“Of course.”
Matt narrows his eyes, as if he didn’t expect the question, and I’m not sure why he wouldn’t. He knows the rules imposed by our parents, all in the name of keeping me safe. He also agreed to let me live in his house and support my efforts to rebuild my life. Maybe seeing me doing well on my own is proving to him I can take care of myself.
“You want a soda or something?” he asks.
Zach appears behind Matt’s bulky frame, placing a glass on the table. “Ice tea, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I say, sliding it toward me. “Thank you.”
A tap on the microphone causes a burst of feedback before Gemma’s voice cuts through the air. “Matt Harris, get your cute butt up here. It’soursong.”
I expect some sappy song that encapsulates their perfect relationship, but instead, an old song about riding a train starts. It’s the same one that played when they entered their wedding reception for the first time as husband and wife.
“Excuse me,” Matt says with a goofy grin. “Finley, I beg you to keep this to yourself.”
“You mean not tell Charlie and Ryan?” I mime locking my mouth shut. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
I do one better, opening my phone camera and capturing every cringy moment of Gemma and Matt singing and doing a choreographed dance. My brothers and I will lord this over Matt until the end of time.
Zach sits in the booth beside me. “Hey, High-flyer,” he says, then smacks a hand over his mouth.
Deandra smirks. “I know about you and your girlfriend, Briggsy, so you can stop trying to be covert. You’re really bad at it, by the way.”
I shrug. “She saw us at the hotel pool.”
Zach’s mouth falls open. “Like you sawsawus?”
“You were in the water,” she replies with an eye roll. “So you can unclutch your pearls. Not that it’d faze me if you weren’t. Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” Deandra scooches out of the booth. “I think I want a glass of red wine after all.”
Zach lets out a breath. “She scares the shit out of me.”
“I think she might be my hero,” I say, laughing.
“You wear our jersey better than anyone else.” A contented breath flows out of him when he finds my hand beneath the table. “I love that you were there tonight.”
“I’ve never enjoyed a hockey game so much before.”
“Glad I could keep your attention.”
How he’s looking at me causes me to forget my surroundings and become absorbed in those dark brown eyes.
I drop his hand, moving to run my fingers along his thigh. “I couldn’t watch anything else.”
Sawyer plunks himself down on the opposite side of the booth, jolting both of us back to reality. “So Zach says you’ve been teaching him life skills.”
“Well hello to you too, Jennings,” I reply. “Good game tonight.”
“Thanks.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table, and gives me a cheeky grin full of blinding white teeth. If someone asked me to find the embodiment of “prep school hot,” I’d present them with Sawyer “Princeton” Jennings. “Tell me about these life skills.”
I glance at Zach who flicks his wrist in Jennings’s direction, granting silent permission before taking a swig of beer.
“Well, we took a budget class earlier this week, so Zach now knows people pay for water.”
Jennings chokes on his beer. “I’m sorry, what? Say that again.”
“Okay, hold on,” Zach interjects holding up a hand. “I know people have to pay for water when it’s bottled, but you know when you go to a restaurant, water is free, right? I thought it was like that at home since it’s something weneedto survive.”
Jennings dissolves in laughter, hitting the table with one hand as he doubles over.
