“You’re here,” his little sister said, slipping through the open front door and slamming into him. He had to juggle the bottle of wine that threatened to crash on the front steps.
He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a tight hug. She burrowed into his chest like she had when she had been a kid afraid of a storm. Even before the nightmare with his brother, Ethan had always been closer to Ally. She was eight years younger than him, a happy mistake in his parents’ eyes, but for some reason, he’d always been able to relate so much more to her than to Darren, who was only two years older than him. Their personalities just meshed.
When everything had gone down six years ago, she’d only been sixteen. He’d hated not seeing her, but he couldn’t bring himself to come home. But two years later, they’d picked up right where they’d left off. Visiting her at college, or flying her out to see him, had strengthened their bond even further over the last four years.
“Hey squirt, it’s good to see you, too,” he said, his laugh muffled in her hair.
“Don’t call me squirt. I can’t help it that you’re a giant.” She pulled back, grinning at him. “I’m so happy you didn’t bail.”
“I am feeling a little nauseated,” he said, reaching up to tweak her nose.
“Seriously, how are you doing?” she asked, her smile soft.
“I’m fine. It’s just dinner, and I have you to distract me,” he said, trying to reassure her. Christmas dinner probably wasn’t the best time for this little reunion, but he’d been away for Thanksgiving, and he’d had no desire to show up for a random family dinner.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. I haven’t seen you in ages.” She pouted, drawing out that last word. Sometimes he wondered if she should’ve gone into acting instead of mathematics. So dramatic.
“I’ve been home since September. You’ve just been too busy with school to come visit. All those numbers taking up your time.” He grinned, and his thoughts turned to Penny and her obsession with numbers and lists. He wondered how she was doing tonight. He itched to text her, but resisted.
“What’s that look for?” Ally asked, cutting through his thoughts.
“Nothing. Are you coming to the game on Tuesday?” he asked, hoping to steer her away from more questions. Not that Ally wouldn’t love Penny, and hopefully vice versa. He just wasn’t ready to talk about her with Ally.
“Of course. Right next to the penalty box, please. I like seeing those hot guys all riled up,” she said, grinning. “Especially Dominic. He’s yummy. And single, right?”
That mischievous twinkle in her blue eyes, that perfectly matched his, set him on edge. “Absolutely not. No hockey players for you. We’re all horrible. And I’ll get you seats in the upper bowl. A bird’s-eye view of the game is the best way to watch it.”
“No, it’s not, and you’re not all horrible. But I bet Dom is,” she said with a grin.
“I retract my offer. No games for you,” he said, tucking her under his arm.
“So not fair. What good is having a hockey player brother if he’s not going to introduce me to his hot teammates?” she said.
“When do you go back to school again?”
“You know I’m teasing. And it’s good to see you smiling again. Should we go in and polish off a bottle of what I’m assuming is ridiculously expensive wine?”
“Might as well.” Or they could just stay out on the front stairs. It wasn’t that cold out. Especially compared to the East Coast winters he’d gotten used to.
“And you can tell me all about your new girlfriend,” she said, and then turned and walked into the house.
He was stunned for a moment. “Wait. What are you talking about?”
“Darren said he ran into you looking cozy with a puck bunny,” she replied.
“What the fuck? She’s not a puck bunny,” he growled. He knew by her giggle that he’d been caught.
“Ooh, sounds serious. Darren just said he ran into you on a date. I added the puck bunny part.”
He shook his head. He’d fallen right into that. “You scare me sometimes.”
“Only sometimes? Guess I have to up my game.”
He laughed, following her into the house, feeling relaxed for the first time since he’d woken up this morning.
“I haven’t heard that laugh in so long.” His mother’s hushed words cut his chuckle, and he stared back at the woman he hadn’t seen in six years. Her small smile was a twist to his gut, and he knew how selfish it’d been to stay away for so long, and yet he’d still done it.
