“Amelia,” he confirms.
“Pretty name.”
He nods, pulling off his cap and running a hand through his brown hair which is less gray than Dad’s. That’s the trouble with having darker hair, age shows way quicker. Drew actually found a gray strand when we were lying on the couch watching a movie the other night. I was fucking mortified.
Drew’s hot chocolate is set down in front of me along with my coffee and the sweet treat that shall henceforth remain nameless.
Zach gazes around the lobby. “The last time we were in this hotel you and June were nestled safely inside your mom, giving her back ache, and your dad was nervous as shit, convinced she was going to get cold feet at the final second.”
I gape at him. “I can’t imagine Dad getting nervous over anything.”
Zach winks and puts in his order.
“Yeah, but you didn’t see the way your mom put him through his paces just to get her to go on one date with him. If it weren’t for you and June showing up, I’m not even sure they’d be together.” He jerks his chin at Drew’s hot chocolate, the whipped cream starting to slide down the sides of the takeout cup. “I guess you better get going before you land yourself in deeper water for wasting sprinkles.” His shoulders shake with laughter. “Goddamn, man, you had even me fooled with that Ring Pop prank. Drew was going out of her mind before the ceremony.”
Chuckling, I set a hand on Zach’s shoulder. It’s hard to believe this guy has been retired from the game for over two decades, his physique is as solid as it was when he was playing.He, Jon, Dad, and my coach, Jessie Callaghan, still hit the ice and play shinny when they’re all in town together.
“Will I see you around again before you head back to Florida?”
Like the hand on his shoulder isn’t enough, he wraps me into the kind of hug only Dads can deliver. “I’ll be around here and there.” He pulls back and our eyes connect. “I know you probably hear this all the time and I’m just another ex-pro in a long line repeating the words”—he swallows thickly—“but I’m proud of you, Will. And Drew is the best thing that ever happened to you. Keep racking up points andWs because yeah, they’re all important. But take it from a guy with his hockey days behind him, family is everything, and you landed yourself the greatest gift when you married Jessie’s daughter.”
Words lodge in the back of my throat, so I’m grateful when Zach keeps talking.
“That speech you gave online when everything went to shit for you both…” he lifts one of his coffee cups in acknowledgement. “Bravo, man. You had a whole nation in tears over that speech. Luna wanted to know why I haven’t made the same grand gesture for her.”
I quirk a brow and tap my coffee cup against his. “Tell her that I learned from the best. I fucked up and I needed to own it. If anyone taught me about respect and always doing the right thing—on and off the ice—then it was you.”
four
. . .
“Game. Set. Match.”
Drew
“I demand a re-draw.”
I roll my eyes at Tristan. “It’s a game of mixed doubles and trust me when I tell you that June is the best tennis player here.”
He drops his name back into the upturned baseball cap I’m holding. “This whole thing is fixed.”
“Oh, don’t be such a baby!” June grabs his name back out and shoves the piece of paper into his hand. “As long as you’re not as terrible at tennis as you are at hockey then we will walk this.”
“I want no cheating, Jones!” Marley points a stern finger at June. “I know what you get like when the competition heats up.”
She winks and tucks her racket under one arm, sauntering to the baseline in white shorts so small and tight, even I’m blushing. And jealous. An ass like that should be illegal.
Vesper—who isn’t taking part for obvious reasons—takes Tristan by surprise as she rises onto her tiptoes and whispers in his ear. “You know you aren’t fooling anyone, right?”
Caught red-headed, Tritan’s eyes snap away from June’s butt, heat blazing in them as he looks around our group.
Will cocks a brow at his teammate. “Were you just checking out my sister?”
In the background, June begins warming up her serve and damn, is there anything the Jones family can’t do?
Tristan scoffs, black curls falling over his forehead as he crosses his arms over his chest. He’d be an attractive guy if he wore something other than a scowl on his face. “Why? Does the thought of me as a brother-in-law appeal to you?”
“And here I was, trying to wipe the image of frosting from my mind. I didn’t think my imagination could be anymore twisted and then you had to go and plant that thought in my head,” Will retorts, feigning to puke.