She smiles shyly, and Jenna squeezes her. “This is my friend, Gage. Can you say hi?”
Felicity doesn’t say hi, but to my surprise, she bursts into an extended monologue. “I’m going to be eight in a few weeks, and after the hockey season is over, I’m going to Pittsburgh to visit Aunt Jenna. And she also told me to be nice to you since your team lost to the Vengeance tonight, but Jett plays for the Vengeance, so I have to cheer for them. But tonight at the game, Aunt Jenna screamed really loud for you.”
Laughing, I cut a brief glance at Jenna before bringing my attention back to Felicity. “You know, I thought I heard her at one point.”
Felicity nods somberly. “She was really, really loud.”
“I see you’re wearing Jett’s jersey. I could send you one of mine to wear.”
She wrinkles her nose. “No thank you. Jett’s my favorite.”
Christ, she’s fucking adorable. I twist my neck mid-laugh to look at Emory. “I assume Jett is with the guys celebrating their extraordinary butt-kicking tonight?”
Normally, I would’ve termed it a “fucking ass-whooping,” but I’m supersensitive to kids’ delicate ears, given my passel of nieces and nephews. I’m forever switching to clean speech when around them, so I’m pretty good at it.
“Actually, he’s joining us,” Emory says, looking fondly across the table at Jenna. “He wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Throughout the time Jenna and I have spent together, including late-night phone calls, I’ve learned that she and Jett became exceptionally close after he started dating Emory. I don’t know him that well, but I know I already like him just from Jenna’s platitudes. He made her feel comfortable around him. She thought it was sweet that he didn’t want her to move to Pittsburgh but to stay here with him, Emory, and Felicity. Not because he didn’t want her to stretch her wings or push herself outside her comfort zone, but because she’s part of his new family and they’d miss her too much.
“Well, thank you for including me in the family get-together,” I say. A waitress appears and I order a beer, note that both sisters’ wineglasses are half full, and order another round for them. I look across the table at Felicity. “What’s that you got there? Judging by the color and cherries floating in it, I’m guessing a Shirley Temple. Want another?”
“Yes, please,” she says sweetly, and I order her another one. She looks up at Jenna. “Can I play on your phone?”
“Sure,” Jenna says, pulling it out of her purse. She unlocks and hands it to Felicity, who is clearly a tech pro. She navigates to a game and is soon immersed.
“And now the adults can talk.” Emory laughs, then nudges me with her elbow. “Okay… you’re seeing my sister. We have limited time, and rest assured, Jenna has told me everything about you.”
“Not everything,” Jenna declares, looking at me guiltily.
“Most everything,” Emory corrects. “So now you tell me something that Jenna doesn’t know about you. Something that will help me get to know you on a deeper level.”
Well, damn. That’s actually hard because Jenna and I have shared so much. All our conversations are long and deep.
My brain whirls as I try to think of something… anything.
Then it comes to me. I smile at Jenna before giving my attention to her sister. “When I was thirteen, I got arrested for shoplifting at a gas station.”
Emory laughs, and Jenna’s jaw drops. “No way,” she exclaims. “What did you take?”
“A pack of gum and a candy bar.”
“A real hooligan.” Emory quips, leveling a smirk at her sister. “Not so perfect now, is he?”
Jenna’s eyes are round as saucers. “You were arrested?”
“Well, I wasn’t actually arrested. But I was caught and the owner called the cops. The responding deputy knew my parents well, talked the shop owner into letting me off with a warning, and then drove me down to the station. My dad had to come pick me up, and I was so scared, I thought he was going to kill me.”
“Clearly, you survived,” Emory says, enjoying the story.
Chuckling, I nod. “I was grounded for a month and had to go every weekend to the gas station and clean up around the area, including the bathrooms. I’d have rather gone to jail.”
“Just wow,” Jenna says, shaking her head. “I did think you were perfect until now.”
“Come on,” I tease, giving a tiny push with my foot against hers under the table. “You appreciate the bad boy in me, don’t you?”
Jenna snorts, and Emory cackles.
“Did I miss something funny?” We all turn to see Jett approaching. Felicity flies out of the booth, flinging herself at him. He catches her, lifts her high in the air, and then gives her a hug before settling her on his hip.
“You were great, Jett,” she babbles. “Best player on the ice. I told Gage that.”
Jett kisses her cheek, and I can see their bond is strong. He moves over to me, balancing Felicity on his hip and extending a hand to me. “Good to meet you. Tough game.”
“I’ll agree with the little girl,” I say as we grasp hands. “You played great. Congrats.”
Jett lowers Felicity to the ground and says, “Scoot in close to Aunt Jenna, and I’ll sit with you.”
“I actually have to pee,” Felicity announces, and Jenna starts to slide out.
“No,” Emory says, holding up her hand and nudging me out of the way. “I’ll take her.”
I slide from the bench so Emory can take her daughter to the bathroom, and Jenna moves out so she can hug Jett. I note he holds the hug for a few seconds as he murmurs, “Man, have we missed you.”
“Missed you too,” she says as they pull apart and smile at each other.
“Here,” Jett says, indicating the seat Jenna just vacated. “You two sit together.”
I like that indeed, and I follow Jenna back into the booth, sliding in close so our legs press against each other. As Jett settles in, I pick up her hand and squeeze it, pulling it over to rest on my thigh. She squeezes me back.
Jett looks toward the bathrooms where Emory and Felicity disappeared and then quickly back to Jenna. “Not a lot of time, but I need to run something by you.”
“Shoot,” Jenna says, leaning forward.
“I bought a ring to propose to Emory,” he says. “And—”
“And you wanted my blessing,” Jenna says with a dreamy sigh.
Jett frowns. “No. I already know I have your blessing.”
“You can’t know that,” she insists.
“Do too,” he retorts, and it sounds like me and my siblings when we squabble.
“Whatever,” she mutters.
“Anyway… I’m going to ask your dad’s blessing officially, although we both know he’ll give it because he adores me—”
“Whatever,” she mutters again, and I snicker.
Jett ignores her. “But what I really want to know is how do I incorporate Felicity into the proposal? I obviously want to talk to her first, but this is going to be a big fucking deal because I’ll become her stepdad and…”