Wyatt
I’ve got plans with Owen tomorrow night. But we’ll figure out a time.
Wyatt
Kick ass out there, Carson! I can’t wait to hear all about it!
By the time I’ve read through all the texts, the fizzy feeling inside me has gone flat. My best friends are going to be with their best guys, both at the same family dinner.
Without me.
Because now they’re practically sisters.
Maybe Dan wasn’t totally off base when he said I needed a friend.
Trying to fit a girls’ night in between all their hot dates is sounding impossible.
Just when I’m about to sink into the most rockin’ of personal pity parties, the door to the gym flies open with a loud creak. Jaxcomes rushing across the floor, their sneakers squeaking on the polished wood.
“Forgot my water bottle,” they say, picking up a dented Hydro Flask covered in faded stickers from the bleachers. “You sure you don’t want to join us? We’re going to Upland.”
I glance down at my phone and the encouraging-yet-disappointing text thread, then back up at Jax, my new teammate.
“Actually, yeah,” I say, hoisting my gear bag over my shoulder. “My plans fell through, so I’ll meet you there.”
CHAPTER 13
DAN
Archer
Hey dipshit, you’re late. You better be on your way.
Iwasn’t late. I pulled up to my dad’s house right on time.
And then I drove right past it.
I’ve circled the block twice, trying to steel myself to park and go inside for family dinner.
And anyway, it’s only five past six. Dad’s text calling Archer, Felix, Owen, Grace, and me to dinner at his house told us to show up “around” six.
Not that Archer will accept that answer.
With a sigh, I pull the BMW to a stop behind the trio of pickup trucks belonging to my brothers and Decker’s vintage Bronco. The house I grew up in is small and tidy thanks to my Dad, who owns a hardware store and has never once let anything stay broken or unkempt for more than five minutes. He instilled that work ethic in all of us, even if we each went in a different direction with it. I know my dad has always shaken his head at my work in finance,but he’s the reason I was able to do it in the first place. Those late nights studying? All those extra hours in the office? That was because of his example.
I love my father.
And I still don’t want to go to this dinner.
As soon as I open the front door, I hear the familiar sounds of my boisterous family. They were the soundtrack of my life for the first eighteen years. They were the reason I bought my first pair of noise-cancelling headphones when I was thirteen. When I moved away, I missed them, but I relished having peace and quiet for the first time in my life.
“Donotput that hot casserole dish on the table without a trivet!” Grace shrieks from the kitchen.
“What the fuck is a trivet?” Felix calls back, but he’s grinning at his twin brother Owen, because he absolutely knows what a trivet is. Teasing is Felix’s love language, and annoying Grace is the cherry on top.
“You two are useless,” Grace gripes, stomping out of the kitchen with a dish towel thrown over her shoulder, only to watch as Felix places whatever gooey, cheesy monstrosity she’s cooked onto a felt hot pad on our old dining room table. There’s a card table set up at the end, and I’m barely done counting chairs before the rest of my family descends.
“You’re late,” Archer says with a brotherly glare. He drops his enormous athletic frame into a chair beside my dad’s spot at the head of the table. Archer spent his entire life playing hockey, first at University of Michigan and then in the NHL, until a knee injury ended his career.
