mom before she could make this more uncomfortable. It was clear Jason didn’t share much with anyone around him.
Carmen’s smile was stiff as her eyes roamed over me. I wanted to tell her I wasn’t a threat, but that wouldn't have been much fun. If she wanted to get jealous, that was on her.
She was pretty much my exact opposite, and I had a tough time seeing how Jason could be interested in her. She was tall, although she was wearing heels. Which was a problem in and of itself. Who wore heels to a sporting event? Everyone knew there were long lines, stairs, and crowds to navigate. Her long, shiny black hair was pin-straight, and her skin was remarkably pale, given it was mid-June. Did she ever see the sun? Oh no, a vampire. I bit back a smile.
The best part was that she wasn’t wearing Jason’s jersey. Even I was dressed to cheer for the Fury. Granted, it was one of Brandon Cullen’s since he had a few extra around the house, but still. I made the effort.
“Oh really? Jason’s never mentioned you.” The vampire looked up at the man in question.
He was panicking. His eyes flickered around the group before resting on me. “Taylor lived next door to my sponsor’s house in high school.”
“Sponsor? Are you in AA?”
I choked back a laugh.
“No, a sponsor is the family you live with if you’re from out of town in the Major Juniors,” his dear mom explained.
“Major Juniors?” she parroted.
“Where’d you find this one, Dumoulin?” Erik Schultz called from next to his sister, Chloe.
Okay, being mean wasn’t necessary.
“It’s the professional league for players sixteen to twenty,” I clarified for her.
She nodded. “So you lived next to each other?”
“For two years in high school, yeah.”
“You never told me about that.” She shook her head at Jason.
“What brings you here, Taylor?” Jason’s dad pulled me away from the tension building between Jason and his girlfriend.
“I graduated recently and was having a hard time finding a job out east. I met some of these women in Raleigh, and we hit it off.” There was so much information I’d excluded, but that was a long story for another time.
“What are the odds of that?” His mom beamed. “Since you’re here, we must go to dinner and catch up.”
Must we?
I tried not to cringe. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I always loved Jason’s family and they were so welcoming, but things weren’t the same. I wasn’t the girlfriend. Vampire was.
“When do you guys leave?” I’d be conveniently busy until then.
“We’re here until the end of the week,” his dad answered.
Oh, boy. That was longer than I expected. Could I really avoid them for four or five days?
“When are you free?” His mom was so eager. So happy to see me. I couldn’t say no. Not after how loving and accepting they’d been. Plus, I did want to catch up, just without Jason there.
“I can make any night work. Just let me know.” I gave her my number while avoiding Jason’s glare. I caught it out of the corner of my eye, but what did he expect me to do?
Sydney appeared with Brandon and their boys and rescued me from committing to anything else. As soon as we were in the safety of their SUV, I relaxed.
“That looked fun,” Brandon teased.
“Could have used you guys a few minutes earlier,” I grumbled.
“And miss you making plans with his family? No way.” Sydney twisted in her seat to smile at me. “I do feel bad about the girlfriend though.”
I groaned. “That was so awkward.”
She lightly slapped Brandon’s arm. “Did you know about that?”
“Hey! No hitting,” Milo called out.
Sydney apologized without missing a beat.
“No, he’s never mentioned dating anyone,” Brandon replied.
“Dad, does this mean no more games?” Finn asked.
“Not until September, bud.”
The twins sighed.
“I wonder why he hadn’t told anyone,” Sydney mused.
“Can we get ice cream?” Milo asked.
“At home,” Sydney replied.
“He probably didn’t want the Pride getting involved,” Brandon said, and Sydney smirked.
“That never lasts long. We always find out.”
“But I want a sundae.” I was pretty sure Finn said that.
“We just got two new cartons. We can make sundaes at home,” Brandon shot back.
“They didn’t look very happy together,” Sydney said, “I bet they aren’t serious.”
“I want one with Oreos!”
“No! Bananas!”
“No! Sprinkles!”
The twins went back and forth until Brandon stopped them. “You can put whatever you want on them.”
“I don’t think they are,” he continued, catching Sydney’s eye in the rearview mirror. “He didn’t even look