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“And if she asks how we met?”
“Just tell her the truth. Tell her we met in the parking lot outside of the stadium and I caught you before you slipped on your ass. You fell for me instantly,” I tease.
She slaps my arm with the force of a fruit fly and then giggles.
“Right, because who couldn’t resist your obvious charms?” she says sarcastically. “You practically threw a fit when I didn’t know who you were.”
I can’t wipe the stupid smile from my face as we walk through the parking lot. We’ve come a long way since the first time we met. It’s crazy to imagine that only a week ago, I ran into a gorgeous raven-haired woman in the middle of the night outside of the stadium. And now she’s in my hometown, about to meet my family.
“That’s not true. It just seemed unlikely since you sat in the stands, and I played a full game in front of you. Plus, you were wearing a jacket with my jersey number on the back,” I remind her.
“Well, if you’re going to be a stickler for the details…” she jokes.
I can already see the stands from here and the first of the three ice rinks up ahead.
Four figures stand out in our team colors. The same colors we’ve worn since my dad picked them out years ago. Only now, the back of our jerseys say: “In loving memory of Coach Haynes.”
My sister and my three brothers stand facing each other waiting for our game to begin.
“Hey,” I call out, raising a hand to get their attention.
Juliet and I step up over the sidewalk and head through the short chain link fence that surrounds the large park.
My youngest brother Austin sees me first and gives a nod, and then Camden, Everett, and Harper all turn their heads to see us walking up.
“If it isn’t the prodigal son,” my oldest brother Camden says.
“Wasn’t he the favorite?” I toss back.
“You wish, big shot.”
We embrace as Camden pats my back. “Good to have you home, brother,” he says.
And then Harper squeezes in for a hug next.
I make my rounds through my siblings quickly.
“So you must be Juliet? I’m Everett,” my second oldest brother says, walking over and hugging her too. “We hug in this family. Didn’t Ryker warn you?” he asks.
She hugs him back and I can see her genuine smile over his shoulder.
She looks over to me when he releases her. “No, he didn’t but I like a good hug myself.”
I’m relieved to see that Juliet is already warming up to the family.
“That’s Camden, Austin, and Harper,” I tell Juliet, pointing to each of my siblings.
Before any of my other brothers or Harper can get a hug in next, we’re interrupted by my mother’s voice.
“What about me?” she asks behind the wall of six-foot-plus tall Haynes men.
I hear my mother’s voice say behind the wall of six-foot-plus tall Haynes men.
My mother, barely five foot two inches, pushes through a crack between Austin and Camden and comes barreling at me like a freight train.
“And that’s my mom, Annie,” I tell Juliet quickly before I get assaulted in a bear hug.
“Ryker!” she says, wrapping her arms around my middle and giving me the Annie Haynes signature squeeze, her head laying against my chest as she does with all of my brothers as well.
