Empty Net (Seattle Serpents)
Empty Net: Chapter 2

Death, taxes, and my mother driving me absolutely nuts—those are the only certainties in life.

Why my mother chose New Year’s Eve to get on my ass about “growing up” and “settling down,” I have no clue, but here I am anyway, angrily stomping around the party I worked so hard to make perfect, all because of her.

I hang up on my mother with just a bit too much ferocity if my stinging thumb is any indication. On instinct, I suck the injured digit into my mouth to soothe the ache. It, of course, does nothing to alleviate the frustration flowing through me, but at least it’s something.

“I won’t have you embarrassing me with one of your one-night stands again.”

I brought one one-night stand to a party with my parents’ stuffy friends years ago, and my mother has never let me live it down. Did he eat all the shrimp and steal half the silverware? Yes, but still—who even uses real silver at a dinner party anyway?

“You’re reckless, Lilah. When will you grow up and settle down with someone nice and not one of those boys you run around with?”

This isn’t the first time my mother has brought up “settling down” in the last few months. She’s never once considered that I don’t want to get married.

And why should I want to? All the marriages I’ve witnessed have turned to complete shit, including hers. My parents might still legally be married, but they haven’t been husband and wife in ages.

I can only guess her sudden interest is because my younger sister, Sadie, is now off the market, having packed up her life and moved to Europe to live with some distant heir to a throne or something or other. I don’t understand the particulars of royalty and never will, but I’m happy for her nonetheless. She met Drake while traveling for work for Sinclair Properties and fell in love. I’m glad. Now she doesn’t have to be subjected to all this shit my parents are trying to pull.

I’m the sole disappointment now.

Why I won’t ever be enough for my parents, I’ll never know. Sure, I helped Auden build a billion-dollar empire, but I was still just a “glorified secretary” to them. I guess closing million-dollar deals and helping open and maintain luxury properties wasn’t good enough. They want more, my mother in particular. She wants me to become her—hosting events that have no purpose just to impress people who are going to gossip about me behind my back.

I don’t want that life, but it’s the one I was born into. My family comes from old money thanks to the investment firm my grandfather passed on to my father, and things are done a certain way to uphold our family name, like getting married and popping out an appropriate number of kids to continue the line. According to my mother, that should have happened years ago, but somehow, I managed to sidestep that conversation while working for Auden. They were too busy being angry that I chose to go to college instead of staying at home and being paraded around for their friends to judge me. It took them six months before they spoke to me again when I first left for school, and it was honestly the most peaceful six months of my life.

Now that I’m “free” of Auden—their words, not mine—they’re back to being on me about settling down and becoming a “proper woman,” and I’m back to refusing them every step of the way. I am a proper woman. So what if I’m single? I’m happy that way.

Liar.

That little voice always at the back of my mind pipes up loud and clear.

Fine. I’m not exactly happy being single—I never have been. However, I don’t want to be tied down, either. Just because I don’t want to be alone doesn’t mean I have to get married.

Someone clears their throat, and I glance up to replace none other than the Seattle Serpents’ starting goalie staring right at me with red cheeks and a drink in his hand, and I realize I’m still sucking on my thumb. Fox, the quintessential Southern gentleman and the definition of a good boy. The same guy who has made me blush far too many times by uttering words like sugar and sweetheart and even ma’am.

That last one annoys me to no end, but can I be blamed when the man looks like he does? His chestnut hair is perfectly coiffed, his jaw is lightly lined with scruff, and his brown eyes remind me of smooth milk chocolate. I let my gaze trail over the rest of him, noting how his black suit molds to his sculpted body, clinging extra tight to thighs I have no doubt could crush a watermelon with very little effort.

Fox shifts uncomfortably under my gaze, his eyes lingering on my lips, which are still closed around my thumb, and I don’t miss his rough swallow or the way his stare darkens. He shuffles again when I pop it free with a loud noise, and I like it far too much.

