I winked at Theo, delighted that he was holding fast as a Trekkie. Then I held up my hand and split my fingersbetween the ring and middle finger in the Vulcan Salute. He did the same, grinning.
I nodded and raised my brows excitedly.I saw it,I mouthed.We can talk later.
He grinned again, and then tugged on Tally’s sweater, trying to tell her something. She leaned down but his lisp made it impossible to whisper very well. I clearly heard him say, “I like Ash.”
I chuckled. Whenever he dropped the last syllable of my name, his lisp made it sound like he was saying a swear word.
I liked him too.
Tally glanced at me, eyes soft for a second before her brows pinched in a glare. I sighed. She was still mad about the switch to Professor Gibson. She turned around, ramrod straight.
I’m pretty sure my sister-in-law, Lemon, saw because she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Glad you could make it.”
At least somebody was.
“Thanks,” I whispered.
Persephone gave me a demure smile. My family was winning her over whether I wanted them to or not. That’s when I realized…
“Where’s Ford?” I asked, looking around.
Silas leaned down by my ear and pointed to the far end of the rink. A spotlight turned on, showcasing my youngest brother. The arena broke out into cheers.
I groaned. “Of course.” He couldn’t come watch the game like a normal person. No. He was on the edge of the ice, the light blinding him as he waved to the crowd, blowing kisses.
I heard Peyton blow out apfft.
Same, Peyton, same.
Ford pushed away from the glass and gingerly skated toward the center of the rink. Halfway there, he wobbleddramatically, making the crowd laugh. Then he righted himself and glided like a pro.
“Since when does he know how to skate,” I muttered.
“He practiced for hours,” Holden said from the other side of Christy. “Hours.”
Somehow my baby brother whipped out a spectacular loop with a guitar strapped to his back. Then he slid to a hard stop in the middle of the ice looking like he’d skated since childhood. Show off. Was there anything he wasn’t good at?
He strummed the first chord and began the Star Spangled Banner. I slapped my hand over my heart. I was more impressed at the fact that he could stand there on skates without falling over than I was at his singing. But I was pretty jaded when it came to his voice. I’d been listening to it my whole life. Usually at the most annoying times, like long car rides when I couldn’t escape. Or anytime I was upset. He said it was soothing. It made me want to punch something.
When he was done, everyone clapped. Even me. We sat down. I eyed Persephone, trying to decipher if she was here to get to Ford like most of the women I met. Ford’s fame had made it intensely difficult to find genuine women to date. But peeking at Persephone, there was no twinkling of the eyes, no twitterpated sigh. Huh. Maybe she was here for me.
Maybe if I worked at it, I could make myself feel something. This was only the first date. Maybe I needed to ramp up slowly.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Ford’s voice came through the speakers. The crowd went insane. “We’re going to start this game off a bit differently. So if we can all turn our attention to our favorite Knoxville native, we’ll get things rolling.”
A second spotlight came up, landing on Madden. But that tall son-of-a-gun wasn’t wearing his hockey uniform. No. He had on an expensive-looking suit. And he was holding a colossal bouquet of red roses. Probably two dozen. Tally letout a little gasp. The crowd cheered at the sight of him. He shoved off the wall, gliding toward Ford, a twinkle in his eye, a mischievous smirk to his lips.
Oh crap.
My hands moved to my knees, squeezing as the pain hit the center of my chest. Suddenly I knew exactly what this was. Knew what the suit was about. And the roses. Knew why Anna didn’t want me here. Of all the events in the history of the world that I could’ve been witness to, this was the very last one I wanted to see.
My family gasped behind me. Well, at least my family hadn’t come to support this proposal knowingly. The thought did nothing to ease the pain.
Eyes burning, I glanced at the empty aisle to my left. There was no one between me and freedom. It would look suspicious. My brothers might tease me for years. Persephone might figure it out.
I didn’t care. I could hardly breathe. Couldn’t see straight.
I shoved my leg out, about to stand, when Anna, who’d been in the row above, stepped over the empty seat next to me and onto our row. Blue was right behind her. She gave me a sad look as she slipped in beside me.
