Page 108 of Rebel Bride
Theo sent him a look. “Who you calling ‘old’?”
“I was talking about Lars. You’re immortal, Dad.”
Lars shook his head. “This kid.”
“This kid made the Frozen Four final his sophomore year!”
“What happened the last two years then?” Landon asked his brother.
“We were robbed.”
“You kind of were,” I said. “They should have put you in more, Conor, especially this last year. Your stats were stellar.”
Conor’s frown turned upside down. “Knew I liked you.”
“But they tend to look for ‘solid’ instead of ‘flashy’ at that stage, so I reckon they weren’t willing to take the chance.”
The table broke out in laughter. Theo pointed at his son. “She’s got your number, Connie!”
Conor was still smiling at me. “And you were doing so well. How come you know so much about college hockey?”
“Summer compiled a lot of reports when she worked for the org,” Addy said. “She probably knows more about the draft prospects than anyone here.”
“Don’t know about that,” I muttered.
“You do!” Addy gave me a fierce look. Since she’d found love with Lars and embraced her talents as a children’s entertainer, she was a champion for other people’s strengths. “Didn’t you say Lauren asked you for some of your research?”
Hatch’s agent had heard from Addy about my side hustle and reached out to me after Rosie’s dinner party to ask if I’d mind sending my scouting reports over. Working at The Mallinson Group, one of the top sports management firms in the country, I would have thought she had a team of people to do that, but she said she was curious about how my research aligned with her own.
“Lauren’s super sharp,” Hatch said.
“Yeah, she is.” Theo looked at his son. “Poached you from my agent, didn’t she?”
“That was my choice, Dad.”
I got the impression this issue had been raised before, and that there was some residual tension surrounding it. The awkward moment was smoothed over by Conor.
“But back to me. The Rebels need a bit of flash. They won’t be getting that with Uncle J.”
“It’ll be good to have some mid-career players in there, for sure,” I offered, moving the conversation away from Hatch and Lauren. “That’s what a team needs during a rebuild. Stability to ease the transition. Jason’s a proven quantity.”
“Besides, it’s a bit early to be putting you in, bro.” Landon pointed a breadstick at Conor. “They probably want to see how much you eff up your first year with the Motors.”
“More likely they felt there was a Kershaw cap,” Aurora said. “We can only have three of you boys on the roster at any one time.”
That produced plenty of laughs.
Conor finished chewing his pasta. “Well, if Hatch gets his wish, I can take his spot.”
“Gets his wish?” Theo looked at Hatch, then back at Conor. “Meaning?”
Hatch shot a sharp look at his brother, who mouthed, “Sorry, bro.”
“Nothing. Just spit balling.” Hatch shrugged. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
“You looking to move?”
All eyes focused on Hatch. “I like to keep my options open.”
