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“I ’m glad y’all could fly out for the game,” I say to my parents before cutting into my steak.

“I know you love flying and all, Dad.”

“Oh, yeah, fucking love it all right.” He scoffs playfully.

The man hates flying and ends up having to take something to relax him before he boards a flight.

Five or six beers used to do the trick, but once he had his heart attack, that wasn’t really an option anymore.

“If it wasn’t for your mama being on my ass about it, I’d have just waited till you flew home.”

“Lewis, that’s enough,” she says sharply, piercing him with her intense stare.

“We don’t make it to nearly enough of the boys’ games, and you know it.”

To those who don’t know him, he sounds like a dick, which I guess he sort of is.

But he is also a damn good dad.

He worked his ass off just so that I could have the best opportunities when it came to hockey and the same for my brother, Raiden, with baseball.

That often meant, when we were growing up, my mom was bringing one of us to one end of the state while my dad took the other one just so we could compete on youth teams, but that was what we wanted to do.

I didn’t realize till I was much older the financial burden we must have put on our parents because they never complained about it.

“I watch right from my recliner, sweetie,” he responds, patting her back.

“So, Ry, how have things been anyway? How’s the team been jelling without Kolburne?”

Before I have time to even consider answering, my mom intercepts in her usual fashion.

“Oh my gosh, I just … I hated seeing him hurt on television. I mean, they cut the camera away from him once it was clear it was serious, but, Ryder, that’s the type of shit that keeps me up at night.” She stops, sighing sadly.

“I mean, the man had a heart attack, Ry. He’s not that much older than you are.”

When Kolt took a hit so hard to the chest that he ended up going into cardiac arrest, it sort of shook up the entire hockey nation.

We all know the blows we take on the ice aren’t exactly healthy, but that was the first time I’d seen something like that happen.

And not just to my teammate, but a close friend.

“I didn’t ask a question or anything. No worries,” my dad mumbles, giving her a side-eye.

“Unfortunately, from the look of things, it sounds like Kolt’s going to be out for a while. The team’s holding it together surprisingly well. I think it’s because we know if we don’t, he’ll feel guilty.” I pause, thinking for a second.

“But it’s plain as day that he’s lost and he just wants to get back in the game.”

“Damn shame it is,” my dad grumbles while he shakes his head.

“Hopefully, he comes back better than ever though.”

My mom nods in agreement, taking a small bite of her pasta.

I know what’s coming next because we’ve been here for a while and she’s yet to ask me about my dating life.

That just doesn’t happen when it comes to my mother.

I may only be twenty-six, but you’d swear I was fifty by the way she talks about me needing to settle down.

“So …” she says.

I already know where this is going.

So does Dad because he looks at me and widens his eyes, giving me a look of warning.

“Are you seeing anyone new? Well, besides the random women you’re photographed with on those sleazy websites.” She huffs out a breath.

“Most are just clickbait, by the way.”

“No, ma’am,” I answer, wiping my mouth with my napkin.

Instantly, I’m met with her look of disappointment because her life mission is to get me and my brother to settle down before we’re thirty—though I don’t know why it really matters.

It’s been a while since I’ve been photographed with a random puck bunny.

For a lot of the women who beg to come home with me for the night, that’s what they want—they’re looking for the paparazzi to snap their photo.

Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way after sleeping with more women than I even care to think about.

But ever since a certain nurse used me to get back at her ex and then blew my mind the night before she left for Charleston last week, I have no interest in sleeping with anyone else.

“Figures,” she grumbles.

“One day, baby boy, a woman is going to knock you right on your ass, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without her.” She lifts her iced tea to her lips and takes a sip.

“I, for one, am hoping for a front-row seat when it happens.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I murmur because I don’t have the heart to tell her that it’s already happened.

I’ve been knocked on my fucking ass and then left behind like a damn toothbrush you leave at a motel when you check out the next morning.

Saylor took what she wanted, and all she wanted was a few nights of bliss before riding off into the sunset, never looking back.

Today is my first official day of working at my new job, and I’m unusually nervous.

I’ve been a nurse for under two years, and though I did travel around Maine a bit to work, the bulk of my time was spent at the Portland hospital.

This is new and different.

It doesn’t matter that I have the same job title; there are new coworkers, and it’s a faster pace here too.

I’m afraid of screwing up.

“So, what’s your story?” Molly, the nurse I’m shadowing today, says as we walk down the hallway.

“And don’t tell me you don’t have one. You came here all the way from Maine.”

My throat basically closes, and my brain stops working because how am I going to answer that?

I can’t exactly say, So, here’s the thing.

I dated this awful guy, and he taped us having sex and showed some of his—and my brother’s—teammates.

So then I got drunk and applied for a job in South Carolina to escape my life.

Oh, and don’t worry, Molly; I’m not cool enough to be a porn star.

I just didn’t know I was being recorded.

Yeah, I somehow don’t think any of that would go over well.

I hate to lie, so instead, I just keep things surface level.

“I needed a change of scenery,” I say, shrugging.

“I applied for the job, not expecting to even hear back, given I don’t have an extensive résumé because I’m still fairly new to this, and anyway … here I am.”

I don’t think she intentionally eyes me over like I’m a suspect in a crime, but she does nonetheless.

Finally, she smiles.

“Any reason why you applied for a job here, in Charleston, over anywhere else?”

I relax because that is a question I can comfortably respond to.

“Oh, yes.” I nod quickly.

“I’m obsessed with the show Southern Charm , so I’m pretty determined to become best friends with some of the cast.”

She bursts out laughing.

“Hey, I’m more of a Real Housewives sort of girl, but I love the honesty.”

As we carry on with our rounds, I breathe a little easier.

Something as small as Molly liking the same kind of shows as me reminds me that I’m not all alone here just because I’m the new girl.

And soon, this place might even feel like home. I hope.