Page 62 of Fake Out Hearts

“He’s just like his father in that regard,” Anne says with a smile. “A real handy man around the house, but absolutely hopeless on the dance floor.”

John laughs and shrugs. “What can I say? We Camdens aren’t dancers.”

I like keeping the focus off me, so I stay there. “Oh really?” I grin, glancing between Theo and his dad. “What else do I need to know about the Camdens?”

“They can be incredibly hardheaded,” Anne answers immediately, and Theo and John laugh. “And their scrappiness seems to run in the family too,” she adds.

I laugh softly, nodding. Based on what I’ve seen of his time on the ice, I’m not surprised to hear that Theo has always been a fighter.

“Damn, Mom, you make us sound like a mafia family or something,” Theo says. “I mean, sure, I got into my fair share of fights in school, but it didn’t happenthatoften.”

Anne lifts an eyebrow at her son. “Theo, you know I love you, but I lost count of the number of times I had to pick you up from the principal’s office for getting into a fight with some boy or other who was twice as big as you, just because they were picking on some other kid.”

“Oh my god,” Theo groans, covering his face. But I think it’s cute. Everyone has embarrassing childhood stories with their family that they’d sooner die than share, so I appreciate the Camdens bringing me in like this.

Theo lowers his hands. “To be fair, if you had a bunch of rich little snobs always looking down their noses at you, you’d probably want to break a few of them too.”

“You did have a rough time adjusting when we moved,” Anne agrees, and I gather that the Camdens weren’t exactly rich themselves back then. So, Theo probably had a lot to prove.

“But you found your place, eventually. I was worried for a while you’d make an enemy out of every kid in town, but your good heart won out in the end. That’s another Camden thing: a tough exterior hiding a big, mushy heart,” Anne says, looking at me.

“I’ve definitely seen that already.” I grin at Theo, and he smiles back, making my heart swell. Not that I have a healthy model to compare it to, but it seems to me like this is how a family is supposed to be: loving, but unafraid to acknowledge each other’s shortcomings.

So maybe I’m not as much of an outsider in this family or with Theo as I thought. The thought reminds me that I never had anything like this growing up, but I don’t know how to feel about that either because it makes me feel even closer to Theo. Like he’s really welcoming me into his family. But this is all supposed to be fake, so where does that leave us?

The waitress returns during the break in conversation, sparing me from my thoughts. We order food and havesome more idle talk while we wait, but the topics stay light. Apparently, Anne and John are planning a trip to Canada sometime next year, so I give them some tips on places to see and places to avoid.

After we finish eating, Theo checks his phone for the time. “Shit, sorry to eat and run, but I’ve gotta get to practice.” His expression brightens. “Hey, you know what? Why don’t you all come with me to watch?”

Anne turns to John. “What do you think? Are you up for that?”

Her husband’s face lights up like a hockey arena. “Oh, absolutely. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen my boy play.”

His voice is full of pride, and Theo blushes as he tosses a stack of cash on the table to cover the bill. “Alright, then let’s get a move on.”

“You really don’t have to pay for us,” Anne argues, but he waves her away.

“Are you kidding? I want to. I like taking care of you,” Theo says, echoing something he’s said to me more than once.

We slide out of the booth we’re sharing and pile back into the car. Theo stops by the loft to grab his gear quickly, and when we get to the practice arena, he makes sure we’re settled in rink side seats before striding off to change.

Anne sits to my left, with John to hers. I’m not sure what to say to either of them, and I’ve never been particularly good at small talk, so I ask the only thing I can think of. “Is this your first time at the arena?”

Anne shakes her head. “No, we’ve been several times over the years. We love seeing Theo play. But it’s been a little while since we’ve watched a practice.”

The Aces appear on the ice a few minutes later. They start by doing laps around the ice as a warmup, and each time Theopasses us, he finds me and beams. When he does it on the last lap, Anne laughs and leans over.

“I think I understand why you two got married so quickly now,” she murmurs.

I blink in surprise at that. “Really? Why?”

“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but John and I were a little worried after hearing that Theo had gotten married so unexpectedly, especially after the way his first marriage fell apart,” she says. I don’t really know what she means since I haven’t gotten the story on that yet, but I let her keep talking. “But now that we’ve met you, and now that I’ve seen the way Theo looks at you, it makes so much more sense.”

“How does he look at me?”

My voice drops a little as I ask the question. I’m almost afraid to hear the answer. Not because I don’t want to hear it, but because of what it might mean, and how it might change things.

Anne’s eyes warm as she smiles softly at me. “Like he can see his future when he looks at you. And I can tell he thinks it’s bright.”

---