Page 134 of Shots Fired

“Hello there, Jenna.” Tommy cuts through the awkward tension, scratching at the side of his jaw.

She lifts her head to look at him, complete disdain all over her face. “Hi.”

Clearly unaffected by her clipped response—if anything, only encouraged—Tommy reaches forward and takes the glass from her hand, sniffing the contents.

Jenna freezes in place, jaw agape at his audacity. We’re all in shock as he brings the glass to his lips and takes a large pull.

“What kind of woman drinks beer—and an IPA at that?” he teases, laughing to himself as he does it.

Jenna just shrugs, snatching the glass back and downing the rest before setting it on the bar beside her.

It’s like none of us are here as they both pin each other with glares.

“I’m sorry?” She raises a single brow. “Did I pass out and miss the part where I was supposed to give a fuck about what you thought?”

Collins snorts at the kind of comeback she’d make.

Tommy doesn’t react at all, continuing to smile at Jenna. “I bet you impress all the guys with an attitude like that.”

“Was this your attempt to woo me, or can I save my applause for later?” Jenna volleys back.

I cast a quick glance at Emma to check she’s okay, but she only looks amused at the back-and-forth between them.

“Ooookay …” Kendra cuts through the tension, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “Now that we’ve established long-lasting friendships, I’m going to take a seat in the booth.”

Collins and Jenna nod in agreement as all three step out of the circle, and Tommy steps up to the bar, leaving me and Emma alone. I exhale a slow breath.

“He’s a bit of a dick, isn’t he?” she whispers, thumbing over her shoulder toward Tommy.

“Yep. I give him a season, maybe two at best,” I reply, taking another sip of my mocktail.

She twizzles a piece of long, dark hair around her finger, observing the boys as they laugh and joke about their league domination.

“He’s happy, really happy. I can’t remember the last time my brother was this genuinely light. For most of his life, it’s feltlike an act—fun-loving Archer, always the guy to crack jokes and never takes life too seriously.”

“He’s not always been happy?” I ask, that thought settling heavily in my stomach.

She shakes her head. “No, Archer’s always been happy. I just got the feeling that he wanted more beyond hockey and playing around with other women, even if he never admitted that himself. I can sort of relate to that because I haven’t found my person either. Sometimes, I thought it might be the arguments and unhappy marriage between my mom and dad that bled into our adulthood, holding us back from believing in a happy ending.”

“But you don’t believe that now?”

Emma’s eyes move back to mine. “No.” She smiles. “I simply think he hadn’t found the one woman who could bring him to his knees and make him want to settle down. And that gives me hope, you know? Hope that I can find my person one day too. I’ve always looked up to my brother; with his career and success, he set the bar for me to want more out of life.”

She steps forward and wraps me in a hug. “Now, I’m thinking all I want is the kind of love you both share.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

DARCY

“You cannot tell me that this wouldn’t look so fucking cute on our daughter.”

One fist propped on my hip, I eye my husband carefully as he holds up a gawdy-looking patterned dress.

“It looks like wearable carpet.”

Archer’s brows knit together as he twists the dress around by the hanger, studying it carefully. “I was thinking about it for next Christmas.”

I drop my head down and laugh. “We need to focus on the right now.”