“Hi, Mom,” he said. She rushed toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist, squeezing him as tightly as she could.
“I can’t believe we finally got you home. I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered against his chest.
He tried to hold back his shock as he held her. Yes, he’d had his reasons, but in this moment, he realized he’d been a complete ass. He’d stayed away for too long. Maybe not from his brother and Julie. But from his mom. From everyone else. He might tower over his petite mother, but in that moment he felt about three inches tall.
“I missed you, too, Mom,” he said, his voice gruff. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
She pulled back, her emotions clear on her face. “It shouldn’t have taken you this long to come home, but I understand. And your father and I are sorry for everything that happened.” The last sentence was whispered, and he stared down at her. Had they not truly supported what Darren and Julie had done?
Ethan was determined to move past this. It was time. “I’m sorry for staying away, but I’m here now.”
“Yes, you are. And I expect you to come to dinner without Ally forcing your hand.”
“I will,” he promised.
“Good. Now, it’s almost time to eat, so let’s go,” she said, giving him a pat on his back before spinning on her heel and heading down the hall to the kitchen.
“See. That wasn’t painful,” Ally said, a soft smile playing at the edge of her lips. “Now, can we talk about my hockey seats?”
He pulled her in tight, and chuckled. “Nosebleeds for you, kid.” As he followed in his mother’s wake, with Ally at his side, he hoped the rest of the night would go just as smoothly.
“You made it,” Robert called out. He came over to relieve Ethan of his bottle of wine, and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
His father walked over, giving him a stiff hug. “Ethan, it’s good to see you. It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has,” Ethan said, returning the hug. This was going much better than he’d anticipated.
“Can I get you anything?” his father asked, as if no time or separation had occurred. That was his father’s way.
“Dinner’s ready,” his mother called out, bringing one last dish with her. “Ethan, you can sit next to Ally.”
“I finally graduated from the kid’s table,” Ally said, steering him toward his mother’s end of the table. He muttered greetings to a few cousins, another uncle, and his aunt, and took a seat.
“That’s because you were the last kid left,” Ethan said, reaching up to tweak her ear.
“Hey, knock it off,” Ally exclaimed in fake annoyance.
“One day we’ll have more kids in the family.” Ethan didn’t miss the wistful tone in his mother’s voice.
“Yes, you will,” Julie called out. Ethan bit back the pure irritation coursing through him. He’d managed to not acknowledge them at all, spotting them at the other end of the table right before he’d sat down. He’d kept his expression neutral, still hating the fact that she was here. That they still hadn’t apologized for what they’d done behind his back.
He swore he was over her, and he was. But his brother, that was another story.
“Did you have something to tell us, dear?” his mother asked.
“Not yet. But, we are planning on kids, hopefully in the near future,” she said, her smile bordering on smug. Why hadn’t he seen her constant need for attention when they’d
been together? Of course, they’d both been so young, and thinking back, he’d overlooked a lot of things because he’d thought he was in love with her. But the lust-clouded glasses had broken long ago. Not that he was grateful for what had happened, but he was happy that they hadn’t ended up together. If only the guy she’d ended up with hadn’t been his brother, then Ethan would have no issues.
“Julie. Now isn’t the time,” Darren bit out, his hand gripping his wine glass tight enough that Ethan feared for the stem.
“What? It’s the holidays, and we’re all family,” she said before taking a sip from her glass.
Ethan turned back to his mother and Ally, focusing on the conversation around him, answering questions about the team and if he missed New York. He tuned out his brother and Julie. They’d hash it out eventually. Even he knew they couldn’t avoid it. But for now, he was happy to be back with his family. Sure, it would never be the same as before, and he probably wouldn’t show up for dinner once a week, but it was a start. That’s all he could ask for.
Chapter 10
“You ready?”
