Page 27

CHAPTER 27

Gobble Gobble

LUCY

Thursday, November 28

T his day has been so good.

We all got up to help Mom cook the Thanksgiving meal, served around noon so we could drive up to northern Virginia to see our father later today. There was way too much food, and Mom had picked up pumpkin, apple, and vanilla creme pies at a bakery in her small town. Kellen stole a kiss in the pantry while Atticus was helping Mom do dishes, and I ran my foot up his leg under the table while we ate dessert. He smirked, and I couldn’t stop smiling.

Now we’re walking into the restaurant to meet Richard, and I’m filled with dread. Why do I even care what my father thinks? When I left for Colorado, it all seemed so important. But spending time with Kellen and his family made me realize that’s what’s really important.

Richard already thinks the world revolves around him. By fake dating Kellen just to make him mad, I pretty much confirmed that.

Everything feels different now.

I… don’t care what my father th inks of me.

Richard is sitting across the room at a table alone, sipping a glass of amber-colored liquid. Guess his wife didn’t feel the need to join us.

Atticus follows the hostess, and I trail behind, with Kellen bringing up the rear. I can feel his stare on my back, and he touches my elbow. Now he can touch me openly because we have an excuse. An audience of my father.

We’re putting on another performance.

“Ready for this?” he asks when I slow.

“Sure.” I nod, then crinkle my nose. “Actually? No, not really. I kinda wish we’d cancelled.” Not cancelled bringing Kellen home to D.C. but cancelled seeing my father.

But that was the whole point.

“It’ll be fine. Just hold my hand.” Kellen winks at me before grabbing my hand and linking our fingers together. I breathe out a laugh and my anxiety decreases just a tad.

Dad stands at the table and shakes Atticus’s hand, then steps forward to embrace me. Unlike my mom’s hug, this one is not nearly as warm or loving. More like a stiff, compulsory pat on the back.

“How are you, Lucy darling?” Dad steps back to study my face, ignoring Kellen standing next to me.

He knows who Kellen is. I told him Kellen was joining us for Thanksgiving. That he’s a star hockey player. Atticus’s teammate.

My boyfriend.

“Great.” I step back. “Dad, this is Kellen. My boyfriend.”

“Ah. I didn’t realize you were bringing someone, Lucy.” Richard makes a face, like he truly didn’t know.

“Yes, you did. I told you.”

“Well. Hello.” There’s no follow up of an interesting question or a welcome or anything. Dad holds out his hand, and Kellen pumps it a little too hard.

“Where’s Carrie?” I look around pointedly, as if she’s hiding under a table or behind a plant. Dad’s fourth wife is nice enough, but she’s not been overly interested in hanging with me, even when I lived in D.C.

“My wife is with her sister this evening. She sends her apologies and greetings.”

She probably doesn’t want to spend any more time than required with my father.

We settle in our seats. Richard orders another whisky, Kellen orders a bottle of wine, and I pick a bunch of appetizers for the table. No one is particularly hungry after our meal with Mom earlier. Richard glances at the entrance to the restaurant. It’s quiet, but there are more people than I’d have thought on Thanksgiving night. I guess not everyone has someone cooking them a delicious meal.

“How are things in Colorado?” Dad turns to me.

“Awesome,” I say, a touch too brightly. “Everything is going great.”

Dad gives a sidelong glance at Kellen.

“I’ve heard you’ve been keeping busy.” He emphasizes the word busy , as if it’s dirty.

I blink. To be fair, I did do a few dirty things.

Atticus snorts.

Dad drains his golden drink.

A server brings his refill plus three glasses and a bottle of Malbec. After Kellen approves the wine, the server pours, and I eagerly grab one and not-gracefully take a large gulp before responding.

I don’t have a game tomorrow.

“Work is going great. I love working for the Blizzard, actually. It’s a lot of fun. The administrative staff gets included in team building and other activities. It’s a really positive vibe.” The words pour out of me in a rambling sort of way, and my voice is too high and tinny.

Sigh. Good start.

Richard makes an unimpressed mmm sound. “Well, when you’re done playing around over there, your job, and your whole life, is waiting for you in D.C.”

What the hell does that mean?

But I know, of course.

Golden boy Ron is probably in Richard’s ear, telling my father how he’s asked me to come back, and I’ve said no.

“Dad.” I attempt to infuse a warning tone to my voice. “I quit DC FC. And I’m not coming back.”

