Jack smiled. Rarely was anyone ever allowed to call his mother, Rebecca DeLuca, by anything other than…Rebecca—save their father, who called her Becky, and Jack and Josh, who, of course, called her Mom.
While they’d been in Mexico, his mother had taken an instant liking to Jessica. Not that Jack was surprised. Jessica—like her nickname—was pure sunshine. Her personality was magnetic, and Jack would be hard pressed to find anyone with a bad word to say about her. In the nearly four years they’d been apart, that light she emanated hadn’t dimmed a bit. In fact, it had grown,encapsulating everything and everyone around her in a safe, warm glow.
Jack was all too happy to bask in that warmth.
“Well, you sure got yourself a looker,” his dad said, and once again, his mom smacked her husband.
“Joseph!”
Jack’s dad shrugged, then to Jessica, he said, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Jessica. We’ve heard a lot about you.”
Jack willed his cheeks to remain free of a blush but was unsuccessful. Jessica dipped her head, a small smile playing in her lips, before meeting his father’s gaze and saying, “Thank you. It’s great to meet you as well.”
Then Jack’s mom hooked her arm through Jessica’s and pulled her away from the men, chattering as she led Jessica toward the bar.
“You did good, kid,” his dad said to Jack once Jessica was out of earshot.
“You have no idea,” Jack replied, watching Jessica laugh with his mom.
He must’ve had stars or hearts or something else equally cheesy in his eyes, some indication that he was wildly in love with this girl, because his dad said, “Don’t let Josh see you look at her like that. You’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Fuck Josh,” Jack said lightly.
“I’m just saying,” his dad said. “You know he doesn’t feel things the way you do.”
“I’m aware,” Jack said. His brother’s entire life revolved around hockey, and once, Jack had been the same. But ever since Jessica Daniels had walked into his life four years ago, the scope of the things that were most important to him had shifted. Since then, he’d been chasing the feelings from that week when he’d been with her, desperately searching for that again. Whenshe’d come back to him, everything had once again clicked into place.
“I’m not going to let Josh make me feel bad about finding the love of my life,” Jack added to his dad. “He’s just going to have to get used to it.”
“It’s that serious, then.” It wasn’t a question.
“The most serious I’ve ever been about anything in my life, Dad. She’s the one. She’s it for me.”
Jack swallowed hard around the thick emotion clogging his throat, then risked meeting his dad’s gaze.
Only, his father wasn’t looking at him.
No. Joe DeLuca was staring at his wife.
“I know the feeling,” he said quietly.
Halfway through the third period, Jessica whispered to Jack, “It feels weird to be here without Kenzie.”
“I mean, she’s still here, isn’t she? Doesn’t her family have a box?”
“Yes,” Jessica said. “I’m just saying it’s weird to not be watching a game with her. I’ve never done that, and her brother is playing.”
“Well, so ismybrother,” Jack reminded her.
“That’s the other problem,” she said. “I have no idea who to cheer for.”
Jack chuckled. “I’m only rooting for Pittsburgh because Josh will be in a far better mood after a win.”
“Okay,” Jessica said. “Me, too.”
Thankfully, the Quakers were only about two minutes away from said win, as long as they held onto their two goal lead.
Naturally, as soon as Jack had the thought, Brent Jean decided he had other ideas and cut the lead to one with an absolutely filthy backhand that sailed over the left shoulder of the Quakers’ goalie. To the rest of the arena, it probably looked like a lucky shot, but Jack, with his goalie eyes, knew better. The Quakers’ goalie had been a fraction of a second too slow in stopping the shot, a flaw in his game that Jack had noticed earlier and had been waiting to see if anyone else would, too.
