His expression turned serious for a moment. “I have a feeling, Hudson already knows.”
The noise of the stadium was now a distant echo, replaced by mellow music, assorted conversations, and the sound of the sea as it licked the shore. After the excitement of the game and the Eagles' monumental win, those who had stayed for the after-party were in high spirits.
A bonfire had been lit in an old oil drum, but it wasn’t as huge as the one at the party last year. I was glad about that; fire and I still didn’t mix so well. A strained relationship, I would say. My scars felt stiff as I eyed the orange flames, and habit made me raise my hand and massage my shoulder blade. Phoenix saw the motion as I stared at the amber light flickering up into the sky.
“Do you want to sit someplace else,awayfrom the fire? I can get the others to move?”
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. “No, I’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go join our family.” My use of the word family, made his entire face soften, and I knew then that we were in the right place; strength in numbers and all that.
As we got to the group, Micah stopped talking and bounded over, grabbing Phoenix and bumping their chests together. “About time, Brutal, you dirty dog,” he laughed, pulling away and chugging his brother under the chin with a playful punch.
Molly launched herself at me as Hudson got to his feet and fist bumped Nix. “Congrats, bro.”
“I guess you’re not congratulating me on a good game,” Nix said sheepishly.
Micah belted out a laugh, “Of course not, you played like shit. The congrats are for making an honest woman of our little sis, at last.”
I smiled, allowing both my foster brothers to hug me before they switched to ‘guy mode’ again.
The three boys then stood in a huddle as Micah handed Phoenix a cold beer from a cooler by his feet. They all clinked their bottles in a toast, and I heard Hudson ask, “So, what happened out there, man?”
“Drink?” Mols said, rolling her eyes. “Bros before hoes, remember?”
“Yes, please, anything that’s wet,” I replied as she moved over to her bag and plucked out one of those pre-made cans of rum and Coke.
A large blanket had been laid on the sand, and towels had been placed across some rocks to make them more comfortable to sit on. A deck chair that had seen better days was pushed into the sand, but was covered in brown grocery bags and a couple of sweaters.
Mols drew me down onto the blanket, demanding that I share all the details about what had gone down between Phoenix and me. She probably thought we’d been making out after the game which was of course, not the case.
From the ‘you’re shitting me’ comment that erupted from Micah’s mouth, I knew Phoenix had dropped the daddy bomb. Nix and I exchanged a look across the slight distance as I pointed at Molly. My silent question was clear: I wanted his permission to share the news with someone whowasn’tfamily, and he gave me a nod.
And that’s exactly what I did.
“Shit, for real?” she gasped.
“Damn straight.” We then spoke about the love letters Storm had found and the PI report, all of which I now knew led to Nix’s mother.
After around ten minutes, we all regrouped and formed a half-circle around our backpacks, shoes, the cooler, and a few bags of chips. The fire was still crackling away in the distance, and a few girls were dancing around it like human sacrifices. I recognized some of the cheerleaders and boys from the team.
As we all settled, Nix lowered himself onto the blanket where I had been sitting with Molly. Molly was now back with Hudson.
“Come here, baby girl,” he whispered, crooking his finger to the space between his legs.
Crawling between Nix’s strong thighs, I turned and placed my back against his chest, I tugged at his jersey to stop it riding up my legs. “Don’t do that. I was enjoying the view,” he drawled in my ear as Micah passed us both a beer from the cooler by his side.
I smiled, turning my head against his upper torso to look up at his chiseled face. Shadows danced across his jaw from the fire light. “I’m saving myself for later,” I explained with a wink.
He peered down his nose at me. “Since when did you become so forward?”
I nudged him with my elbow. “Since you asked me out, I suppose.”
“Do you feel any different?”
“In what way?”
“I don’t know. Weird that we’re nowofficiallytogether.”
I traced my fingers down one of his thighs. “No. Not at all. This is the most normal I’ve felt all year.”