The server returns with a bread basket.

“Listen, Lucy. I know things got rough with you and Ron?—”

“Got rough?” I can’t help but scoff at my ex’s name. I take another gulp of wine.

“—but surely that’s not a real reason to give up a great job? A solid future with DC FC? A wedding to?—”

“I’m done at DC FC.” I cut him off. I don’t want to hear about a wedding to Ron. “I love working at the Blizzard.” I grab a piece of warm bread and shove it in my mouth. It’s too hot, and I almost spit it out but suffer through the burning as punishment for going through with this dinner.

“So you’re not applying for that England job anymore?” Richard’s voice is calm and collected. He never freaks out. Never raises his voice. He’s perfectly logical, like some kind of AI robot.

“Of course I am.” Crumbs literally fall out of my mouth.

Kellen huffs a quiet laugh and slides my water closer to me. I take a sip so I can speak with dignity again, then chase the water with wine.

“I’m absolutely applying for the Winchester FC job,” I say when my mouth is empty. “I had a video interview yesterday. I’m not staying in Fort Collins.”

There’s marked silence. Kellen places a hand on my thigh. Everyone at the table watches the motion.

“Lucy and I are really happy together,” Kellen says.

Atticus downs his wine and waves at the server for another bottle. I would enjoy reminding my brother about his game tomorrow, but I’d never do that in front of our father.

“You just heard her, she’s not staying,” Richard snaps at Kellen, who doesn’t react.

I practically gasp, but my breath and my words get stuck in my throat. Kellen’s mouth narrows into a thin line.

My father turns to me. “I’d heard all about you and the hockey player from Paul. He called me a few weeks ago.”

Wow. Our plan worked for me too. Just as we hoped.

“Everything doesn’t have to be forever, Richard.” Kellen says, as if my father is engaging in a conversation instead of ignoring him.

Kellen’s words linger in the air, then settle down onto my heart in a heavy way.

“And with love, it often is not.” My dad agrees, not looking at Kellen.

I don’t think that’s what Kellen meant. He didn’t mean get married four times and continue to trade your wives for younger models. I wonder how long he and Carrie will last. It’s about time for the next divorce.

Ugh, I hate that my father makes me think that way.

Kellen subtly squeezes my thigh. Is he doing it for show? Reassuring me that things won’t end? Or maybe that it’s okay that they will. I slowly twist my wine glass on the white tablecloth.

Either way, I love the weight of his hand on me.

I love him .

Shit, no, what? I freeze my hand on the stem of the glass. That can’t be true. I shove those three little words into a tiny box to be opened at a much later time. Maybe never.

Because now is not the moment to be questioning if I’ve let myself fall for my hot hockey player fake boyfriend.

“I’ve had a great season so far, Richard, in case you were wondering.” Atticus leans back in his chair. Our father’s jaw clenches. He hates it when Atticus calls him Richard .

They argue back and forth about what defines a great season, and I mostly block them out. Kellen leaves his hand on my thigh, moving it slightly every few minutes.

I turn to Kellen to say something to him—anything—when a movement at the front of the room by the entrance catches my eye.

It’s Ron .

Ron’s here. A desperate squeak escapes my throat.

My ex-fiancé walks up to the hostess stand and talks to the woman before looking around.

“Oh my god,” I say. Atticus and Richard stop arguing and everyone looks at me, then follows my gaze.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Atticus realizes what’s got me spooked. He turns back to our father. “You invited Ron to join us?”

The waiter comes at that moment and distributes plates of appetizers. Then the man pulls another chair to the table and nods at Richard.

“What did you do, Dad?” I whisper.

“Oh, darling. We can all be mature adults, can’t we?” He doesn’t look one bit sorry for this situation.

Ron slowly walks our way, eyes locked with mine, looking just as freaked out as I feel. This is not happening. As much as I wanted to show my father and Ron that I’m fine on my own, I never wanted to look at my ex in person again. I broke up with him, and I meant it. It was over when I walked out. I had no intentions of going there ever again.

Kellen leans his lips close to my ear.

“Hey, I’m right here, okay? Don’t worry. You don’t have to say anything to him if you don’t want to.” Anger tinges his voice, but his warm breath tickles my neck, and I’m comforted by his presence.

