Page 20 of Puck and Prejudice

“Yes, sir. The first game of the finals,” Chad answers.

“I confess I don’t much about hockey. How many games do you have to win?”

“Four out of seven,” I say.

“And they’ll be all played in Miami?”

I open my mouth to reply, but decide to let Chad do it. He’s the one marrying into the family, not me.

“The first two games we play in Miami, then we have to fly to Vancouver for the next two. After that, we alternate per game.”

“I see… so if it goes to game seven, it will be on home ice.”

“That’s right. Jane is coming to all my games, but you should all come to the home games. I can get tickets.”

“Yes!” Lydia shouts. “That will be awesome.”

If wasn’t already certain Jane has Chad wrapped around her fingers, this would have made it clear.

“I’m sure you boys will win the whole thing before game seven,” Mrs. Bennet pipes up.

“We hope so,” I say, then take a bite of the potato dish.

“So Jackson… do you have a girlfriend?” Mrs. Bennet asks, and for some reason, it makes me choke on my food.

Chad laughs, and I want to kick him under the table. I refrain from the impulse.

“No, ma’am. I’m not currently dating anyone.”

“Oh… you know what Izzie is single too, right?”

My spine becomes rigid in an instant. Did the woman notice my attraction to her daughter?

“Mom!” Izzie complains.

“What? I’m stating a fact. You haven’t dated anyone since I don’t know when.”

“That’s by choice,” she grits out.

“Anyone want more wine?” Mrs. Bennet butts in.

“I’ll have some.” I lift my almost empty glass.

“Izzie, would you be a dear and pass me his glass?”

“Sure.” She doesn’t make eye contact with me, but now she’s sitting on her chair as stiff as a board.

Either she hates that her mother was playing matchmaker, or she hates that the woman was trying to match her with me. Mercifully, Mrs. Bennet stops her schemes, and focuses her attention on Chad.

But I’m not as relaxed as I was before. I’m too aware of Izzie, and start to analyze every single movement she makes. It’s insane.

Eventually, the meal ends. The Bennet family has many faults. They’re loud and lack manners and common sense, especially Jane’s mother. She seems to live in la-la land. But I can’t find anything to complain about in her food. I’ve had Spanish cuisine before, but nothing quite like this. I enjoyed it so much I did something I usually don’t do—I overindulged. Now the excess of carbs combined with red wine is making me sleepy.

I ask to use the restroom, which gives me a valid reason to see more of the house without Izzie watching my every move. I already know she’s the smartest member of the Bennet family, so I have to be careful not to show my hand.

On the way to the bathroom, I notice cracks in the walls and that all the wood fixtures are in dire need of a fresh coat of paint. And there was the cracked plate. This to me screams financial troubles. The bathroom is the same story. It’s spotless, but it needs an update ASAP. When I flush, the toilet makes a god-awful noise, and the water takes forever to drain. The water coming out of the faucet is weak, and the mirror has started to darken at the edges.

I shake my head, wondering if Chad’s fiancée told him she lives in a house in shambles. I doubt he noticed everything that I did. Chad is as sharp as knife on the ice, but in the real world, he’s absent-minded to a fault. And now, he only has eyes for Jane.

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