I smile. “And I’ll be seeing you in mine, since you lost the rematch.”
“You guys should wear them to the pool party,” Livie suggests with a snicker. “Some of the girls from our team will be there.”
“And guys from mine,” Tiago says, grinning. “They’re going to wish they were me.”
I scoff. Livie laughs. There’s no point in telling them—again—that I’m not going to the pool party. I love my friends and appreciate that they’re trying to take my mind off things, but I know myself. I won’t be able to do anything remotely fun that day. Tiago directs us to one side of the table, where he sits between us. Finn ends up directly in front of me, with Hamilton and Damian to his left and my mother to his right. Everyone falls into conversation pretty naturally as we eat. Titus asks Hamilton and Finn questions about the Owls. When he starts going into personal territory and directing the questions at Finn specifically, I shoot him a look that he thankfully catches.
“I’ve already asked Will this question, and I’m curious to know if your answer is similar,” Titus starts, “Why would a guy from a wealthy family, who has everything laid out for him, pursue professional hockey?”
Finn takes his time sipping his wine before he answers, “Why not?”
“Because your future is laid out for you,” Titus repeats. “Was your father okay with your decision?”
Finn’s expression doesn’t falter, but for some reason, his question bothers me. Maybe it’s because I’ve heard enough about his parents to know they’re very set in their ways. For them, everything is by the book, and the rules of the book are archaic. We all play a part, and our roles change depending on the scene. People like them don't seem to get much of a choice in anything. Mallory had to dress and act a certain way when she was with them, which tormented her. I couldn’t blame her. I can’t imagine that Finn, as the firstborn male, would have it any easier. Mal only mentioned his choosing hockey once, and she said something along the lines of, “Our parents blew a gasket.”
“You don’t have to answer that,” I say, clearing my throat and earning Finn’s attention. “Titus loves to badger people with questions, and sometimes, when his defense attorney side comes out, it can get really intense.”
“Good to know,” Finn says, his eyes so intense that I feel he’s sucking the air out of my lungs.
“Stop pestering him, honey. He provided this delicious wine,” Mom says, snapping us out of the trance as she lifts her glass. “A toast to sharing food with a new face.”
Everyone mumbles something in agreement, lifts their glass, and takes a sip of the wine, which is … fine. I’m not sure what I expected. I know nothing about wine, but at that price tag, I thought it would be, “Oh my God-good.”
“Do you have any content to shoot or anything going on this weekend?” Mom asks me after a moment.
“Not really,” I say. “I’m recording a training session, but that’s mostly because people keep asking me for an updated one.”
“A training session that she’s forcing me to be a part of, by the way, even though we’re going to train with some of the girls the day after,” Livie says.
I laugh. “Stop whining.”
“You sound like Finn,” Will says, smirking.
My heart skips. “How so?”
“He trains for fun.”
“I train for excellence,” Finn says.
“You should do a basketball versus hockey player training video,” Dame says. “People would be surprised to see we do a lot of the same things.”
“That would be fun,” I agree. “Are you volunteering?”
Dame chuckles. “I mean, I guess I can.”
“Finn should do it.”
“Are you my spokesperson now, Mr. Hamilton?” Finn asks, raising an eyebrow, but he doesn’t look or sound upset about it.
From the way Will laughs, and as quiet as I know Finn can be, I get the feeling he normally does this.
“Do you have anything else going on, besides recording content?” Mom asks.
“We’re going to a pool party,” Tiago says, smirking at me.
“You’regoing to a pool party. I already told you I’m not up for it.”
“Is it on Saturday?” Mom asks softly, then offers a gentle smile when I nod.
