Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,88

as an asshole preceded him. Hard to believe he had fathered sunny Bastian. Genetics, so strange.

Henri merely stared at her, evidently mystified. Fine, she didn’t need to win him over. After a little small talk about the meals they each had their eye on and the restaurant scene in Montreal versus Chicago, Nadine prompted Kennedy for information.

“A dog walker and a yoga instructor. That sounds interesting!”

Nadine was definitely the peacemaker, kind of like Bastian, though a little less peace-making and little more bomb-throwing might be better for this lot. “Sure, I love it. Do you do yoga, Nadine?”

“Me? Oh, no. I’m not sporty.”

Bastian laughed. “Nadine, yoga requires no sporting aptitude whatsoever. You’re essentially lying down the entire time.”

Kennedy gave him a playful punch. “Hey! I’ll have you know that yoga requires exceptional core strength.”

“I’m trying to not scare her off. I think she’d have a blast at yoga.” He grinned at Nadine. “Honestly.”

“Speaking of trying, I’ve been needling Reid to join my class but he’s worried about looking silly.”

Reid sipped his water. “That’s not what I’m worried about. I just don’t want to show you up in front of your students.”

“My students would love you joining in.” She shot a smile at Nadine, and included Henri in it, too, though he didn’t deserve it, the grump. “I do a yoga class at the senior home where my gran lives and Reid is quite the hit there. The ladies love him, especially when he hangs and plays bingo.”

That woke Henri from his sunshine-inflicted stupor. “You’ve got time to play bingo, Reid? Not from where I’m standing.”

Reid tensed beside her, and for what? Not spending every single second doing his job? Not even that, practicing to do his job.

Reid was the hardest working person Kennedy knew. A beast when it came to preparation, and it showed. Since she’d moved in, he had played at least ten times and had scored in more than half the games. If anyone deserved a little R&R, it was this guy.

“He’s having a great season,” Kennedy said. “Not that I know much about it but my sources tell me he’s doing well.” She slid a smile Reid’s way.

He held her gaze for a moment, just long enough to tease a secret grin from him. Meaning that he didn’t smile at all but she felt it in her soul.

“What the hell are they doing, moving you from the wing, Reid? Did you ask for that?”

“Dad,” Bastian said. “We’re trying to eat here.”

“How many Cups do you have?”

“One,” Bastian said, then added cockily, “Two by the end of this year.”

“Come back to me when you have four.” He addressed Reid. “And that team’s not going to win another Cup playing you at center. God knows you’ve done well with what you’ve got. You’re a decent right wing. You’ll be lucky if they keep you on the second or third line after the novelty wears off. And you need to keep above 50 points to guarantee they’ll offer you a contract next year. Center won’t get you there.” Durand Senior was getting mighty agitated. “This is what happens when women are put in charge.”

“Coach Calhoun is a man last time I looked,” Reid said, which made Bastian laugh.

“Don’t get smart with me. Guy’s a hack. They should have put him out to pasture years ago.”

“Henri …” Nadine tried to soothe him.

“Maybe goals aren’t everything,” Kennedy said. “Isn’t hockey about teamwork and brotherhood? Does it really matter who scores the goals as long as the team wins? And from what I can see, Reid’s contribution, whether on wing or at center, has immense value. So maybe cut him a break?”

Henri’s lip curled in disgust. “Let the adults talk, cherie.”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Reid said.

“It’s okay, I can handle it.”

“You shouldn’t have to.” Reid skewered his father with a look, and like all bullies when challenged, the man reddened and backed down.

But when she reached over to squeeze Reid’s pillar-thick thigh, he flinched. Damn. This was going to be trickier than she thought.

31

Reid parked in the resident space outside his apartment building and turned off the engine. On the way home, he had remained silent, shutting down any attempt by Kennedy to talk to him.

“So, that was kind of intense. Is he always like that or was that the special version he brings out for guests?”

His hands gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles straining through the skin. She was being flippant, mostly because she had no idea how Reid truly