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“Happy Thanksgiving. You all look so nice,” Patty greets, walking up to us. Skylar is closest so she hugs her friend. Then she picks up Crew and lifts him in the air, swinging him around.
“You’re going to be too big for me to pick up soon,” Patty groans, and the little guy looks up to her with stars in his eyes. She said she never wanted to have children, but the way she looks at that boy makes me think different. Not that it’s any of my business. It’s not, other than I really want her and can see us being something special together. Maybe because we took the time to become friends and get to really know each other first.
After hugging Liam, she comes around to me. There is a woman standing off to the side, who has taken all our coats, and as Patty walks over to me, my heart kicks up a notch.
“Thanks so much for coming,” she says, and she hugs me the way she hugged Liam. That should be telling me something.
“Of course.” I smile, feeling a little awkward. She invites us all in and then a waitress comes up to us and offers champagne. I don’t take any though because I want to keep my head clear. Patty gives me a weird look.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing.” She shakes her head. “I just figured you could use a drink.”
She isn’t wrong. I’m feeling nervous as hell.
“Maybe later,” I say.
“Okay, come, I’ll introduce you to my cousins. They’re here visiting,” Patty explains.
We walk over to a girl and a guy. “This is Quinn and Hunter. They’re my mom’s twin brother’s kids. Quinn is an accountant and Hunter is a senior at UMass, but my aunt and uncle live in Chicago. My uncle Oli is a coach there.”
“Ah! Nice to meet you both,” I say, shaking each of their hands.
“Nice to meet you too,” Hunter replies.
Quinn just smiles and eyes Patty.
“UMass is a great team.” I just try to make conversation. “I went to Westfall.”
“Legend,” Hunter says.
“Thanks, it was a good team. UMass is the shit too.”
Quinn and Patty begin chatting about something and then Hunter asks me a bunch of questions when we are called to sit at the table.
I look over to Patty for guidance.
“Come, you can sit beside me,” she says so I follow her.
I end up with Liam on my other side and Hunter and Quinn sitting across from us.
Patty introduces me to her aunt and uncle, and then her brother comes through the elevator since he was running late.
“So sorry, my flight got delayed,” he huffs. Where Patty is blond and blue-eyed, her brother has darker hair and skin but still has light eyes. They look like younger versions of their parents.
Patty introduces me to Kevin. We’ve met before because I’ve played hockey against him, but we haven’t formally met. This is all very awkward because I get the feeling the family doesn’t know what to make of me. Patty keeps introducing me as her friend, but it’s like a twenty-eight-year-old woman can’t have a friend, or at least that is the vibe I’m getting around the table, like maybe they think I’m more.
Kevin takes the seat on the other side of his father.
“Perfect timing,” Coach Myles says to his son.
“Sorry.” Kevin winces. “I took a standby thinking it wouldn’t be a problem. We had a game last night.”
“How did it go?” Coach asks his son.
“We lost,” Kevin replies with a sheepish grin.
Coach Myles gives his shoulder a squeeze. “You’ll get ’em next time.”
