“Can I bring my siblings?” I asked.
Barry’s face lit up, eyes bright, a huge smile pushing up his cheeks. I felt a bit blinded by the sight of it. The women in the team’s Instagram comments were right, he really is very, very pretty.
“Yes, absolutely, yes,” Barry said, and now he was so excited that really I couldn’t say no. I was doing this.
“Okay, then, sure.” Jeremy likely already had plans, but probably not plans that he wouldn’t immediately cancel for a chance to go to a hockey game for free. And Kate, well, Kate rarely had plans in the evenings.
Barry was already getting his phone out and sending a message to someone, presumably to tell them he would have guests at the game tonight.
“You’re gonna love it, I think,” he said.
“We’ll see. Love might be a strong word.”
Barry grinned and rolled his eyes at my reluctance.
“I gotta go, okay? See you there? I’ll text you the ticket information.”
Barry left the house, no shortage of pep in his step, and Junior filled the spot he’d just vacated, meowing as if it wasn’t hours yet from dinner. I sighed and crouched to scratch his head before getting out my phone to call my siblings.
CHAPTER 9
SISTER OF THE YEAR
Jeremy did cancel his plans as soon as I informed him that I had free hockey tickets for the three of us. He even offered to drive, that’s how excited he was.
Barry sent over tickets as well as a pass for parking and instructions for the special lot next to the stadium.
“How thefuckdid you get these?” Jeremy asked as we pulled into the private lot after the security gate. I hadn’t told him about Barry yet, not because I was keeping it from him, but well, a little bit because I was keeping it from him. I knew he was going to flip about it when I told him so had been delaying the inevitable.
“Is it because you work at the practice facility? God, please trade me buildings, I am begging you, Han.”
“You’d have to work at 4:00 a.m. or 8:00 p.m.,” I reminded him, a fact he knew well. He groaned.
“You know I need my sleep.”
“Yes, our little diva,” Kate said from the back seat, not looking up from the book she was reading on her phone.
He parked the car, but before he could get out, I put my hand on his forearm.
“Don’t freak out,” I started, and he frowned. He was wearing both a team hat and a team hoodie.
“What did you do?”
Kate snorted and I rolled my eyes. “Nothing, dude, come on.”
“You’re the one being ominous!”
I sighed and chewed on the inside of my cheek. “The father of my unborn child is on the team.”
Jeremy stared blankly at me, then turned to Kate as if she would rat me out for bullshitting him. She looked as solemn as me and added a nod.
“No shit.”
“No shit,” I agreed.
“No, I mean don’t lie about that.”
“I’m not lying. Barry Wright is the father,” I said.