So, I slide my pained digit back into my mouth just because I can. Fox has made me blush over and over. It’s only fair to return the favor, right? I might have sworn off dating, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun in the meantime.

Someone calls my name from across the room, and I turn to replace one of the caterers waving me over. I hold up my hand, letting them know I’ll be right over. As much as I’d love to stick around and mess with Fox some more, duty calls.

He’s still staring at me when I turn back around, his cheeks stained red.

“Fox,” I say with a grin.

“Lilah,” he responds, his voice a little more gravelly than usual, which only makes me smile more.

I toss him a wink and swear his blush deepens before I swivel on my heels. I shouldn’t tease him, but it’s too fun not to. He makes it so easy.

I cross the room to fix whatever has popped up now because that seems to be exactly what today has turned into—problem after problem. First, we had an issue with a few broken tables, so I rolled up my proverbial sleeves, screwdriver in hand, and got to work. It might have been the first time I held an actual screwdriver in my hand and not the mixed drink. Then, it was the tray of flutes being dropped and breaking all over the kitchen. It’s fine. We found more. It was a lot, but I did what I always do—I found a way to make it work.

Which is precisely what I do with our new problem—a caterer having to leave to take care of their sick child. I pivot, form a plan, and send the team back out to work. Crisis averted, I peek back into the party, the room even fuller than it was just minutes ago. The tables and centerpieces are perfectly set. The bars are stocked, and people are already waiting to grab a drink. The deejay is playing the music at a level that’s fun but still allows you to have a conversation with the person across from you.

“Get out here and stop hiding!”

Auden appears before me, dragging me out from behind the door and into the party that’s in full swing.

“This place looks incredible!” she says with a loud excited squeal. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

“We did all this. This is your party.”

“On paper, but you did most of the work.” I roll my eyes at her, and she slaps my arm. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, Lilah Jane. You’re just as much responsible for this as I am, even more so. Don’t diminish your efforts like that.”

“Not bad for a glorified secretary, huh?”

She groans. “Please tell me you didn’t talk to your mother today. I thought we had a rule about not answering on holidays because we know she’s going to be drinking far too much chardonnay and will probably get mouthy.”

I roll my lips into a flat line, answering her without saying a word.

“I swear, that woman,” Auden seethes. “I hate that she talks to you like that. If she understood half of the shit you did for me, she’d shut her trap.” She winces. “Sorry, I know she’s your mother, it’s just…”

I shake my head. “No, I get it. She’s infuriating.”

“What did she want this time?”

“Oh, you know, just to remind me that I’m going to spend the rest of my life alone and bitter because I’m unmarried and haven’t popped out ten kids, even though I’m barely even thirty years old.”

“That’s not how that works, but okay.”

“And that she’s ‘found the most delightful guy’ for me to bring as a date to my father’s party next weekend.”

“Wait—she found you a date? Does she not realize dating is like your favorite thing to do?”

I know Auden doesn’t mean it any certain way, and this isn’t the first time she’s made a comment like this, but this time…I don’t know. It stings a little, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because everyone around me is falling into serious relationships and “growing up” just like my mother says, and I’m still…well, I’m just me.

I shove the thoughts aside and nod. “Yes, she’s found me a date, and I have zero intentions of replaceing out who that ‘delightful guy’ is, especially after her last attempt with Inspector Doug.”

“Ugh. Those suspenders.” She shudders, thinking of the guy I very begrudgingly let my mother set me up with last time. He wore suspenders, an old-fashioned detective coat, and a monocle…all unironically. It was terrible. “Please tell me you told her no.”

“I did. I told her I’m seeing someone.”

“But you’re not.”

I shrug. “So? I’ll replace someone.”

“Lilah…” She lays her hand on my arm. “This is your mother we’re talking about here. You know she’s going to run with this, right?”

I wave off her worry. “Trust me, I won’t let it get that far. It’s just one night. No big deal.”

