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Chapter 8 ♚ Long Story

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The Bears won with a one goal difference against the Eagles, but you'd think this town became the recipient of the Stanley Cup. As the local team made a victory lap on the ice, their faithful audience tore their throat in ovations in case the players weren't sure they'd played well.

By the time we finally made it out of the building, I was sure my hearing capacity had been drastically reduced.

It was precisely for that reason I didn't catch what Shane said. I rubbed my ear closest to him and eloquently asked, "Huh?"

Thankfully, he got the hint and shouted back, "A few of us are going to the bar for a drink, wanna join?"

Despite the fact I'd almost choked him, the invitation did appear genuine. Puzzling, considering that if I were in his shoes I wouldn't want to have anything to do with me. The others also looked on with encouraging expressions on their faces, though no more than Luke who tugged at his dad's hand.

"If Cora goes, can I come too?"

I was seriously starting to love the big mouth on that kid.

The Sheriff shook his head. "No, son. Bars are for when you're a grown-up."

"And for when you don't have to put your son in bed," Lena Lee added, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder as if to say tag, you're it.

It made everybody laugh and I joined in too, seeing how the Sheriff's face wrinkled as though he could cry.

"But-" he started, but Lena Lee had to say nothing at all for him to change his mind by himself. With a sigh, he grabbed Luke's hand and said, "C'mon, champ. The queen has spoken."

Said queen gave him a sweet little kiss that had the other three guys hooting and howling. Under the light of a lamp post, I could see the Sheriff's face turn as red as a tomato. Luke's pout lessened as his mom also gave him a kiss atop his head, although it didn't quite disappear. He was clearly upset at having to abide by his bed time, but he did like it when his mom coddled him.

I put a hand over my heart. Ugh, demasiado cuchi.

After waving them away, Lena Lee hooked her arm with mine. "So this means you'll join us, right?"

Now that the spotlight was back on me, I flapped my mouth open and closed.

She waved a hand at the three other guys, saying, "Go on ahead, get us a table."

"You got it," Shane said, clapping the other two so they'd tag along. The firefighter glanced at us over his shoulder once, but moved along with his buddies.

"They make you uncomfortable, huh?" Lena Lee shocked me by asking. "You don't need to look so surprised, it's pretty obvious that men make you uncomfortable."

I breathed out a, "How..."

"I mean," she said with a shrug. "Aside from the fact that you almost seriously injured Shane because you thought he was being inappropriate-"

The cringe that took over me could have shrunk me into a raisin.

Lena Lee continued, "I've noticed that you close off even more when there's anyone from the male sex around you. Heck, even Pace seems to make you uncomfortable. And I don't know anyone nicer."

I could cry. I certainly wanted to. But that would confirm everything she was saying and-

Ah, fuck it. What else was there to hide? I knew it the moment I realized what I'd almost done to Shane. Something like that spoke volumes about me. And everyone in this town knew everybody's business. Lena Lee wasn't saying some ground-breaking insight only someone with high observation skills could deduce. I'd made it all plain and clear—and somehow none of these people had ran away from me.

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