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I looked at Lucas, who was looking away. For some reason, I desperately wanted to see him react to me being called the little sister.
Marcus’s Mustang beeped when I hit the button. “Alright, get in the car.”
“Shotgun,” Jax shouted, but Lucas pointed at a truck with Steve and a few girls getting in.
“I’m alright. Got a ride already.”
My chest tightened with emotion I had no right to feel as he turned and walked toward Samantha, who was giving him a coy smile. She climbed into the truck, and he followed after.
Jax knocked his shoulder against mine. “What’s going on with you? You seem all sappy and shit.”
“You worried about me, Jaxie?”
He raised a brow. “Should I be?”
I don’t know.
“Never. I’m good. I just don’t like being out. You know that. Hurts my introverted soul.”
“If you say so.”
He put on a crappy song the second we got into the car, and I slapped his hand away.
“Not a freaking chance.”
Images of Lucas helping Samantha into the truck sank into my gut, and I hit a few buttons on my phone until it played the perfect song. I belted out the chorus of Taylor’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” at the top of my lungs.
Jax groaned from beside me. “You’re a horrible singer.”
“Yup.” I kept singing, pushing out the words and letting them take over me. It wasn’t long until Jax joined in, his voice twice as loud.
“Love you, Pips. Don’t take too much shit. Okay?”
Jax always saw entirely too much. “I’ll try.”
SEVEN
LUCAS
“No matter what happens,I’m proud of you.” My dad’s deep voice rumbled against me as he wrapped me in one of his signature bear hugs. Anxiety crawled under my skin like a million ants, but his comforting words evened out my breaths.
My return hug was a little too tight, more like something I’d have given him as a kid, but in this moment, that was what I was. Waiting. The same feeling as when I sat around this room waiting to find out if I made it to the OHL.
Even with how spacious our living room was, every foot was filled with someone, crowded with people wanting to watch the draft, including a group of reporters.
I kept my voice low, not wanting to be heard. Especially not by the newscasters eager to get a deeper story. With three of us up for the draft, it wasn’t a surprise we’d gotten our own reporters. Just a taste of the weird level of attention we’d expect if this draft went the way we all wanted it to. My stomach tightened in a knot. “What if I don’t make it?”
My dad pulled back, and his brows lowered over his deep brown eyes. I’d gotten my eyes from my French mom, but the rest of my complexion was all his. My dad’s skin was a rich, warm brown that allowed the sprinkling of freckles across his nose and cheeks to shine through. His black hair was neatly trimmed and kept close to his scalp, accentuating the chiseled angles of his face. As a child, he’d looked like a giant; now, I stood several inches taller than him. He studied me, then glanced over my shoulder before his lips tipped in a familiar smile. “Not that I think you have anything to worry about, but there’s a lot of things to live for that aren’t hockey.”
I nodded. “But I want it.”
My dad’s laugh filled the room. “Of course you do. You’d be an idiot not to go after what you want.” He wasn’t looking at me. Instead, his eyes traveled to the doors where the Adamses walked in, Piper leading the way.
The air pushed from my lungs when she turned on the spot and her soft blue dress twirled around her, revealing more of her deeply tanned thighs. She’d traded out her usual casual athletic wear for a flower-printed sundress that had my heart skipping in my chest. Her golden hair was pulled back in a long braid and rested over the thin strap of her dress on her shoulder. She’d darkened her pale pink lips to a deep plum, and her eyes stood out from whatever makeup she wore. Fuck, she was stunning. She came directly toward us, a smile so wide it took over her face and crinkled the corners of her eyes.
“How’s my favorite neighbor?” My dad was quick to wrap her up in a hug, wearing a smile of his own. She’d moved in next door when she was seven, and my parents had immediately taken a liking to her. I was an only child, so Piper became the daughter they never had.
“Excited.” She glanced my way. “You ready?”