“Okay,” Auden says, but something in that one word tells me she doesn’t believe me.

I appreciate her concern. I really do. But it’s not like I’m planning to marry the guy. It’s just one date. I’ll tell my mother we broke up afterward. At least it’ll keep her off my back until the next big event I have to make an appearance at.

“You know, instead of saying you’re dating someone, you could just block her number…” Auden lifts her brows.

“Have you blocked your mother yet?”

She tucks her lips together, knowing full well she has no room to talk when it comes to toxic relationships with parents. Auden and her father? They’re closer than close. But Auden and her mother? Well, that’s a whole different story. Her relationship with her mother is just as complicated as mine, if not more so.

“All right. Fine. No more talk of mothers. Let’s swing back around to how amazing this party is. Everything’s good so far, right?”

“Yep. Perfect.” I decide not to worry her about the latest mishap. The less she knows, the less she has to stress about, which was my goal when stepping in to help plan this.

“There you two are.” Hutch, Auden’s boyfriend, appears at her side with a nod in my direction. “Lilah.”

“Hutch.” I nod back, face straight.

But it’s only moments before I break, a full smile pulling at my lips as I launch myself into his arms for a big, feet-off-the-ground kind of hug. With him and Auden dating, Hutch and I have become good friends, and I view him as the brother I never had. Not only because he treats my girl like a queen, but also because he’s genuinely a good guy once you get past his gruff exterior.

“This place looks amazing.” He sets me back on my expensive heels.

“Your girlfriend did all the wo—ow!” I rub the spot on my arm where Auden just pinched me. “What was that for?”

“Stop passing it off on me.”

“Hutch, tell your girlfriend to stop pinching me.”

“Hutch, tell my best friend you’re not the boss of me and I’m the boss in this relationship,” Auden says.

“I like to think we’re fifty-fifty on that one,” he answers.

Auden and I exchange a glance, then both burst out laughing.

“All right, all right. I guess I’ll see myself out of this conversation. Just wanted to say how great this place looks.”

He kisses Auden’s cheek before taking his leave, and she sighs a little, her eyes locked on him as he walks away.

“Glad to see you’re still fawning over him.”

She doesn’t even look bothered by my teasing. She just gives me that same dopey grin she’s been giving me since they finally admitted their feelings last year.

“He’s amazing, isn’t he?”

I roll my eyes. “I need a drink if I’m going to have to watch all these couples moon over each other all night.”

“Well, if you weren’t such a curmudgeonly old lady, you too could be in a happy, healthy relationship like the rest of us,” she teases.

I toss her a glare as we make our way to the bar on the opposite side of the room. We each order a glass of champagne—something light to kick off the evening—then I take in the party through a guest’s eyes for the first time. I examine every inch of the room, going over all the things I would change now that people are in here. A few more tables here, taller centerpieces there. Maybe drape the lights differently.

“Stop it,” Auden says.

“What?”

“I know you’re picking the party apart. Knock it off. It’s perfect the way it is. Besides, this is for a bunch of hockey players. I really don’t think they would have cared if we had done taller centerpieces or not.”

I grin. “You’re doing it too.”

She shrugs. “You can take the designer away from the hotel, but you can’t take away the urge to design.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Having such a demanding job? No, but I miss the creative aspect. I had so much fun building our house over the summer that it gave me that itch again, you know?”

I nod. “I understand that. That’s how I felt planning this party.”

We don’t say anything, but my mind still spins with ideas, though that’s nothing new because it’s been spinning with ideas. I’ve spent the last year since Auden sold her company trying to figure out what I want to do next and living off the very generous severance package she gave me. No matter how many trips I’ve taken looking for inspiration, like the two months I spent in Europe getting Sadie settled there or my trip to Belize over Thanksgiving to avoid a Maddison holiday fiasco, I’m still at a loss and haven’t come up with anything.

