“No,” she smirks, shaking her head. “You said we didn’t talk about it.”
“We did, come on.” He tries to kiss her, but she twists away, failing to stifle a laugh as she does.
“Okay, stop messing with me.” He wraps his arms around her and pulls her to him, squeezing until she laughs.
If you’d asked me six months ago if the two of them would work as a couple, I’d have laughed and said no way in hell. But now, I can’t imagine them not being together. They bring out the best in each other for sure. My brother isn’t as serious or angry as he used to be, I’ve never seen him laugh the way he does with Beth. And he lets her just be herself, gives her a break from her responsibilities, supports her. They’re perfect together.
“Excuse me,” a small shy voice interrupts us. It’s Jake, but the confident kid from earlier has gone, instead he’s looking at Stephen in awe.
“Oh hey, Stephen, this is Jake; Jake, this is Stephen.”
Jake sighs, “Of course he’s Stephen Choi, everyone knows that.”
“Right, sorry,” I chuckle.
“Hey,” Stephen grins at him. “It’s nice to meet you, Jake.”
“Please can you sign this for me?” Jake asks, nervously holding out some paper and a pen, something clearly ripped from a notebook in his mom’s purse.
“Sure thing,” Stephen says, taking the paper and pen. “But I can get you some better stuff than this too; so I’ll sign this, but I’ll make sure to give Donovan a jersey and some Warriors stuff for you.”
“Woah, really?” Jake asks, his eyes lighting up.
“Absolutely,” Stephen says. “So, you’re a Warriors fan?”
“Yeah, I know all the team stats, and all the players, and their stats too,” Jake says, his nerves evaporating. “Did you know that you had an average of ninety-five receiving yards per game when you played for Winbrook?”
“Uh, yeah,” Stephen chuckles, “I did know that.”
“I think you’re gonna beat that with the Warriors. You already scored three touchdowns in the first game, with a hundred and fifty-six receiving yards.”
“Wow, you really do know all the stats,” Stephen says. “You like going to games?”
Jake’s face falls. “I’ve never been to a game, it’s too expensive.”
“Yeah,” Stephen nods, “you’re right, tickets can be expensive. Luckily, you know a Warrior now, so I’ll see if I can get you some.”
“Oh, us too,” Diablo says, pulling himself away from Beth to get involved with the conversation.
“Yeah, us too,” Tank shouts from the next table over.
“Guys come on,” I chuckle, “he said he’d try and get some tickets for Jake and his mom, not the entire club. Besides, you can pay for yours!”
Stephen nudges me. “It’s okay, they keep trying to give me a section, but I always turn them down, it would look pretty sad with just my parents sitting in it. I’ll arrange it for our next game.”
“Really?” I ask. “You’d do that for my family?”
“Of course, anything for you, baby.”
He smiles and kisses me before grabbing my hips and pulling me closer to him, so I’m a little spoon between his legs. He rests his chin on my shoulder so he can see people and join in with the conversation. No one else even questions it, I guess they’re used to having girls sitting on their laps and stuff, but to me this is huge. Having my family and friendshere with Stephen’s arms around me, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
As the night drifts on, Slim takes Daisy and Jake home, and most of the guys make their way inside to continue drinking. We stay outside with Mom, Miguel, Beth, and Diablo, enjoying the fire pit that he’s built. We’re all bathed in an orange glow from the flames and Stephen looks so beautiful, I can’t believe he’s mine.
“It’s nice to see you happy, mijo,” Mom says.
“Thanks, Mamá. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about all of this sooner, it’s just, we were keeping it quiet.”
“Because of me,” Stephen adds. “It was complicated with football, I wasn’t out, but now I am, and it means I can have Donovan in my life, show him off to the world.”
