Part 63 (2/2)
Standing up, I hold out my hand, but he laughs, wrapping me up in a big hug before squeezing me tightly. ”Shake hands? Please.”
d.a.m.n it. This isn't right.
When he wraps Avery up, I feel Ellen looking at me as if she wants to hug me. But, nope, no can do, superwh.o.r.e who broke up my family. ”So pretty. Were you this pretty at the game? I don't remember.”
Avery smiles, but she's cautious as my dad squeezes her. ”You're too sweet.”
I smile as he lets her go and turns her so she faces Ellen. ”This is my fiancee, Ellen.”
Avery doesn't want to touch her, I can see it, but Ellen takes her hand, shaking it eagerly. ”So nice to meet you.”
”You too,” she laughs nervously, looking at me, and I shoot her a rea.s.suring smile as I pull her chair back out. Sitting down, Dad orders some c.o.c.ktails for him and Ellen while Avery and I take waters.
”That's my boy. Gotta keep it clean to tear up the ice. Ralph told me you met with the Rangers yesterday?”
I nod. ”Yeah, I don't know why. They are doing great in the standings; I won't last till their pick.”
”True, so who are we looking at?”
”Panthers, Sabres, and Blue Jackets. I'm liking the Panthers for, you know, sunny Florida,” I say and Avery nods.
”Me too,” she giggles and my dad laughs hard. A little too hard. It's forced.
”I bet. Good place to raise a baby. But Blue Jackets are right up the road. You'll be close to home.”
I couldn't agree more. ”Yeah, and I like the GM and the coach there. Coach Moore knows him real well, says he coaches like him.”
That has Dad bringing his brows in. ”Coach Moore, hm, he's dating your mom, right?”
I pause, eyeing him. ”Yeah.”
”So you probably trust his opinion?”
”I do, but I did before he was with Mom.”
He nods. ”Hm. I think Sabres are the best choice. They are rebuilding and doing big things.”
He isn't wrong, but I don't want to go to New York and neither does Avery. ”Yeah. I mean, we'll see what happens. I really have no control over any of it. I go where they choose me.”
”True,” he says with a nod. ”But let's hope for Sabres.”
I only nod as the waiter comes, taking our orders and then refilling our waters. ”So, Avery, your daddy is Benedict Haverbrooke, isn't he?”
Avery looks up and tilts her head. ”He is. How did you know?”
She looks to me and I shrug as my dad says, ”I'm a lawyer, I know all.”
Avery isn't convinced, though. ”Yeah. That's my dad.”
”Cool, I've known Benny for a long time. Good guy.”
She smiles, but it isn't true and that makes me smile. ”Yeah.”
”Your brothers, too. Man, great players. Didn't you play with Matty, Jace?”
”I did,” I answer, lacing my fingers with Avery's under the table.
”Cool, good family. How do they feel about this?”
She shrugs. ”Doesn't matter how they feel,” she says and my dad holds her gaze.
”No?”
”Nope.”
”Can I ask why?”
She shrugs and I say, ”Doesn't really matter, Dad. She isn't very close with her family.”
”Oh. Okay.” The way he says that bothers me, and I can tell it bothers Avery too. It's like me saying she wasn't close with them was a piece of the puzzle or something. It's weird, but he is grinning like a kid in a candy store, and I really don't know what he is up to. ”Well, nonetheless, I bet you're excited?”
She smiles politely. ”Excited?”
”For everything. Married to the prospected number-one draft choice. h.e.l.l, he looks good too. So you know the baby you're having is going to be a looker. In my opinion, you hit the lottery, honey.”
Ellen laughs with him, but I just stare, glare really, as Avery eyes him suspiciously. ”I'm not sure what you're implying, Mark. But all that stuff is just bonuses to the fact that I love Jace. Him. As a person.”
I look back to my dad, and he's just grinning. ”I wasn't implying anything, sweetheart. Just making conversation.”
”Oh, well, then, yes, I'm very excited to be married and expecting with the most amazing, perfect guy in the world,” she says, looking at me with a smile, but when I wink, her grin grows. ”I got lucky.”
”Please, I'm the lucky one,” I say, emotion thick in my voice.
”Aren't y'all just sweet? Aren't they, Mark? They sound like us,” Ellen coos and he smiles, kissing her cheek.
Meanwhile, I'm gagging and rethinking how I flirt with my wife. Looking at Avery, I can tell she's thinking the same. Before anyone else can say anything, our salads come and we start eating. In silence. Thick, tension-filled silence. I don't want to be here, and every glance Avery throws me lets me know she feels the same. I just don't trust my dad, and I know I'm not the only one. h.e.l.l, I don't even think Ellen trusts him. I don't miss the way she watches him every time a waitress comes to the table asking us if we want refills.
He's a fraud, and I think he's the only one who doesn't know that.
But I need him to give me my trust fund.
So I'll play nice.
It's just so painful. All through the next course he talks happily with us, telling us about their trips all over the place and even how he picked up three new clients. ”I tried to get Jayden and Jude to sign with me, but they weren't having it.”
”Their loss,” Ellen says with a wave and I glare. But before I can say anything, Avery's hand covers mine, shaking her head.
<script>