My Hockey Roommate's Filthy Desires novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: Without the If

The queue at ten to six was four nurses, a man in a suit and a woman with a laptop.

All of them looked from the roses to my face.

"Roxy," Chandler said.

He came up to the counter and put the flowers down between the napkins and the tip jar.

"I couldn't sleep. I've been awake since the game. I made a mess of it last night, and I want to fix it."

"Welcome to Larkin's," I said. "What can I get you?"

"Don't do that."

"Large? Medium?"

"Roxanne. Please."

I untied my apron and stepped around the counter.

My coworker, who was setting out the pastry tray, stopped moving.

"You want to talk," I said. "We'll talk. Here."

"Can we go somewhere..."

"No."

He glanced at the nurses.

Then he did what he always did when he was caught, and smiled the easy smile.

"Okay. I was wrong about the baby, I said it badly. Mom will make this right. I'll be there, we can do it together, you and me. I've always wanted that."

"You've always wanted that."

"For five years."

"Then why didn't you ever say so?"

He opened his mouth, and I watched the answer fail to arrive.

"You had five years," I said. "I sat beside you at every dinner your mother set. I picked your stupid fantasy football team. I turned down Harlow to follow you here."

"Roxy, I know."

"I watched you take girl after girl up the stairs, and you never once told me to stop waiting."

His smile was gone.

"Because I was scared," he said.

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