“No?”

“Nope.”

“Can I ask why?”

She shrugs and I say, “Doesn’t really matter, Dad. She isn’t very close with her family.”

“Oh. Okay.” The way he says that bothers me, and I can tell it bothers Avery too. It’s like me saying she wasn’t close with them was a piece of the puzzle or something. It’s weird, but he is grinning like a kid in a candy store, and I really don’t know what he is up to. “Well, nonetheless, I bet you’re excited?”

She smiles politely. “Excited?”

“For everything. Married to the prospected number-one draft choice. Hell, he looks good too. So you know the baby you’re having is going to be a looker. In my opinion, you hit the lottery, honey.”

Ellen laughs with him, but I just stare, glare really, as Avery eyes him suspiciously. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, Mark. But all that stuff is just bonuses to the fact that I love Jace. Him. As a person.”

I look back to my dad, and he’s just grinning. “I wasn’t implying anything, sweetheart. Just making conversation.”

“Oh, well, then, yes, I’m very excited to be married and expecting with the most amazing, perfect guy in the world,” she says, looking at me with a smile, but when I wink, her grin grows. “I got lucky.”

“Please, I’m the lucky one,” I say, emotion thick in my voice.

“Aren’t y’all just sweet? Aren’t they, Mark? They sound like us,” Ellen coos and he smiles, kissing her cheek.

Meanwhile, I’m gagging and rethinking how I flirt with my wife. Looking at Avery, I can tell she’s thinking the same. Before anyone else can say anything, our salads come and we start eating. In silence. Thick, tension-filled silence. I don’t want to be here, and every glance Avery throws me lets me know she feels the same. I just don’t trust my dad, and I know I’m not the only one. Hell, I don’t even think Ellen trusts him. I don’t miss the way she watches him every time a waitress comes to the table asking us if we want refills.

He’s a fraud, and I think he’s the only one who doesn’t know that.

But I need him to give me my trust fund.

So I’ll play nice.

It’s just so painful. All through the next course he talks happily with us, telling us about their trips all over the place and even how he picked up three new clients. “I tried to get Jayden and Jude to sign with me, but they weren’t having it.”

“Their loss,” Ellen says with a wave and I glare. But before I can say anything, Avery’s hand covers mine, shaking her head.

It isn’t worth the fight.

By the time dessert comes, I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, dying to know what is going on. He hasn’t brought up my trust fund, and I don’t want to because I really don’t want Avery to know I asked. I don’t want her to know I’m desperate enough to go to him, but it may come to that. I might have to look weak in front of my wife. That thought almost has me keeping my mouth shut. But all I can think about is the conversation with my coach this afternoon where he said someone complained about Avery basically living in the house. He told me he didn’t want to cause an issue, but I need to stop having her over. I understand that, I do, but she’s my wife. I want to sleep with her, make sure she is okay.

Damn it.

Swallowing hard, I clear my throat and say, “So, Dad, about my trust fund?”

Avery’s head whips up as she looks from me to my dad and then back. She’s essentially burning a hole in the side of my face as my dad wipes his mouth and sits back in his seat. “About that… You know I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

My heart sinks as I lay my fork down, my hands shaking. “Dad, like I explained, we have to move off campus and I really need that money.”

“Jace,” I hear her whisper beside me, but I ignore her.

“Yeah, I know. I hear ya. So I spent the afternoon working up a contact for a nice little condo, right outside of campus, six-minute ride in. It will all be paid for, utilities included for the next year. I know you won’t need it that long, but just in case. Figure this way, you don’t have to worry about working—which I thought you said you were quitting—and you each can focus on hockey and songwriting.”

Ellen is beaming beside him. Yeah, it sounds great, but I don’t want anything from him. “Wow, that’s awesome, Dad. But I really didn’t want a handout.”

He laughs. “Jace, don’t be so proud. I want to help you, your wife, and my grandbaby. Call it a wedding gift if you need to so you feel better about it.”

I hold his gaze because I know there is a catch. There has to be; there is no way he is this okay with everything. He’s being too overly nice. It doesn’t make sense. I look to Avery to find her watching me, and I can see it in her eyes.

She doesn’t want his help.

Swallowing again, I look back at him as he asks, “How’s that sound?”

“I mean, how can I turn it down?” I say and Avery looks away, shaking her head. But I take her hand, squeezing it hard. “But what’s the catch?”

My dad’s grin grows. “Catch?”

“Yeah, I know you aren’t going to do all that without something in return. Do I pay you back when I sign my contract?”

“Maybe he’s just trying to be nice?” Ellen suggests, but I shake my head.

“No, my dad doesn’t work like that. You’re new. Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out,” I say, returning my gaze to my dad, and he’s still smiling. “So?”

“No, son, you don’t have to pay me back. I’ll even sign your trust fund over to you if you really want me to.”

“Okay?”

“If…”

There it is.

“If?”

“Two things,” he says, leaning on the table. “Avery has to sign a prenup that she can’t touch any of your trust fund or future salary if you two divorce.”

Avery gasps, her hand coming down hard on the table. “How dare you? I would never.”

Squeezing her other hand, I shake my head as she looks at me. “And?”

“Jace?”

But I shake my head again, giving her a sideways glance. She snaps her mouth shut as my dad’s lips curve into an even more sinister grin. “And I want you to cut off all contact with your mom and siblings.”