Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Summer
Dinner was lovely, but really, it was the Kershaws who made it perfect.
They were warm and generous, bawdy and rambunctious, exactly how I imagined they would be in each other’s company.
The contrast to Dash’s family was stark, and I hated that my mind went there.
After all, I wasn’t looking for a relationship with Hatch.
His family was not part of some package deal.
But Adeline was my friend, so I contented myself with the knowledge that I was here because of my connection to her.
Most people seemed to have their preferred spots at the table, so I was seated by default opposite Hatch—of course. He made a point of narrowing his eyes to indicate his faux dislike of me, which meant I was already doing what I did not want to do: smile.
Despite Mrs. Kershaw’s warnings about her family’s more indiscreet members, no one brought up Dash or the wedding. The conversational focus was on Theo’s contract extension, Jason’s move to the Rebels, and how the team was in a rebuilding phase.
“Yeah, time for the oldsters to retire,” Conor said.
Theo sent him a look. “Who you calling ‘old’?”
“I was talking about Lars. You’re immortal, Dad.”
Lars shook his head. “This kid.”
“This kid made the Frozen Four final his sophomore year!”
“What happened the last two years then?” Landon asked his brother.
“We were robbed.”
“You kind of were,” I said. “They should have put you in more, Conor, especially this last year. Your stats were stellar.”
Conor’s frown turned upside down. “Knew I liked you.”
“But they tend to look for ‘solid’ instead of ‘flashy’ at that stage, so I reckon they weren’t willing to take the chance.”
The table broke out in laughter. Theo pointed at his son. “She’s got your number, Connie!”
Conor was still smiling at me. “And you were doing so well. How come you know so much about college hockey?”
“Summer compiled a lot of reports when she worked for the org,” Addy said. “She probably knows more about the draft prospects than anyone here.”
“Don’t know about that,” I muttered.
“You do!” Addy gave me a fierce look. Since she’d found love with Lars and embraced her talents as a children’s entertainer, she was a champion for other people’s strengths. “Didn’t you say Lauren asked you for some of your research?”
Hatch’s agent had heard from Addy about my side hustle and reached out to me after Rosie’s dinner party to ask if I’d mind sending my scouting reports over.
Working at The Mallinson Group, one of the top sports management firms in the country, I would have thought she had a team of people to do that, but she said she was curious about how my research aligned with her own.
“Lauren’s super sharp,” Hatch said.
“Yeah, she is.” Theo looked at his son. “Poached you from my agent, didn’t she?”
“That was my choice, Dad.”
I got the impression this issue had been raised before, and that there was some residual tension surrounding it. The awkward moment was smoothed over by Conor.
“But back to me. The Rebels need a bit of flash. They won’t be getting that with Uncle J.”
“It’ll be good to have some mid-career players in there, for sure,” I offered, moving the conversation away from Hatch and Lauren. “That’s what a team needs during a rebuild. Stability to ease the transition. Jason’s a proven quantity.”
“Besides, it’s a bit early to be putting you in, bro.” Landon pointed a breadstick at Conor. “They probably want to see how much you eff up your first year with the Motors.”
“More likely they felt there was a Kershaw cap,” Aurora said. “We can only have three of you boys on the roster at any one time.”
That produced plenty of laughs.
Conor finished chewing his pasta. “Well, if Hatch gets his wish, I can take his spot.”
“Gets his wish?” Theo looked at Hatch, then back at Conor. “Meaning?”
Hatch shot a sharp look at his brother, who mouthed, “Sorry, bro.”
“Nothing. Just spit balling.” Hatch shrugged. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
“You looking to move?”
All eyes focused on Hatch. “I like to keep my options open.”
“Maybe less of the business talk at the table,” Elle said.
I caught Hatch’s eye and asked him silently if he was okay.
I had hoped he would have talked to his father already about feeling overshadowed on the team and how the comparisons weighed on him.
He returned a glance of gratitude, and yet again, something passed between us. Another thread, strengthening our bond.
After dinner, I offered to do dishes, but Elle had put the twins on clean-up duty.
Relaxing in the living room, Aurora and I had a nice chat about poison ivy (both the plant life and the Batman villain character), strange KitKat flavors, and which of the US presidents could “get it.” She hadn’t disagreed when I said Franklin Pearce gave off romantic poet vibes, though she was pretty thirsty for Teddy Roosevelt because a bullet had lodged in his chest during an assassination attempt and he continued a campaign speech.
We agreed that having a chest so muscled it repelled bullets was indeed the definition of hot.
Addy played a new song she had written about pasta and the different shapes, which Tilly adored, and because Mabel adored Tilly, she spent her time giggling and flirting.
I had a soft spot for both little girls, but Mabel was my first love.
She climbed into my lap while Addy sang, her chubby fist clumping my hair.
“Mabel, let Summer be,” Lars said.
“No!”
I laughed. “She’s fine where she is.”
