Page 234 of Securing the Pucking Rebound

I barely hear the second half of his sentence; I’m too fixated on the fact that he called me son.

I can’t remember the last time someone did.

My chest contracts, and my eyes dart to Sienna.

She smiles reassuringly at me.

“Hey, it’s good to see you again too,” I say finally, sliding my palm against his.

“We’re glad you could join us at such late notice.”

“Me too. Sienna always talks so fondly of spending the holidays here.” I glance around the room at all the people enjoying themselves. “And I can see why. Sweaters aside, of course.”

Martin chuckles while his wife, Sally, scoffs, but it’s all in good humor as she shoves her husband aside so she can say hello to me.

But she doesn’t just shake my hand. Instead, she steps closer and pulls me in for a hug.

A lump crawls up my throat as she wraps her arms around me. It’s been so long since I’ve had a hug like this.

“We’ve been hearing so many things about you,” she says softly.

“All good, I hope,” I say as we part, hoping like hell they can’t hear the quiver in my voice.

She smiles coyly at me, and it reminds me so much of Sienna.

“Of course. We wouldn’t have invited you otherwise.”

“You guys all knew about this?” Sienna asks.

“Maybe,” her mom teases.

“When did you plan it?”

“It was all a bit last minute,” Garrett explains. “I messaged yesterday afternoon, floating the idea, and Calvin was on a plane this morning.”

“Floated the idea?” I question. “You sent me the ticket before I’d even agreed.”

“I figured that if you said no, you weren’t serious enough about her, so …”

“Garrett,” Sally snaps.

“What? Just because he’s a kickass hockey player, it doesn’t mean he's automatically good enough for Sienna.”

My cheeks heat as they talk about me being good enough. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever consider myself worthy of Sienna. All I can hope is that they see something in me that allows me to stick around.

“Enough of that,” Martin says. “He’s here, and it’s Christmas. Garrett, go and get Calvin a drink.”

Garrett disappears without question before Martin and Sally tell us they’re going to give us a few minutes to catch up and disappear into the crowd.

“I can’t believe you’re really here. And that they managed to get you a matching sweater.”

“I hardly doubt they were sold out. Have you seen the state of this thing?” I ask, making her laugh.

It’s the sweetest fucking sound.

“You’re not wrong. I thought last year was bad. Mom has really outdone herself with this one.”

“It really is something. When I first saw it, I thought maybe they hated me.”