Page 72 of Playmaker

She nodded. “Are you involved with that charity?”

I shook my head. I was lucky to have been asked to fill up a table. But no need to share that.

“And how long have you two been dating?”

I tilted my head. “We’re just friends.”

Her eyebrows moved slightly upward.Botox?“Oh?”

“We’re both very busy at this point in our careers.”

“Yes, I’m sure your work keeps you occupied. Whit, well…” She shook her head as she looked at her son. “It’s the offseason, so he shouldn’t have anything to do.”

The woman had no idea of what her son’s life was like. I’d picked up enough from our time together to know he kept busy with charity events and sponsorships when he wasn’t working out and training. He wasn’t spending his summer on the couch playing video games and eating chips.

I forced a polite smile. “I’m sure that made it easier to schedule the wedding, but he still spends an incredible amount of time with his training as well as sponsor and charity commitments.”

“Of course.” Her tone was dismissive, and I really needed to control this defensiveness. “You should talk to Pierce. You’d have so much in common.”

I kept my smile, but since Pierce was already giving major Benson vibes, I hoped there wouldn’t betoomuch in common.

Everyone headed toward the dining room, probably following some signal I’d missed. Cooper kept close to me till we reached the table. There were name cards at each setting, and all the “couples” were split up. I was seated by Pierce for dinner.Lucky me!

Pierce was more polished than Benson, and much cleverer. He managed to disparage his brother oh so politely, and the insults were wrapped in supposed compliments.

I kept a smile on my face and talked as little as possible. My fingernails were digging half-moon shapes into my palms.

Cooper, seated by his father, grew more and more stiff. I’d seen him when fans or critics discussed his hockey team’s loss, and this was different. His knuckles were white on his fork.

I wanted to either slap Preston upside his perfectly groomed head, or give him a Power Point presentation on just how admirable his son was.

“You must be quite the hockey fan.” A voice in my ear brought me back from my violent thoughts.

I wasn’t sure if Pierce was suggesting that I was only willing to slum it with a hockey player because of my supposed passion for the sport, or that a shared love of hockey was the only way to make Cooper’s company palatable. Or both. Probably both. He needed a slapping as well.

I set down my fork, afraid I might use it on his smug face. “Actually, I’m not a fan of any sportsball.”

“Really? I find it hard to picture you and Whit spending time together if you’re not a hockey person.”

I tilted my head. “I have friends who aren’t lawyers, but we manage to enjoy ourselves without talking about law, or tax.” Did this family only discuss business? The number of people who enjoyed discussing legal issues was pretty small. “I like to spend time when I’m not focused on my job.”

I didn’t have many friends who weren’t connected to work. But Darcy counted, and he wasn’t a lawyer, and we didn’t talk about my job. His, yes, because funny things happened. Pretty sure Pierce wouldn’t appreciate stories like that.

“I always thought Whit tended to run on and on about his sport. Which is bad enough. But when he does that modeling, like some sort of life studies class. Don’t you find that a little…vulgar?”

He had no idea the kind of vulgar I’d grown up with. I narrowed my eyes. “The ads are very popular in Toronto. He has a lot of fans.”

Pierce looked like he’d swallowed something sour. “He always wanted attention, and he found a way to get it.”

Someone was jealous.

Pierce watched the groom’s sister flirt with Cooper with that sour look on his face. “I just find it difficult to imagine the two of you together. What do you talk about?”

Cooper went on about clothing more than hockey, in my experience, but I wasn’t going to tell him that since I didn’t plan to announce my very different upbringing. Which left— “We’ve actually spent a lot of time discussing golf. We’ve been playing together.”

Pierce’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I love golf. When I can get the time away. Where have you been playing?”

Pierce didn’t react to Briarwood, but he was happy to talk golf. Mostlyatme rather than with me, but I was good with that. Conversations would be much the same at the tournament next month. Since I wasn’t an expert in the subject, being able to listen and nod would earn some points, which was the whole reason for me to attend the event.

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