“Hello, Lucy,” Ron says, nodding at me. “How are you?” His face is pale, and his voice shaky. He didn’t know I was going to be here with Kellen. Or maybe he didn’t know I’d be here at all .

As angry as I still am at Ron for what he did during our relationship, this situation is all on my father.

I swallow and attempt to speak, but it’s like a whole bag of cotton balls have been shoved down my throat, and I can’t get a word out.

“I’m Kellen Bassey.” Kellen stares hard at Ron. “Lucy’s boyfriend.”

Ron blinks at Kellen, then slides his gaze to me. “You have a boyfriend?”

So word hadn’t gotten back to Ron that I’m dating Kellen. Dad didn’t tell him. Of course he didn’t. He still wants us to get back together.

Our plan didn’t work perfectly after all.

I nod but still can’t manage to speak.

“Don’t talk to her. After what you did, you don’t get to talk to my girlfriend.” Kellen clearly emphasizes the word my and girlfriend , and my breath catches. “You blew your chance with Lucy.” He takes his hand off my thigh and entwines his fingers with mine, thumping our hands right on the table, a show for Ron.

Atticus literally laughs out loud.

I turn and stare at Kellen’s profile, my heart beating loudly in my chest.

“I was hoping we could talk,” Ron says to me. “But clearly this isn’t the time. Maybe tomorrow?—”

“I’m gonna stop you right there.” Kellen rolls his neck and bones crack. “Lucy’s not going to talk to you, and her dating life is none of your business. If you have something to say, then go ahead right now. But please keep it civil. It’s a holiday. We’re trying to enjoy a meal.”

I press my lips together and suppress a hysterical giggle. Kellen turns to me and winks. Everyone sees it.

Somewhere at the table Richard is saying something to Ron, then to Kellen, but all I know is that this man next to me is picking a fight with my ex-fiancé to defend my honor .

And it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

Ron scurries off a minute later, declining Richard’s offer to have him join us. The added chair remains empty at the table.

We leave the restaurant after scarfing down the appetizers and engaging in twenty minutes of awkward small talk. Richard briefly shakes Atticus’s hand and ignores Kellen. He embraces me before striding quickly away. We don’t discuss the Ron incident.

There’s mostly silence on the way back to Mom’s. I fill her in on all the events and Mom’s appropriately shocked and appalled. Atticus crashes early. Kellen goes to talk to Bri and Ava in his room. I change into comfy sweatpants and a tank top and sink onto my bed.

It’s been a long day.

I finally have time to think about the three words that popped into my head earlier.

There is no room for me to fall in love.

I lay back on the comforter. I gotta talk myself out of this.

There’s a soft knock at my door.

“Come in,” I call softly.

Kellen walks into my room. My chest immediately pounds, and I scramble to stand.

“Hey,” Kellen says, stopping close to me. “I know it’s almost midnight, but I wanted to check on you. Are you okay? After that dinner?” He reaches out and places a hand on each of my biceps. His touch is warm and firm and gentle at the same time.

“Yeah. Thanks for what you did.”

“What’d I do?”

“You made me feel like I’m not crazy. You defended me. You put Dad in his place. Told off Ron. Made me feel…” But I don’t know how to finish. Kellen’s moving his hands slowly down my arms. His fingers leave a tingly trail, and my body warms in response.

“Made you feel what?” His eye are bright. I move forward and wrap my arms around his waist and rest my cheek against his chest .

“You made me feel good.”

Kellen’s chest is warm, covered with a thin t-shirt. His heart pounds against my cheek.

“Did we do what we needed to?” He wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head, letting his lips linger.

“Yeah. We did it.”

Kellen rubs my back, and I close my eyes.

I’m falling for Kellen Bassey.

Shit.

I pull back and look up at him, pressing my body against his. I’m suddenly extra aware of the thin layers of clothing between us. Nothing stopping us from being together. A repeat of the night in Wyoming.

But is it really the same?

“Lucy,” he says.

“Yes?”

Then Kellen leans his face down and presses his lips to mine, leaving one hand around my waist and moving the other into the back of my hair, burying it in my curls.

It feels like the first kiss, but it’s not. Not even close. Electricity runs between us, but we take our time. Small kisses turn into longer ones. Mouths open and our tongues connect. I run my hands up his chest and want there to be less between us.

This. This is everything I need and want. After the day I’ve had—the year I’ve had—if it all led up to this moment with Kellen, I’d do it all again.

But there’s more.

I want more.