I want to do something that allows me to exercise my strengths—like planning and design—while still giving me new challenges every day so I don’t grow bored. I don’t know exactly what that is, but I’ll figure it out. I know I will. I just have to give it time while trying to avoid my mother’s latest matchmaking efforts.

“So,” Auden says, taking a sip from the bubbly in her hand, “any prospects for the fake boyfriend?”

“Considering I just found out myself that I’m not single anymore, no. I haven’t given it much thought beyond blurting it out to my mother.”

Really, I could slap myself for doing so. What the hell was I thinking? Auden’s right—there’s no way my mother is going to buy it.

“Well, I know a good place to start…” She waves her hand out at the event before us. “There are plenty of single guys here.”

“You want me to date one of Hutch’s teammates?”

“It’s just for one night, right? And these aren’t all his teammates. There are trainers and other staff here too. You could replace one of them. Or a teammate’s brother. I don’t know.” She takes another drink. “Why are you having such a hard time replaceing someone anyway? Don’t you always have a date lined up?”

Usually, yes. I’m sort of known as a serial dater. But lately…I don’t know. It’s not been the same high it used to be. I used to get a kick out of all the weird dates I’d go on, used to love telling the stories, but they aren’t as fun as they once were. Now, they just make me sad, and I’m unsure why.

“I’m having a dry spell,” I mutter.

She gasps dramatically, so loud a few people stare. “A dry spell? You?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

It really isn’t. Or at least, it didn’t feel like a big deal until I talked to my mother. Now it’s taking everything I have not to overthink her words. Am I really going to become some lonely old woman if I don’t replace someone to settle down with soon? I’m only thirty. That’s not old. But what if one year turns to two turns to five and then ten? What then?

I don’t know. All I know is that I don’t want to settle down. I still want fun. I still want no strings attached. Maybe even hot sex with a hot hockey player.

Ah, yes. That sounds like exactly what I need right now.

“Fine, I’ll bite. Who’s single here?”

She bounces on her heels excitedly. “Well, there’s Locke.”

“That’s the guy with the slightly crooked nose, right?”

“To be fair, I think most of these guys have slightly crooked noses from taking pucks and sticks to the face.”

I chuckle. “Fair point.”

While Locke seems like a good guy, I’m not sure he’s my type. He seems too responsible, too family oriented. Sure, this is just for a night, but I don’t want to lead him on.

“Who else?” I ask.

“There’s Keller.”

“Mmm, perpetually pouty and grumpy Keller who is too good-looking for this world.”

“I might be a taken woman, but even I can admit he’s hot. Have you seen his eyes? It’s like looking into a bottle of bourbon or something. And those tattoos? Fucking swoon.”

“Right? But as hot as he is, he’s a little too grumpy for me. That’s more your style than mine.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” she says with a shrug, then continues to scan the room as more and more people pile in.

I know there are at least one or two other single guys on the team now that they’ve gotten divorced, but that’s baggage I don’t want to deal with. I want someone easy, someone chill. Someone more my speed who isn’t looking for anything more than what this is.

“Oh!” Auden exclaims, champagne splashing out of her glass. “Fox!”

“Fox?”

“Yeah. He’s single. He’s in the club, so he has to be, right?”

Ah, right. The “club.” The Serpents Singles, the group Hutch and his single teammates formed some time ago. I don’t know the particulars of it, just that it includes Hutch, Lawson, Hayes, Keller, Locke, and Fox, and three of them have already fallen victim to the love bug. Why they’re still part of a so-called singles club, I don’t know. But it’s kind of cute, all these guys using an excuse like that to be friends when all they’re really looking for is companionship.

Boys are weird.

But Fox…Fox is an option I can get behind. He’s definitely my type, and seeing him earlier tonight in that tux… Well, I’d like to see him out of it, too.

“You don’t still have a crush on him, do you?”

I rear my head back because this is certainly news to me. “Who the hell said I had a crush on him?”

