Chapter 5 - The French Connection
In the week and a half since Trent had moved into the ‘player’s complex’, Emma had made every excuse she could to try to spend more time with him. She wanted to get to know him better; and see if he was as into her as she was finding herself into him.
She found out that he was the middle of six kids (with twin younger sisters), as well as having a toddler aged niece courtesy of his older brother. Still, Emma felt like she only knew him as much as he wanted to be known. Which she found both frustrating and refreshing at the same time.
She seemed to be able to make him smile and laugh, and she’d even gotten a quick hug out him that afternoon – but he’d still declined her invitation to meet up with the Malones at O’Callaghan’s Pub for Gabi’s birthday, and the arrival of her brother and cousin from the East Coast. Why they were coming to this god forsaken place, she had no clue. She just shrugged it off with another sip of beer, then shook her head at Devin's tease.
“No lover boy tonight?”
“Not that I’m the best sort of judge of these things, if the past has proved any clue. Shut up Gabi! But I don’t think he’s into me that way.” Emma turned to meet the dancing eyes of her friend, knowing where her mind had been going during her spiel and took the turn to tease in her own right, adding, “Just cuz it’s your birthday doesn’t mean you have rights to pick on me!”
Holding up ‘innocent hands’ even as she laughed and flat downed her beer, already well on her way to several sheets to the wind, Gabi grinned back at her, only a trace of a slur in her tone, “C’mon though, the one time we try and play matchmaker and you criticize the poor boy at the door.”
“He was wearing sweatpants for a date. Who does that?!?” Emma promptly retorted, though giggling a bit herself at both the memory and the sight of Gabi pitching over in her laughter. “But they weren’t even nice sweatpants.”
“Y’know he’s too embarrassed to be a subcontractor for me anymore? Even though you two generally got along well. I think he’s afraid I’ll hurt him because he thinks he’s hurt your feelings by not asking you out again.” Devin chuckled a bit himself, then shook a finger at his wife when she went for his beer, murmuring at her “Slow down love. I have no qualms carrying you to bed, but there’s better things we can be doing then you puking the night away.”
No sooner had Gabi huffed a bit, a loud voice cut through the bar, asking “Gabriella, où es-tu?”
As Gabi rose to her feet to wave her hands towards where the voice had come from, Emma cut her eyes towards Devin and cocked an eyebrow. With Gabi distracted, Emma could ask under her breath, “Do I even want to know?”
“Non, I mean no. But you will soon enough.” And with that Devin stood as well to greet the two men who had finally reached their table, grabbing the smaller of the two and putting him in a playful headlock. “I know your lead foot, what the hell took you so long to get here? We were starting to get worried!”
Looking between the two men and her friends, she realized that these had to be Gabi’s brother and cousin, though which was which she had no clue. And still, she had no idea why they both were out here, because they were arriving far too late to be here just to celebrate her birthday. So, Emma sat awkwardly, waiting for someone to do introductions. In the meantime, she grabbed for her beer to pick at the label, rocking side to side as her discomfort with the situation became visible.
Uncomfortable by the thought of spending time with people she didn’t know, Emma’s angst grew when the taller one finally noticed her and barked towards Gabi, “Calice, pourquoi cette grosse vache est sur ma chaise?”
Eyes widening a bit, they grew even more when Gabi found enough balance to land a well-placed kick to his shin that sent the taller man to his knees, cussing under his breath. Ignoring his glare and hitting him with one of her own, Gabi chose that moment to clarify which boy was which, snarling, “You are a fucking asshole, Luke Perrault. Quit being such a prick and start talking in English. So help me God, Tabarnak, if you repeat what you just said again and I hear about it, you’ll be drinking your beer through a straw!”
A moment later, confirming Emma’s thoughts, the smaller man, having escaped Devin’s grasp, sighed and shook his head. “Way to make an impression, Luke.” Turning his head towards Emma, he offered her a smile and extended a hand in her direction. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Ryan Perrault, Gabriella’s brother.”
Giving Ryan’s hand a quick but firm shake, Emma settled further back into her chair with her beer, trying to catch Devin’s eyes, only to find him making the sign of the cross under the table. No doubt he was trying to find penance for whatever lewd thoughts were going through his mind, before he finally gazed over in her direction. “Why are they here, and why does her cousin already hate me?” She hissed at him under her breath, being certain that only he would hear it.
“He doesn’t hate you, he’s just an arrogant prick when he wants to be; which he seems to be tonight. As for why they’re here…”
Unbeknownst to Emma, Ryan had chosen to drop into the open chair beside her, leaning closer to tell her in the same soft voice as Devin had been using, “We’re here to play hockey. But shoosh, team hasn’t sent out the release yet and we’re not supposed to tip the media or something.”
Cackling at that, despite her better judgment, Emma gave Ryan a small wink, teasing, “Emma Connelly, KC Times, beat reporter for your brand-new hockey team.” And turning towards Luke and giving him a ‘go fuck yourself’ smile, she added, “Now tell me how to spell your name so I know who not to write about.”
