Page 48 of Center Ice
“What?” he asks as I stare at him. Of the three of us, he and I look the most alike because of our fair skin and dark hair.
“I’m just happy to see you so happy,” I say.
He rubs his palm along his jaw and gives me a sheepish smile that’s so unlike him. “Yeah. I really am.” He shakes his head slightly, as if he can’t even believe it himself.
“Good.”
“I want this for you and Jules, too,” he says, his voice quiet. “But Audrey, I don’t know if Drew is?—”
“It’s none of your business, Jameson,” I remind him. “I’m not a kid anymore, and the over-protective big brother vibe is not necessary. He’s getting to know Graham, and I want that relationship to develop. I already said I’m not going to fuck it up by getting involved with him.”
Jameson looks like he’s going to say something, but Graham comes barreling down the stairs, and so my brother gives me a succinct nod, like he agrees, then turns his attention to my son.
“So,” I say once we’re all seated at the table and the waiter has taken our orders, “Jameson and I had…a moment…earlier tonight.”
Lauren bursts out laughing. “What does that mean, exactly?”
“Yeah,” Morgan says, “because that sounds…borderline inappropriate.”
I don’t have to imagine the look of horror on my face—I can tell it’s there by the way my sister and friends laugh in response.
“No, like, we almost had a fight.”
“Why’s that?” Jules asks, sounding like she knows exactly why. Even though I didn’t tell her when she got home, because I didn’t feel like telling this story twice, shedoesknow. She’s been telling me Jameson was going to figure it out soon. And surprisingly, him knowing and me therefore being free to talk to Lauren, Morgan, and Paige about it, is freeing.
It was hard enough to keep Graham’s paternity a secret for the last six years. But it’s been infinitely harder since Drew has been back in Boston.
I shoot my sister a look, then turn my attention to the rest of the table. “Because I finally told him who Graham’s father is.”
“Oh my God,” Lauren says, pressing her hands together like she’s praying, “please tell me he took it okay?”
“Wait,” Morgan says, looking at Lauren. “Youknow who Graham’s father is? Did I miss out on some sort of news brief?”
“You and me both,” Paige says. “Am I just traveling for work so much that you guys don’t keep me in the loop about big news like this?”
Paige is a couple of years older than Lauren, who is a couple of years older than me. She has her own circle of friends—people she’s known since college and others she’s met at work. But I love it when she’s around because she has a quick wit and a dry sense of humor. She actually reminds me a little of Lauren’sfriend Petra, all badass career woman, who takes no shit from men.
“No, I hadn’t told anyone—ever—except for Jules?—”
“You knew all this time!” Lauren says, her eyes wide. “And you didn’t say anything? I didn’t even think you were capable of keeping a secret, much less lying about it.”
Jules just laughs as she tugs her loose boatneck sweater back onto her shoulder. “Just because I call things like I see them doesn’t mean I don’t know how to keep my sister’s biggest secret.”
“Anyway,” I say, facing Morgan and Paige, “Lauren kind of figured it out a couple weekends ago because I walked into her backyard and saw Graham’s father standing there talking to my brother.”
“Holy shit!” Paige says, and her face lights up. “I need the whole story, now!”
So I recount everything that’s happened over the last two and a half weeks, ending with Drew getting diagnosed with strep today.
“Wait, so he’s back in your life…you’re attracted to him…he wants you…and you’re not letting that hottie rail you every chance you get?” Morgan asks. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“What part of ‘doing what’s best for Graham’ wasn’t clear?” I take a sip of my water. “And how do you know he’s hot? You don’t even follow hockey.” Morgan’s dad was Jameson’s sports agent when he was in the NHL and gave him his first agenting job once he retired. While Morgan knows a ton about every professional sport by virtue of growing up with her dad as her sole caregiver while her mom was off running all over the world, marrying a new guy every few years, she doesn’t really follow any sports as an adult.
“Uhh, I was there, remember? At Lauren’s, the night you’re talking about? We all were. And even though you and Jules left almost immediately after arriving—and now we know why—the rest of us stayed. I talked to Drew. He seemed like a pretty nice guy.” She tilts her wineglass toward her lips, but before it makes contact, she lowers it again and says, “And he’s hot. Like, let’s not overlook that fact. Isthiswhy you wouldn’t let me set you up on any of the dating apps?” Her jaw drops, and her eyes widen like she’s just made a huge discovery.
When my cheeks redden, Lauren slaps the table. “Oh my God! You’re holding out for him, aren’t you?”
“No,” I try to laugh it off. “I’m holding him off, is more like it. Besides, I have Karl, and no-strings-attached sex is all I need or want right now.”
