Chapter 7 #2
More passive-aggressive digs at my caffeine ingestion. “It’s Violet’s, actually. I’m drinking Jasmine tea, which is very low in caffeine. Though usually I prefer Earl Grey, which has slightly higher caffeine content.”
And now I was rambling. I never rambled.
A smile touched his lips. “So I kind of stuck my nose in there, too.”
“You did. But it seems that’s your thing.”
“Meaning?”
I stepped aside to make room for other waiting customers. He followed me, moving closer so our conversation was more private.
“Meaning you’ve always disliked my friendship with your brother.”
“Not true.”
“Yes, it is. You once said that you don’t know why we’re friends.”
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Rubbed his chin, which had the barest scrape of stubble and was strangely appealing.
Stubble on a man is always appealing. It was a very objective opinion, even when applied to Jason Isner.
“I said that?”
“I overheard you speaking to Sean years ago.” Plus, there were all the times he had been directly hateful to me. “It’s obviously something that bothered you and has colored your view of me for years. But that’s fine. We all hold preconceived notions or carry deep-seated opinions from our pasts.”
He didn’t appear all that surprised at my forthrightness.
“Guess you’re onto something there. I don’t recall saying that, though I’ve thought it.
But then Sean’s kind of a bookish guy, so maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised that a brainiac like yourself would be friendly with him.
” He leaned in. “But this goes both ways. On the subject of preconceived notions and deep-seated opinions, you certainly hold a lot about athletes. Kind of fond of the blanket statement there.”
“It might seem that way, but I suspect your taking offense is really down to your own insecurity about your intelligence.”
“Ah, blame the victim.”
I reared back. “Are you a victim?”
“No, I’m not. But it sounds like you’re saying my problem with your opinions is my fault because I feel insecure instead of yours for espousing them in the first place.”
Espousing. Where did he learn a word like that?
My shock must have been evident because the oddest thing happened.
The man smiled at me. A genuine and genuinely gorgeous smile that made my pulse jump and my core heat. I was suddenly and unaccountably aroused.
Rhymes with espoused.
He inclined his head. “Didn’t think I had it in me, did ya?”
I panicked. “Don’t know what you mean.”
My denial merely emphasized my reaction and let him know that it had affected me. That he had affected me.
“Hmm,” he murmured. “I think you do.” Said so low and, God help me, sexy, I took a step back.
I had to. He was just so present. My entire body flushed with heat, my sexual awareness of another person never higher. Not even when I was actually having sex with someone.
Worst of all, he knew. And all because he used a word typically not spoken by someone below a twelfth grade reading level. He probably planned it so he could throw it out there as some sort of jibe at my jibe about his intelligence.
Applying logic should have been enough to cool me down, but oddly, no.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Perfectly fine.”
“You look a little off, like you need to sit down.”
“Hey, Franks!”
Violet had just arrived in all her light-up-the-room glory. My stepmom and I were poles apart, yet I felt closer to her than anyone. She was the one person in my life who had never let me down, who accepted me for who I was, who I could rely on for anything.
And I suspected I had hurt her deeply by not telling her my baby plan before I told Rosie. Or Summer. Or Sean.
Or Jason.
Not that I’d told him, but once it was out there, it was impossible to shove the genie back in the bottle.
I hugged Violet while her eyes lit up on seeing my nemesis. “Jason, how are you?”
“Good, Vi.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, which brought him close to brushing his jaw near mine. He smelled incredible. Like sandalwood and amber and bad decisions.
Decisions? There were no decisions, good or bad, to be made around this man.
“So great to see you joining the gang,” Violet continued. “If I’d had my way, you would have been on the roster years ago.”
Sometimes I forgot that Violet was a part-owner of the Chicago Rebels. She was hands-off, leaving the running to my aunts Harper and Isobel, but she still liked to weigh in on occasion.
“It was a good time for me to leave Boston,” he said.
“Oh? Sounds mysterious.”
Something passed over his expression, a fleeting ghost of a memory. Boston hadn’t been all that good to him, perhaps. He caught my eye, and his gaze shuttered, as if I was unworthy to see that moment.
Strangely, that hurt.
“Pity you won’t play with Theo, though,” Violet continued. “I just heard he finalized his retirement.”
