Page 24 of Terms and Traditions

We were quiet for a moment before I added slowly, “Speaking of the Carson clan, they’ll be in town for the Chargers’ home game right after Christmas.”

The tension eased in Paisley’s face at the conversation shift, and her laugh was bright, albeit a bit brittle. “As if we could forget. Cal is about to burst his buttons about finally meeting Jackson and the rest of the family.”

“And Myles keeps reminding him they’re there to see the whole team, not just him,” Juliet cut in, referring to her goalie husband, who also played for the Chargers, as she balanced a cookie on her knee.

“Don’t laugh,” I warned Liz, gripping her hand. “You’ll smudge my hard work.”

Doing her best, Liz still managed a cackle. “Never did I think I’d see the day where two grown men would be competing for the attention of a ten-year-old fan.”

Juliet snorted and chomped on her cookie. “You have no idea. If they weren’t besties, they couldn’t handle this rivalry.”

“Do you call them besties to their faces?” I asked curiously.

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Cal calls them that. Those men, I tell you.”

“Steph has news!” Liz offered in a singsong voice.

My hand slipped, smearing polish across her skin. “Seriously?” I muttered. “Can’t you develop a subtle bone in your body? Just this once.”

She cackled again. “You’re stalling. I gave you time to bring it up.”

“Oh, Stephie!” Paisley cooed, green eyes bright behind her wire-rimmed frames.

I huffed. There was no way I could wriggle out of this now. Thanks a lot, Liz. “Fine. I… I’m dating someone. Kinda.”

Paisley cheered, and Juliet eyed me through the screen. “How do you kinda date, Steph?”

I cleared my throat and swabbed nail polish remover over Liz’s fingers. “I may or may not have asked someone to be my fake boyfriend for Christmas with my family.”

“Which one is it? May or may not?” Juliet dared. She was intimidating when she wore her scary lawyer face. But she had to be scary since she worked with bulky, hulking hockey players all day as part of the Chargers’ legal counsel.

“Can I plead the fifth?”

“No!” my friends all chorused.

I half growled, half screamed. Was that a thing? “Fine. I asked Nash, and he agreed.”

“Your boss?” from Juliet.

Paisley clapped her hands. “Nashanie! I totally ship you! Wait, you said fake? Why, Steph? You’ve crushed on him forever.”

“Yeah, Steph.” Liz drew out my name with all the finesse of a mother getting her kid to talk.

I glared at her. “Because he’s my boss. And that’s that.”

“Is he not interested in you then?” Juliet asked, her voice softened slightly. Well, soft for her.

“Uh… he might have asked for it to be real?” My voice squeaked on the last word, which was all it took for my friends to pounce.

“Might have?” Paisley challenged. She was spending way too much time with Juliet.

“Fine. He wants real. So do I, but I panicked and said no. Or I wasn’t sure yet. Happy?”

“No,” Juliet deadpanned.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Paisley asked gently.

I shook my head. Then shrugged. “I’m just… I can’t…” The words I needed wouldn’t come. They knew my story. My dating hang-ups. My strained parental relationships. “Hiram texted,” I said lamely.