“Rory.”

“Rory said what?”

The woman in question struts up to us, and I have to do a double take because seeing Rory out of her usual animal-hair-covered scrubs is always a shock, but seeing her look like this? Well, color me surprised.

She’s wearing a floor-length black dress with just enough sparkle to it that it catches in the light. Her makeup is dark—I’m astounded she’s wearing any at all—and her long, dark hair is curled loosely around her shoulders. She’s a fucking knockout and looks nothing like the Rory I know and love.

“Stop looking at me like that or I swear I’m going to punch your tit.”

Ah, there she is.

I step toward her to hug her, and she steps back. I laugh. “Please never change, Rory.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she says dryly, lifting her glass to her lips in that slightly annoyed, slightly amused way only she can.

I’d never tell her this—mostly because I’m pretty sure she’d roast me until the end of time with her being so anti-feelings and mushiness—but even though we clash a lot, she’s one of my favorite people ever.

“You said Lilah here had a thing for Fox,” Auden provides.

“Oh, right. I did say that.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because you have a thing for Fox.”

“I do not!” I argue, possibly a little too loudly, several people looking our way.

Auden smiles and waves at them before turning back to us.

“I don’t! I don’t know why somebody”—I cut Rory a glare—“thinks otherwise.”

“Because you were all blushy with him when those morons came to the bar and tried to convince Auden to go after Hutch.”

That was a year ago! She thinks I’ve been crushing on him this whole time?

“First of all, you’re dating one of those morons now,” I point out.

“Don’t remind me.” She rolls her eyes, but there’s no denying the smile pulling at her lips, no doubt thinking of her golden retriever boyfriend, Lawson. I don’t understand how they work together considering they’re complete opposites, but they do.

“Second of all, he called me sugar in that Southern accent. I’m fairly certain that would make any woman blush.”

“Not me.”

“Your boyfriend calls you Wednesday because you’re Wednesday Addams incarnate. You don’t count,” I snap at Rory, who—predictably—looks unbothered by my words. “And I don’t have a crush on him, so stop spreading that rumor.”

“Look, all I’m saying is I wouldn’t blame you if you do. He’s so…polite. So…well, Fox. Has that charm that’s completely irresistible, you know? It makes sense you’d be into him—anyone would.”

“Again, I wouldn’t.”

Auden ignores her sister, turning her hazel eyes on me. “So, do you?”

“No!” I say adamantly.

It’s true. I absolutely do not have a crush on Fox. Do I replace him ridiculously attractive? Yes. But a crush? Not a chance.

Auden nods. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. Maybe I can⁠—”

“I’m so sorry to cut in, ladies.” We all turn to replace Hutch behind us, the new coach of the Seattle Serpents beside him with his beautiful redheaded partner. “Could I borrow you for a moment, sweetheart?”

Hutch wraps his arm around Auden’s waist, tugging her close as she beams up at him, and Lawson slides in beside us, pulling Rory to him, leaving me as the odd one out. There are three beautiful couples, then me. I’m smart enough to know when I don’t belong.

“I’ll just…” I say to no one because nobody is paying me any attention at this point, and I don’t blame them. I’d also be sidetracked if I had a tall, hot-as-hell hockey player showering me with love and affection.

I slip through the crowd that’s grown exponentially, searching for a familiar face in a place where I know next to nobody. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me, but tonight…tonight I could use familiar, something to distract me from my mother’s words replaying in my mind.

If she came out of the gate swinging with Inspector Doug, I’m terrified to even think about the other prospects she has lined up. I need to replace a date for my dad’s birthday party and fast before I’m forced to confess I lied and replace myself walking into the event arm in arm with a grown man in suspenders and a mustache I want to shave off.

I place my empty champagne glass on one of the trays the waitstaff is holding, immediately replacing it with a fresh one and chugging half of it to drown out my mother’s voice in my head.