“Yeah, but there’s Hatch, so the Rebels will still be a family affair. Just how you like it, boss. Well, I’ll let you ladies get on. It was good to see you, Violet.” He nodded at me. “Francesca.”
Again with my birth name? Where did he get off?
I turned away, so my lizard brain wouldn’t have to watch him leave. He was really the most annoying individual.
“There’s a table at the back,” Violet said.
We grabbed it and took our seats, and after a couple of minutes of family check-ins (my little brother Devon had won a junior hockey game, Dad was perfecting his golf, and Cat had sent more pictures of her little ones), we finally got down to business.
“So—”
“I’m sorry!” I jumped right in because I wasn’t very happy with myself. Also, Jason Isner had left me feeling edgy and unmoored.
“About what?”
“I know I should have told you, but to be honest, the opportunity to ask him just presented itself at Rosie’s the other night, and I’d been psyching myself up—apparently for nothing—and now everyone knows, and I haven’t even talked to you about it.”
Vi grasped my hands. “I was going to ask you about the lectureship at Harvard.”
“Oh, that. It’s practically a done deal. I just need a sign off from the new department head.”
She smiled at me grimly. My family were very annoyed at Lakeshore University’s selection committee on my behalf.
“We’re going to miss you.”
“It will only be for a few months. And I hope that during that time I’ll be—”
“Pregnant?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry you didn’t hear straight from me.”
She squeezed my hands again. “Carino, you don’t have to share everything with me. It’s fine to confide in your sisters and friends before your mom.”
I relaxed a touch. Violet always knew the right thing to say.
Since the moment I’d met her and overheard her calling my dad “Nessie,” because he was legendary and Scottish like the Loch Ness monster, I was charmed.
She’d had tattoos, pink-streaked hair, and a punk-rock aesthetic, and not long after, saved my life owing to an unfortunate allergic reaction to a nut-tinged brownie.
The half-Puerto Rican, youngest daughter of maverick Rebels owner Clifford Chase, she had bonded with her sisters later in life.
More than anyone I knew, Violet understood what it meant to be on the outside, looking in.
“Do you think I’m crazy to do it this way?”
“Not at all. There are so many paths to parenthood—IVF, surrogacy, single parent, adoption, the old-fashioned way—that no one should dream of judging you for how you go about it. Hell, I carried a baby for my best friends, and your father was all in.” Violet had been the surrogate for Cade Burnett and Dante Moretti, Rosie’s dads, and was Rosie’s biological mom.
“I know you’ve seen Cat with the twins and wondered why not you?
If there’s no guy in the frame, then who cares how you do this?
And it’s not as if any child you have would be lacking for family.
Look at all the people who love you, Franky. They’re going to love your kid, too.”
I felt my throat thicken with emotion. I wasn’t a sentimental person, but when Violet got like this, I was reminded that maybe I wasn’t the logic-bound robot people viewed me as.
“Well, there might not be a kid to love if I can’t find the right donor. It’s more challenging than I thought.”
“Figuring out the right person?”
“That, and asking them in a way that doesn’t sound weird.” I updated her on how it went with Sean.
“He probably could have led with the ‘I’m dating someone’ response.”
“Maybe. But I didn’t really give him a chance to explain. I was too upset, so I blasted out of there. And he doesn’t make it any better.”
“Sean?”
“His brother.” At her baffled look, I went on. “Lately Jason Isner seems to be everywhere. With opinions.”
“Well, he’s a Kershaw, and Rosie is close to them, so you’re probably going to run into him more now that he’s in Chicago. Everyone’s so excited that he’s joining the team. Usually I don’t give a flying F about hockey—”
“But it pays the bills.”
Violet smirked. “Sure does. But I’m excited that Jason’s here. He’s going to bring a solidity to the team that will be useful to this group of youngsters.”
I supposed he had enough experience that he might be considered a leader-type, someone who could be a good influence. But then there was that cruel streak of his … Jason Isner was an expert at playing the good ole boy, friend to all. No one suspected his dark side. I had the receipts.
“As long as he keeps out of my business, then he can be as solid as he likes.”
“What? Has he said something?”
I waved it off. “He’s just protective of Sean. Thinks I’m taking advantage by asking him.”
Before we could get into it, I moved the conversation to a discussion of my cousin Giselle’s recent engagement. There was always someone more interesting to talk about in the Rebels family.