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“Are you jealous?” I tease her.
“Maybe.” She shrugs. “What I don’t think either of you heard, because it’s before you joined us at the table, Sunny, is that Eli told us he knows Tuck pretty well.”
It takes my mind a moment to remember who Tuck is. Right. Tucker, the new owner.
“That makes sense,” Barry murmurs.
“Why does it make sense?” I ask, feeling lost. Did they talk about this already? Did my mind go blank during yet another conversation?
Hannah turns to me, leaning against the counter with one hand and rubbing her belly with the other in slow circles.
“For starters, Tuck also went to Luxton, and he’s the same age as Lex. I think they probably played hockey together in high school too, but . . .” This time she trails off, her head tilted to the side, considering something.
It makes me want to shift, nervous all of a sudden.
“You didn’t recognize Eli, then?”
I frown, beyond confused now.
“Why should I?”
“He’s Eli Ellsworth, son of Michael Ellsworth.” The name rings a bell, but . . . Hannah must see I still have no idea who they are by the look on my face.
“He owns TV networks, film production companies, a few newspapers. He owns ENN, the news channel, and magazines. The Ellsworths have always been the faces of media in New York, and pretty much in the country.”
“Wow,” I whisper. That’s . . . a lot.
“Yeah. And,” she emphasizes. “Michael Ellsworth is married to Lyla Storm.”
As she waits for my reaction, my brain stutters to a halt and the gears stop turning. I do remember though, hearing about Lyla’s divorce, her marriage soon after, but that’s not what’s shocking.
“They’re stepbrothers?” I hiss out, scandalized despite how obviously not-scandalous it seemed today, their relationship.
“They are,” Hannah says, and her smile is more salacious this time. She’s such a shit-stirrer.
“Again, wow.” That’s pretty much all I have.
“Whatever,” Barry mumbles. “What matters is that obviously the Barclays have always had some kind of good relationship with the Ellsworths. They’re both some of the oldest New York families, you know? And of course the New York teams need the media and always have prime time spots whenever it’s not obvious favoritism.”
I begin to understand.
“The families know each other well, so Tucker and Eli know each other well.”
“Yes.” He nods and grabs his almost empty bottle of beer.
“Eli told some of the WAGs today that we basically don’t have to worry anymore about management because Tucker is about to turn the franchise around, that he’s a good guy and we can trust him.”
“And Lex told some of us the same. Also might’ve implied that Tuck could probably still skate circles around most of us.” He snorts a little, probably remembering the conversation. “He said but not you, Matty, you’re perfect.” Then snorts again.
“Matty is . . .”
“Our starting goalie,” Barry supplies helpfully.
“They all dote on him,” Hannah explains. “Matty’s the adorable redhead who probably thanked you for existing every time you came near him?”
“Oh, yeah. He asked if we had more sunscreen and apologized about three times because he’d forgotten to bring his own.”
Barry chuckles but it sounds more adoring than anything.