Lars smiled indulgently then returned his focus to his girlfriend, all the love he had for her shining in his eyes.
Over the years I had watched various Rebels couples together, a touch envious of their vibes.
Ones I never felt with Dash. I had assumed that we were just one of those couples who made sense on paper, so what could possibly be wrong?
Only everything.
As much as I tried not to look at Hatch, I couldn’t help myself. Tilly was kneeling beside him on the sofa, putting Hello Kitty clips in his hair, which he bore stoically. But after a while, he pulled her close to bring the Ticklemonster.
“Tilly-Billy, what’s so funny?”
Tilly screamed, and just the sight of Hatch in his pretty hair clips, being so at ease with his family, filled me with peace and joy. I wanted to feel this happy all the time.
Elle picked up the cheese board from the coffee table. “I’ll return this to the fridge.”
A chorus of nos went up, and Mabel joined in because it was her favorite word. “That’s right, Mabel,” I whispered into her fine red-gold curls. “Remember no is a complete sentence.” If only I’d learned that sooner, I wouldn’t be in this mess with Dash.
Elle stood with arms akimbo. “But you all just had dinner. And you still want cheese?”
Leaning forward, Hatch sliced off some cheddar and Brie and added a couple of crackers.
“Mom, we came into this world eating cheese. We will leave it the same way.” He set the small plate on the coffee table in front of me, before making up another.
It was done so smoothly that I was sure no one had noticed.
It would be weird if I didn’t say “thanks,” though.
Weirder if I just accepted it as completely expected behavior from the guy who supposedly despised me.
“Thanks. How did you know?”
He looked up and blinked, realizing what he’d done.
“Just being a good host.” Then he turned back to make up mini-cheese plates for Addy and his great-grandmother, which reminded me of the Friends episode where Chandler mistakenly kissed Monica, then had to kiss Phoebe and Rachel to cover.
“Wow, it’s like we’re in Europe,” Aurora said after a sip of her wine. “Cheese after dinner.”
“Nothing but class here,” Addy said.
When I caught her glance, she had a curious expression on her face. Hatch’s cheese-serving gaffe had not gone unnoticed.
It didn’t take long. I exited the upstairs bathroom to find Addy waiting outside.
“What’s going on with you and my brother?”
“Conor’s a little young for me and Landon is batting for the other team.”
“He’s bi, actually, but you know who I mean. He attended to your cheese needs!”
It was one thing not to share, quite another to outright lie.
“We’ve become … friends.”
She opened her mouth. “Friends? He’s making you cheese plates. In front of people!”
“So damning.”
She pointed a finger. “Oh my God! He sent you that cheese board. But—how?”
“Could we go somewhere private?”
She grasped my hand and took me behind a door.
From the looks of the posters, this was her childhood bedroom.
Having slept in my mom’s bed as a kid, and then on the sofa when company called, I was always fascinated by the bedrooms of my peers.
Before I could examine it properly or explain how Hatch knew about my cheese addiction, Addy spoke.
“You’re the woman in the photo.” She covered her mouth and shook her head while her eyes danced and her brain joined the dots. “That was weeks ago. Right after … did Hatch help you escape?”
“I swear it wasn’t planned. He happened to be there when I climbed out the window. I would say he caught me, but in truth I flattened him like a World Wrestling Federation champion.”
I had left her speechless, so I filled the stunned silence.
“He knew I needed to get out of town. To reset. He was already heading for Saugatuck, and he took me there. I stayed for about ten days.”
“And you guys …” She waved.
“Ate a lot of cheese?”
She grasped my arms. “Get out! But he doesn’t like you. Unless that’s always been some weird pigtail-pulling in the playground deal and he does like you.”
“No, that’s not it.” Was it? “He was there for me when I needed him, but right now I can’t get involved with him. It’s far too complicated. And I’ve done the date-an-athlete thing. Would not recommend.”
Addy got a crimp between her eyebrows. “Treating them like some monolith sounds like Franky talking. Hatch is not the same as Dash.”
I knew that. But he had similar career goals—go where he was needed and play where he was wanted. I could see myself getting shafted again because my boyfriend’s job was more important than mine.
You don’t even have a job, Summer.
Agh, Shelby Mae. I thought you were asleep in your coffin!
“Adeline!” Lars called up the stairs. “You ready?”
Mabel could be heard yelling “no!” at a high pitch. Addy opened her mouth, but Lars called out again.
“Listen, I need to go and I’m staying over with Lars,” she said. “But maybe we could meet for lunch and talk more tomorrow?”
I nodded because frankly I was ready to share. I needed to. “Definitely. But please don’t tell anyone. It’s not a good look for me—falling for the teammate of the fiancé I jilted.”
Her eyes went wide. “Falling?”
Oh Summer, you’ve gone and done it now.
“Just a figure of speech. You should go before Lars blows a blood vessel.”