Page 252 of Playing the Pucking Game
“Well,” Mom starts as we take our seats. “When I suggested you bring a friend, this wasn’t what I was expecting.”
Mom studies us before turning to Dad. The pair share a look before turning back to us.
“So, to what do we owe this pleasure?” Dad asks, making me want to crawl under the table and hide.
63
LINCOLN
“Linc is my roommate,” Parker blurts. “After the fire, he let me move in while I got everything sorted.”
Alison and Clark’s expressions don’t change as they focus on their daughter.
“Why don’t you look shocked?” Parker asks, almost sounding offended by their lack of reaction.
“We kinda figured, sweetie. We knew that Linc would look after you.”
Parker’s mouth opens and closes.
“Plus, you’ve been really quiet. You only do that when you’re hiding something.”
“No, I don’t. And I don’t have anything to hide. I’ve just been really busy with the new job and traveling and?—”
“It’s okay, Parker,” Clark soothes.
“We are surprised that you brought him tonight, though.”
“That’s my fault,” I interject. “I sort of invited myself. I heard she was meeting you two and that there was steak involved.”
Clark chuckles, fully understanding my thought process as our server comes over to take our drinks order.
“So, what’s been going on with you two then?” Alison asks innocently.
“What? Nothing. Nothing is going on with us,” Parker blurts, sounding guilty as fuck.
The girl can’t lie to save her life—no wonder she goes quiet when she’s hiding something from her parents.
Clark chuckles fondly. “You’ve been playing incredibly well the last few games, son.”
“Thank you. Things are clicking right now. We’re all working well as a team, all focused on where we want the rest of the season to go.”
“Well, it’s fantastic to watch. Shame I can’t say the same thing for the Bandits.”
I can’t help but laugh. “They’ve had better seasons.”
“Rett is getting more and more frustrated.” I nod in agreement. “Every time he’s on the ice, I worry that he’s going to do something stupid.”
“Just on the ice?” Alison asks.
“Well, no. All I can say is, I’m glad I’m not head of PR at the Bandits.”
“I’ve had to stop looking at social media. I just…I can’t.”
“It’s probably all lies, Mom,” Parker assures her, but even as the words roll off her tongue, I’m not sure she really believes them.
“I’m sure some are, yes. But we all know what your brother is like.”
Alison looks up at me. “Whoa,” I say, holding my hands up defensively. “I have nothing to do with his actions these days. Sure, you could have blamed me for a lot of it in the past, but things are different now. Rett is his own man, making his own bad decisions.”