Penny jerked her head up at Lexi’s voice. Shit. Was it noon already? She’d made lunch plans with Lexi this morning. Penny glanced at the clock on her computer. Twelve on the dot. Crap, she was so behind today. It was the first day back after the extended holiday weekend. She had a surprise training session with Kevin, where he’d refused to take notes again, and now she was behind. But she needed to get out of the office before she drove herself insane. She saved the file she was working on and pushed away from her desk.
“I am now,” she said, standing up and grabbing her phone.
“Can’t wait to escape already?” Lexi teased. Penny leaned over her desk and clicked save one last time for good measure before slipping on her coat.
“End of year craziness, but we scheduled lunch, so I’m ready.” And now that she thought about it, she was hungry.
“We can skip if you want,” Lexi said just as her stomach growled.
Penny laughed. “Your stomach disagrees.”
“I thought those Christmas cookies I had for breakfast would hold me over, but I was wrong,” Lexi said, and Penny chuckled.
“Christmas cookies for breakfast? Did Abby get cookies, too?” Penny asked. Not that she would mind cookies for breakfast. Especially the Italian treats that Grant’s mother had no doubt provided. Damn. Now she wanted cookies.
“Of course not. She had a well-balanced breakfast of cereal. And not a sugary kind, thank you very much. I wasn’t in the mood to make anything for myself, so cookies it was,” Lexi said, and then grinned. “The usual?”
“Sure,” Penny replied. They headed out of the office, and to the café down the street.
“So, bad day?” Lexi asked after the waitress had dropped off their drinks and taken their lunch orders.
“Just the usual. Kevin is driving me insane. We all know he only has his job because of his father. He’s not even applying himself, or taking any notes. Robert assigned him a small, standard account. A married couple with regular jobs, a primary home, and no kids. I mean, it’s basic tax preparing 101, and he still asked where to list the mortgage interest.” She shook her head. “Did he even go to school for this? Yes, we aren’t doing actual live returns right now. We are at least a month out, but come on. How is he going to keep pace over the next few months when we are slammed and I can’t correct every file?” She huffed in irritation. She’d never had this much trouble training someone, and it rankled.
“Yikes. I think even I could prepare that return.”
“If he can’t handle a basic tax return, how is he going to handle our clients with multiple properties and multiple businesses?” Penny grimaced. He was not going to ruin her perfect record of trainees, dammit.
“Why don’t you talk to Alan, or even Robert, about it?” Lexi asked.
“It’s a dicey situation since he’s Alan’s son. How am I supposed to tell him that basic calculations stump his son?”
“It completely sucks, but you’ll whip him into shape,” Lexi said.
“This one might be a lost cause. And what will that say to Robert and Alan? Why would they promote me if I can’t bring Kevin up to snuff?” She hated how whiny she sounded, but it freaking irritated the hell out of her that Kevin’s lack of giving a shit would reflect poorly in how the company owners viewed her ability to train efficient staff. Robert hadn’t brought up the possible promotion recently, but she had to believe it was still on the table.
“You’ll figure it out. Now, enough about the clueless one, tell me all about Christmas.”
“What?” Penny sputtered, almost knocking over her glass at Lexi’s abrupt change of topic.
“Christmas. You know that holiday we had a few days ago? Presents? Crazy family drama? How did it go?” Lexi asked. She smiled as she took a sip of her soda.
Lexi got right to the heart of it, but Penny didn’t want to talk about running out on her family. It still hurt. She ducked her head, taking a long sip of her soda, mumbling, “It was fine. Yours?”
Lexi sat up straighter, her eyes locking with Penny’s. “Oh no, what the hell happened?”
“Just a standard family holiday dinner. Jill is pregnant. Mom commented on my hair. And Michael was invited.”
Lexi visibly recoiled. “What the actual fuck?”
“Oh look, here’s lunch,” Penny said, heat staining her cheeks. The waitress had definitely heard Lexi’s outburst.
“Sorry for that,” Lexi said. She gave Penny a pained smile. “Are you serious? Good thing Amanda isn’t here. She would’ve been a lot louder.”