“You can’t keep playing these games, Lilah Jane. You’re embarrassing our family.”

In my distracted state, I run straight into a wall.

“Whoa,” the wall says, its voice warm like syrup. Big hands wrap around my waist, steadying me before I do something truly embarrassing like spilling my champagne all over their expertly pressed suit. “Easy there, sugar.”

Sugar.

One word, and I know instantly who it is. This isn’t a wall at all; it’s a person…a very tall, well-built person if the ridges I feel beneath my hands are any indication.

Fox.

I look up into a pair of coffee-colored eyes surrounded by…freckles. He has freckles. How’d I never realize Fox has freckles? How did I never realize he smells so damn good, like soap with just a hint of mahogany? And are his eyes always this gorgeous with little flecks of amber?

“Lilah,” he says with a grin that makes me feel all kinds of warm. Or maybe that’s all the champagne I’ve had. I can’t tell which.

“Fox, how are you?”

He smiles down at me. “Me? Oh, I’m fine as a frog’s hair split both ways.”

I laugh, wobbling a little as his grip tightens on me. “Do frogs even have hair?”

His grin slips, but only for a moment before returning even wider. “Well, no, they sure don’t.” He sets me right, then releases me, and I instantly miss his warmth. “Are you having a good time?”

“I am having a great time, Fox. Are you?”

“I am. It’s a great party you and Auden put together.”

It surprises me that he knows I helped Auden plan this party. It’s not like we announced it anywhere. Auden said she was throwing a party to bring together the team before the new year, and I immediately asked how I could help. It’s what we do—work together.

But I didn’t know Fox knew that.

“Is that…not right?” he asks.

“No.” I shake my head. “No, it’s right. You’re right. We worked on it together.”

“I thought so. You two make a good team.”

For the I-don’t-even-know-how-many-eth time, Fox has me ducking my head in an attempt to hide a blush.

“Thanks,” I mumble, unsure why I’m suddenly feeling shy, especially since I’m usually anything but, yet here I am, red-faced and self-conscious in front of the hockey goalie. “So”—I push my hair behind my ear—“how’s sports?”

He chuckles. “Sports is good.”

Our conversation makes no grammatical sense, but it makes me laugh anyway, and I could use a laugh. I could use a lot of things right now, like a romp in the sheets or another drink. A waiter approaches, and I quickly chug the rest of mine before dropping the glass on their tray and grabbing a fresh one, taking an immediate sip.

Fox’s brows rise, but he doesn’t comment.

“Sorry,” I say anyway. “Had to talk to my mother tonight.”

He nods like he completely understands, but I doubt he does. Fox strikes me as the type of guy who has parents who love him and are proud of him, not parents who always want more, more, more. I take another drink of the cool champagne, the bubbles tickling the back of my throat, my head getting all floaty, which is perfectly fine by me. The party is a hit, and after working so hard on it the last few weeks, I deserve a night to relax, a night to forget all about my mother’s words.

Fox steps back, bending slightly at the waist and holding his hand out like this is some Regency romance and he’s courting me. “Would you like to dance, Lilah?” he asks.

Even though there’s a space that’s clearly designated for dancing, nobody is out there right now. I’m sure it’ll be another hour before enough alcohol has been passed around for that to happen. If we went out there now, we’d look ridiculous.

“Uh, no one else is dancing, Fox.”

“So?”

“So, I’m not going out there and embarrassing myself in front of all these people.”

“Why not? They’re my teammates, not yours. Who cares what they think, sugar?”

There it is again—sugar. It should be such a cheesy nickname, and I’m ninety-nine percent certain I’d hate it coming from anyone else. Yet, with Fox…the only thing I hate is that it makes me blush. Again.

He lifts his brows at me in a silent, Well?

Maybe it’s the booze running through my veins, or maybe it’s just that in a room full of people, he’s the only one paying me any attention right now, but I place my hand in his and let Fox lead me to the dance floor.