Snorting as he settled into the only remaining chair, between his cousins, Luke was still bent over rubbing at his shin even as he answered in almost flawless English, “You will find out soon enough that you will have no choice but to write about me.”
Returning his snort with one of her own, Emma turned back to Ryan, asking, “So what position do you play?” only briefly cutting her eyes to catch Devin’s to make sure she’d asked the question properly.
“I’m a goalie.” and at noting the flicker of confusion on Emma’s face that she wasn’t quite able to hide, he added, “The one with all the extra equipment, always on the ice, and with fingers and toes crossed, the starter for this team. So far, I’m the only goalie signed.”
“Crisse de Tabarnak. She’s the reporter and she doesn’t even know what a goalie is?” Luke barked, before almost immediately groaning as Gabi’s fist swatted out and caught him in the gut.
But before Gabi, Devin, or even Ryan could comment, it was Emma smoothly inquiring, “Such filthy language. Do you kiss your Mama with that mouth?”
Eyes widening just a bit at Emma having understood what he’d said, Luke still retorted just as fast, “Non, but there are plenty of other lips that I can and will be kissing as this season progresses. Mark my words.”
Emma could only make a low tsk noise at that before eyeing Devin, murmuring at him, “Please tell me this one isn’t staying in one of the units anywhere near me.” And when his eyes lowered, she groaned, asking him, “Whyyyyyy?”
Devin shrugged a bit, tilting his head towards his wife, who was still engaged in a staring/glaring match with her cousin and answered, “Her doing.”
Raising her eyes to gaze around the Pub, she noted that many of the eyes in the room were still on them – making her even more uncomfortable with the situation than she already was. Taking one final pull from her beer to empty the bottle she rose to her feet again and gave Gabi her best forced smile. “Listen, I don’t want to interrupt the family reunion, and I’ve got work that I should be doing anyways.”
Gabi, Devin, and Ryan all frowned at her words, but Emma wasn’t surprised to see the small smile curl over Luke’s lips. She wished that she’d thought to bring her recorder and leave it in her satchel, but who’d have thought she’d need it for a birthday celebration with friends? Still, she knew that whatever had been said was about her, and based on Gabi’s reactions, wasn’t even remotely kind.
“I can’t convince you to stay?” Gabi asked quietly before she shot another murderous glare in her cousin’s direction. When Emma shook her head no, Gabi sighed and murmured, “Dev, will you walk her out to her car at least?”
Devin bounded to his feet, bent down to kiss his wife and then hooked his arm through Emma’s, leading her away from where their table was and towards the busier bar area. When they were well out of earshot of the party of Perrault’s, he finally said softly, “She means well.”
“So, I’ll have her brother as my constant shadow to make sure no boogiemen go bump in the night?” Emma inquired as they finally reached the parking lot and she started fishing into her satchel to grab her car keys.
“Oh, I’m sure she’d not object to you and Ryan becoming a couple, though he will protest loudly that he’s just here to play hockey, not have his sister play matchmaker.” When Emma turned to stare dumbstruck at Devin, he held his hands up in the air as a gesture of innocence. “I have nothing to do with this, little one. I’m just as along for the ride as you are. Besides, you could do far worse than Ryan.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like Luke. What the hell was his problem? And what was he calling me that got her so pissed off?”
“I don’t know.” Devin said too quick and Emma immediately shoved him. “Okay, I do know, but if I told you, she’d kick my ass. And that would be more kinky shit you wouldn’t want to hear about, so can we just stick with I don’t know?”
Making an ‘urrrrgh’ noise in his direction, Emma was already shaking her head. “Brain bleach. I need to stock up on brain bleach. Crisse de Tabarnak.” And as soon as the expression left her mouth, she blinked and stared at Devin harder. “That was Jesus Fucking Christ. I looked that one up after you guys left.” Gears once again spinning, Emma started pacing around her car, “So she called him a Fucker?”
“Not exactly. Well, um, I think she was intending for something a bit stronger than ‘fucker’. Tabarnak is, well, a very versatile word.”
‘Versatile’ she mouthed back at him.
“It’s much like we use ‘fuck’, but it can encompass several words all at once. Can we leave it as she was quite displeased with him and expressed as much?”
“Well, speaking of fuckers, let’s see if this bastard starts up this time.” Sliding into the seat and closing the door behind her, but immediately rolling down the window, Emma put the key into the ignition and wasn’t the least bit surprised when the car cranked but didn’t turn over. Leaning her head against the steering wheel, she tried again, with the same results. “Fuck. My. Life.”
Devin reached inside to pat her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it little one. I’ll go grab the keys from Gabi, drive you back, and we’ll try and get your vehicle situated when it’s brighter out.” Sighing, and with no fight left in her, Emma nodded and climbed from her car, leaning against it, while waiting for Devin to return.
All she could hope at this point was that her new apartment-mates weren’t as rowdy and obnoxious as Gabi had implied so many months before.