Emma stands up, smoothing her black fringe back into place, and clears her throat. “Okay, listen up, guys. Auston and I have something to say.”
There’s a general “Ohhh” that echoes around the room.
Alice’s jaw almost hits the floor. “Are you—”
“I’m not pregnant.” Emma cuts her off, planting a hand on her hip. “Although weareexpanding our foyer.”
Auston smiles, and they share a look. “We bought a summer house,” he finally says. “In the Hamptons.”
There are a few squeals, and someone claps his hands loudly.
“And you’re all welcome to come spend a weekend—or even longer,” he adds, draping an arm around his wife’s shoulders.
“We just wanted a place away from the city,” Emma chimes in. “It’s huge, there’s a swimming pool, and the beach is practically in the backyard.”
“That’s amazing,” Marissa chirps, clapping her hands together. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“Well,” Emma draws out the word, glancing around at the group, “it’ll be ready next week. And we were wondering if you’d all want to spend the weekend there with us.”
The answer is an overwhelming positive, with cheers and overlapping yeses filling the room.
“Oh no!” Hayley groans, dropping back against Maxime’s shoulder. “Max and I won’t be able to make it. We’re leaving for France on Friday, remember?”
Emma winces. “I know. Sorry about the timing. The paperwork took longer than expected.” Then, her face brightens. “We’ll throw a party when everyone’s back, though. We plan to spend a lot of time there this summer.”
I glance at Harper. “What do you think? It could be fun.”
She hesitates, lips pressing together, until she caves with a smile. “Sure. I’d love to.”
We grab some drinks from Deacon while chatting about the house, and after a while, Beth stands up.
“Anyone down for air hockey before we split?” She looks around expectantly.
Harper raises a hand. “I’m in!”
Beth nods. “Perfect. Let’s do this.”
“Oh, you’re going down,” Harper says, pointing at me as she steps toward the table.
My eyebrows shoot up. “Confident, are we?”
Her eyes glint with anticipation. “Extremely.”
“You do know I’m a hockey player, right?” I chuckle, grabbing a paddle and sliding it across the table.
She smirks, already taking her position. “You do know thisisn’thockey, right?”
Adler claps his hands to get our attention. “All right, teams. Harper and Beth versus Froggy and me.”
“Oh no,” Beth says, laughing as she joins Harper. “You just volunteered to lose.”
The others all gather around, quickly dividing themselves between our teams, and despite being actual hockey players, Adler and I have the fewest supporters.
Seconds later, we’re deep in the game, gripping our paddles with white knuckles. The puck slams back and forth. Beaumont and Miles are shouting commentary while Alice and Marissa cheer dramatically every time the girls score—which is more often than I expected. Auston, and Deacon when he comes around, are the only real encouragement we get.
We end up losing by one point. The girls squeal, raising their arms in victory as the small crowd applauds their performance.
“Beginner’s luck,” I mutter to Harper.
