the side of the barn and tumbling off. His eyes are bright with humor when they land on me. “All right then… I’ll make you a non-celebratory birthday breakfast and we’ll spend the day playing with the new tractor.”CHAPTER 14TackerFor the life of me, I can’t figure out why walking away from Nora to go sit with my teammates isn’t sitting right with me.
Might have to do with the fact I’d rather talk to her than them. I sure as hell like looking at her a lot more than I do them.
Hell, just moments ago when she came toward me with a plate of food in her hand, I thought she might be the prettiest creature I’d ever seen. And yes, I felt a flush of guilt for feeling that way because not only is she my therapist, but she’s also not MJ.
But MJ’s gone. You’re allowed to think other women are pretty, Tacker.
Not really, asshole.
Yes, really.
And that’s why I’m walking away after we made a little small talk. The truth is, because I want to stay and talk to her so badly is why I needed to walk away.
I make my way to the picnic table, currently occupied by Dominik, Dax, Legend, and Aaron. The guys are big and the table is small, so I merely sidle to the edge of it, setting my plate down.
The conversation between Dominik and Dax is already heated. Aaron and Legend listen with smirks on their face.
“For the last time,” Dax says with frustration. “I am not helping you hook up with my sister.”
Dominik is cool and unruffled. “I don’t need your help with that. I need your help figuring out how I can get her to give me the time of day.”
“Not going to happen,” Dax mutters.
“Why not?” Dominik challenges. “I’m smart, successful, and I’d treat her like a queen.”
Dax’s eyes narrow as he leans in toward Dominik. “I’ve seen the queens you’ve had in your stable. There are a lot.”
When Dominik shrugs, my eyes cut over to Aaron. I can read the expression on his face clearly. This is really good stuff. Extremely exciting.
I smirk, refocusing my attention on Dominik as he replies to Dax in a calm, level manner. “Look… your sister is admittedly relationship-averse, so why do you care if I am, too? She’s an adult who is more than capable of making her own decisions about whether she wants to go out with me or not.”
“Exactly,” Dax grits out. “So ask her and deal with it yourself.”
“I would if she’d respond to my calls and texts. It’s like she’s dropped off the face of the earth.”
“Kosovo,” Dax says, the one word causing Dominik’s eyebrows to rise and my stomach to clench.
“Kosovo?” Dominik asks, a bit loudly.
My head snaps over to where Nora and Raul are sitting side by side at the barn, eating their food. They’re far enough away they can’t hear this conversation.
I think.
“What the fuck is she doing in Kosovo?” Dominik demands, and my gaze jerks to Nora. Didn’t appear to hear that, either.
“What do you mean ‘what the fuck is she doing in Kosovo’?” Dax replies, just as loud and tauntingly. “You have no say where she goes.”
“Okay,” I intervene, placing my palms on the picnic table and bending to put myself in their line of sight. “I need both of you to shut the fuck up right now. The next man who says the word Kosovo is going to be eating my cast.”
Aaron’s chin jerks inward with surprise, and Dax just blinks stupidly.
Under his breath, Legend mutters, “Damn.”
Dominik cocks an eyebrow that seems to ask, “Did you just fucking threaten your boss with physical violence when you’re already on probation on this team?”
I sigh, cast one last glance at Nora, who laughs at something Raul says, before returning to my teammates. Taking a moment to let my gaze linger on each one, I finally settle on Dominik, since he’s my boss and I need to explain. “Just stop talking about Kosovo so loudly that Nora might hear.”
“Why?” Dominik demands curiously.
“Because she was part of the war there, and she lost family in that conflict,” I reply quietly.
“Oh, shit,” Aaron says, peering over at Nora.
“What happened?” Dax asks.
I wonder if I should say something. Nora never said what happened is a secret, and in fact, it was national news. Still, it’s a confidence she shared with me that, until she says otherwise, has to stay between us.
So I give them only the bare minimum. “Let’s just say what she witnessed happen to her family is horrific, and tomorrow is the twentieth anniversary of it.”