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“I think in about six months. What’s new with the rest of you?”

Jack shakes his head. “My life is a zoo man.”

We all laugh, even though Jack, as a vet, has used that joke countless times since he finished vet school.

“I’ve got several books I’m set to narrate,” Spencer says, holding up his Coke. “And I’ve even got a callback for an animated film.”

Spencer grew up as a child actor, starring in several popular TV series and a couple of movies. As he grew, he’d done more of the back scene stuff, taking on various voice acting jobs. The last time we’d had a good serious talk, he wanted to start producing, and from everything he’s done before, I think he’d be great at it.

“Well, Dani and I are almost moved into the house,” Miles says with a chuckle. “She insists we don’t get a moving van to move her stuff and we just keep making trips back and forth in my car. I’m about ready to just hire a company to get whatever’s left.”

“She didn’t grow up like you did, Miles,” Jack says with a somber smile.

Miles raises his hands and says, “I know. We’ve learned a lot more about each other since the wedding. But I love her in spite of her quirks.”

“And she tolerates yours,” Owen says with a laugh. He turns to me and asks, “What’s new with you? How’s the off-season going?”

It takes me a moment to focus since Miles’s words are still running over and over in my brain. “It’s going. Just trying to stay in shape. I’ve hired Dani’s old roommate, Kenzie, to organize my house for me and–”

“Good idea,” Spencer says, nodding.

I lean forward to focus on him. “What do you mean?” I say, laughing.

“Dude, I lived with you for two years in college. I’m surprised the stench of hockey body odor hasn’t been burned into my nostrils. And you need help with where to put all the little things instead of just leaving them in a pile on the counter.”

We all laugh at that. I think about the other thing I want to share—if I should go through with the docuseries or not. I trust their opinion.

“And Dave set me up to be part of a local company.” I’m a chicken, so that’s all I say as I prep for a better explanation.

“Which one?” Jack asks, twisting the paper from his straw around his finger.

I blow out a breath and say, “Love, Austen. They’re a–”

“Matchmaking company!” Miles says, leaning on the table so hard that the table tilts, causing some of the drinks to slide toward him. He misses his own but catches Owen’s Sprite. We all pass down our napkins like this is a normal occurrence.

The other three sets of eyes focus on me while Miles mops up the mess.

“You’re going to work for a matchmaking company?” Spencer asks.

“They know your track record with women, right?” Owen says with a grin.

I throw a napkin his way but it doesn’t make it that far. “I don’t have a track record. I have a list of women who want to be with me for fame and the jewels I can buy with my salary. Another category would be the women my mother has given my number to and/or invited to dinner.”

Jack shakes his head. “Out of the hundred women–”

“More like fifty,” I correct.

“—you’ve dated in the past year, not one was willing to stick around to take home to Mama Hatch?”

I grimace. “I took Candice home. That was a mistake.”

Candice and I met at a gala her family had put on for one of the charities in Boston around six months ago. Things had gone so well that we’d gone on dates or hung out every day for the following two weeks. It was fast, but it felt right to have her meet the family. I wouldn’t have proposed that quickly, but it was nice to have my mom off my back for all of five days, knowing that I was in a relationship.

My parents live in a middle-class neighborhood in a house they’ve worked for years to fix up. It’s the nicest house on the block and I’m always proud to show off the skills I learned alongside my dad. Sure, I didn’t do much of the cutting of boards or anything, but those memories are of the only other skills I have besides professional hockey.

Candice was not impressed with my family’s social status and then she ghosted me.

There is a collective silence in the room. “Not everyone is going to care that your family isn’t worth millions,” Spencer says, breaking the tension.