Penny half-grimaced, half-smiled, and let out a small huff of laughter. “You think? I will be relaying this info to her via text.”
“I’m half-tempted to tell her to get over here now.”
“Please don’t. I’ll work up to telling her. She’s going to lose it. More than you just did. You’re the more rational one of the group,” Penny said, hating the hitch in her voice. She would not lose it at lunch. Over the last day and a half, she cried tears she didn’t even know she still had.
Lexi reached out and squeezed Penny’s hand. “Whatever bodily harm you want me to inflict on him, just let me know. Or I can send Grant over. He can be scary if you need him.”
Penny barked out a strained laugh. “Good to know. And I don’t believe that about Grant.”
“Believe it. He keeps his temper under wraps. I’ve only seen it a few times. Remember that douche you set me up with that Grant ended up punching? Not that the ass didn’t deserve what he had coming to him.”
“I’m still so sorry about that. Michael said he was a nice guy. Of course, coming from Michael, that’s not saying much,” Penny grumbled. She’d been so freaking pissed when Lexi had told her about the set-up that had gone horribly wrong. Michael had recommended one of his friends and co-workers for Lexi to meet, and Penny hadn’t vetted him. She hadn’t even asked her father about the guy.
The guy had tried to get Lexi drunk and had gotten super handsy. Luckily, Grant had swooped in and rescued her—a task he excelled at—and punched the guy in the process. It’d been well-deserved from what Lexi had told her. Penny had been furious with Michael, but he had just shrugged it off, saying his friend had too much to drink and wasn’t usually like that.
His blasé response should’ve been another red flag, but Penny overlooked it. She’d overlooked a lot.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s kind of hot when Grant gets caveman-y.” Lexi grinned, pulling Penny back from her thoughts.
“Now. Stop distracting me and tell me about dinner,” Lexi continued.
“Okay. My mother asked me to answer the door, and there he was, bottle of wine in hand, smug smile in place. I mean, how could they?”
“Seriously, what the hell is wrong with them? I mean, I get that Michael works for your father, but blood should take precedence over business. And it was freaking Christmas dinner.”
Penny
continued to rehash the events of Christmas dinner, and Lexi’s anger grew. “You really should’ve stabbed him with that fork,” Lexi said.
“I know, but instead I bolted. I’m trying to put everything behind me and fix my relationship with my parents but they are not helping. Then I cried myself to sleep and wished I could call Ethan.” Penny’s hand shot up, covering her mouth. Dammit. She hadn’t meant to bring him up.
“Oh, Penny. I hate that you are going through this, but you’ve been holding out on me.” She tsked and shot Penny a grin. “So, what’s going on with Ethan, and why couldn’t you call him?”
“It’s nothing. It’s not like we spend a lot of time talking on the phone, or hang out, or anything like that,” she said, and then took a bite of her sandwich. Maybe if her mouth was full, she’d stop offering up info she wasn’t ready to share. If she didn’t talk about Ethan, then she wasn’t putting herself out there with him and risking her heart again. She internally shook her head. Did she want to put herself out there with him?
A shouted yes, you idiot rang through her head. Not that she hadn’t already figured that out. She just wasn’t in the mood to admit it yet.
“What’s going on in there?” Lexi asked with a wave of her hand, her sandwich forgotten as her grin widened.
“Nothing. We had dinner last week, and he kissed me, and then we ran into his ex.” And there she went again, offering up unsolicited information.
“You kissed him?” Lexi asked. Penny didn’t think her friend’s grin could get any wider.
“No. I said he kissed me.” And then she’d kissed him, and he’d returned the favor multiple times. God. She wanted to see him again. Stupid away games. But he said he’d be home this weekend. Not that they’d made plans or anything.
“Oh. And I’m sure you didn’t climb into his lap and kiss him right back.”
Breakout (San Francisco Strikers Book 1) Page 11