Pucked Over (Pucked 3)

“I wasn’t freaking out.”

Sunny gives me a look.

“Okay, I was freaking out.”

She pulls into her parents’ driveway. There are five cars in it already. Sunny isn’t the best driver. Or parker. She always seems to end up running over her mother’s flowers, which is exactly what happens.

“Let’s talk about this later.” I step over a crushed bloom and head for the front door. Sunny has no option but to follow.

The house smells fabulous; the pungent aroma of cinnamon makes my mouth water. I kick off my shoes, and Alex immediately scoops me up in a hug.

“Little Lily! I didn’t get to see much of you last night. I’m glad you’re here.”

“You’re crushing me!” I laugh and hug him back anyway. I miss him sometimes, like I would a real brother. We used to bug the crap out of him when he was a teenager. Me more than Sunny probably. He figure skated with all the boys in the level above me, and some of them were so cute. Slutty, but cute. I was constantly looking for reasons to hang out by the Waters’ pool.

Once I made out with one of them. I was only in ninth grade. It was before I started dating Benji. Alex flipped his lid when he found out, and I got a serious big-brother lecture.

My Momma Two comes out of the kitchen in her frilly apron from the eighties. I’m almost positive her blouse has shoulder pads. Her hair is pulled up in a banana clip, and her bangs have been teased so they resemble a bath pouf. I didn’t even know they still made banana clips.

I’m pulled into more warm embraces. I’m not actually big on hugging, but the Waters family is. And with Sunny it’s more a habit than anything else. She’s one of the few people I don’t mind having in my personal space.

Miller’s in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar with Sunny’s dad, Robbie, and Darren Westinghouse—he’s Alex’s best friend and another Chicago teammate. Robbie has essentially filled the missing father role in my life. He’s a serious pothead, but he’s brilliant, and I adore him.

The boys are shoving fruit into their mouths and talking about training. Miller spins on the bar stool and opens his arms wide, a huge grin on his face. “Lily!”

I give him a quick back pat and do the same with Robbie. I offer to help with brunch, but everything’s already done, so we bring the food out and sit down to eat.

Brunch at the Waters’ is always an event. Sunny’s a vegan, so there’s a selection of food specially prepared for her. The rest of the Waters family loves their meat, so heaps of bacon and sausage and eggs compliment the cinnamon buns, homemade waffles, and chocolate chip pancakes.

Violet and Charlene sit across from me and Sunny, with Momma Two to the right of Violet. She’s still talking about the engagement party.

After we stuff ourselves silly, the girls change into bathing suits and head outside. It honestly isn’t warm enough, but we’re all bundled in hotel-style bathrobes, so that helps. The guys have a tee time at one, so they’re packing up the car and getting ready to go. Daisy has plans to join us in a bit, once she’s done with dinner prep. That woman could spend her entire life in the kitchen. She’s like an eighties edition of June Cleaver.

“Is that steam?” I ask when I reach the pool.

Violet dips a toe in. “This is like a hot tub. I can’t even imagine what the heating bill is going to be for this.”

“Alex says he’s paying for it,” Sunny unties her robe and tosses it on a lounge chair. She shivers and then jumps in. “Oh! Wow! This is great. Come on in, girls!”

Violet undoes her robe and rubs her bare belly. “Look at this! I shouldn’t have put whipped cream on my waffles. Now we know what I’ll look like three months after Alex knocks me up.”

Sunny pops out of the water, catching only the end of the comment. “You’re pregnant?”

“What? God, no! I’m not having Alex’s pretty little babies. Not yet, anyway. First we have to do the wedding thing. Then I need to be a wife for a while. Then babies. In that order. With years between all those things.” She pushes her stomach out further. “I’m just pointing out how much stress this damn engagement party is causing. Now I’m sporting this gross dairy belly.”

Charlene pats Violet’s tummy, and Violet pushes her in the water, but not before she seizes Violet’s hand and yanks her in too. Before I get in, I hit the pool house and grab a bunch of noodles so we can float. I drop my robe on a chair with one of those heating lamps beside it, then sit down on the edge of the pool.