Her shoulders shook with her laughter. “I’m trying. I am. I don’t know how to do that.”
“What?”
She eased back and looked up at him. “Fight.”
“Come on. Everyone knows how to fight.”
She shook her head. “Nope. I’ve always been too afraid. Every time I’ve ever had a boyfriend, and things got rough, we broke up. That was it. The end.”
“You sure you’re best friends with Moira? Because I’ve seen the O’Learys fight. They’re not as rowdy as the O’Malleys, but they get into it.”
“I’m not stupid. I know people fight. I’ve seen it happen, and it makes me uncomfortable. I usually leave.”
He thought about that. Every time he and his brothers had gotten into something, even if it was playful, Kathy had made herself scarce. “You can do your best or your worst and you won’t scare me away.”
She paused before offering a quick nod. “Okay.”
He held her upper arms and pushed her gently back from his embrace. “So let me have it.”
“What?”
“You came in here pissed off, saying it was a shitty thing to do.” He held his hands out for her to continue, but he also saw she had no steam left.
But she straightened her shoulders and stiffened her spine. “You’re an asshole. I asked if we could talk, and you made it sound like we had a chance, you gave me hope. When I said I wanted to learn to fight for us, you laughed.”
“I didn’t—”
Her hand flicked up. “Don’t interrupt me. You absolutely did laugh at me. You thought I was being cute when all I did was try to make a point. That hurt.”
Fuck. Her point struck home. He had done that to her. And worse, he was doing it again. He stood there, thinking about how cute it was that she was going to fight, and her words actually carried weight and meaning.
He set his beer on the table beside them and reached for her. He held her head, threading his fingers through her curls, and kissed her. “I’m a fucking asshole.”
“Yeah, you are, but why are you copping to it so easily?”
He rested his forehead against hers. “I pushed you like I needed you to prove something to me, as if I needed to teach you something, and in one quick sentence, you showed me. I asked you to fight with me, to tell me when you were feeling insecure or upset. And then I treated your concerns like they were cute. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t like this,” she whispered. “Fighting.”
“It’s not like we do it all the time.”
“My parents did.”
“But they didn’t belong together. You know that. Did they ever love each other?”
She lifted her shoulders. “I didn’t bother asking my mom. I’m not sure I want the answer.”
“I know the answer here. We belong together.” His fingers skimmed down her arms. “Can you spend the night?”
She nodded. “I’ve missed you.”
“Not nearly as much as I’ve missed you.”
He knew things weren’t perfect, but they’d figure it out. They were definitely on the right path.
* * *
Kathy had no idea how she’d been roped into going to a hockey game and then out for drinks with the O’Malley family on a Sunday afternoon, but that’s where she found herself a week later. She and Kevin watched Tommy, Sean, and Kai on the ice and cheered with Norah, Deirdre, and Emma in the stands. Her life felt balanced and normal. She and Kevin were happy and working.
And she’d found herself surrounded by a whole new family who accepted her.
She and Kevin still didn’t see each other as often as she’d like, which was part of why she was sitting at McGinty’s drinking with a bunch of hockey players at four in the afternoon, but they were working on it. Kevin had brought up the idea of them moving in together a couple of times. She thought it was a little too early yet, but the thought no longer scared the crap out of her. The idea of settling down with Kevin was beginning to feel like it was where she belonged, and that made her happy.
She sipped on a margarita because the bartender looked at her like she was crazy for asking for a cosmo. Judging by the amount of tequila burning her throat, she shouldn’t have asked for a margarita either. Kevin was on his second beer and he was in party mode. She hadn’t seen him like this in a long time. He’d shaken off all vestiges of city-hall, suit-wearing Kevin, and he was just another loud-mouthed, cursing O’Malley.
He wasn’t vulgar or disrespectful, just different. She’d forgotten this side of him. The side that needed to let loose. He moved from one group of people to the next. At tables, at the bar, it didn’t matter. He spoke with everyone. When he was like this, she could see him being a politician. He was good at charming everyone.
Kathy sat by herself. She’d talked with players’ wives and girlfriends, but she was talked out. She didn’t know how Kevin did this. He never ran out of things to say. Kevin came by, kissed the side of her head, and asked, “Need another drink?”
“No, this one isn’t all that good. I think I’m going to head out.”
“Come on, let’s stay for a while. We haven’t been out like this in a long time. Not just for fun. No work, or networking, or responsibility.”
He was right, but she wasn’t having much fun. “You can stay.” They’d come in separate cars, but had planned on going home together.
“No. Stay and we’ll leave together. A half hour.” He offered a broad smile and wiggled his eyebrows at her. His charm always worked on her and he knew it.
“Thirty minutes for real,” she said.
“Yep.”
Then he was gone again. Kathy turned her drink in circles and played with the condensation dripping on the glass. Kevin was having a good time, and she didn’t want to ruin his fun, but
