So I pace back the length of my living room, keeping my attention half on Sports Spot. The doorbell makes me jump and my entire body snaps in that direction. Did… did Lo come back?
I practically run to the door and throw it open. It’s not Lo. It’s my brother. Behind him is his whole family.
“Luca?”
Luca rolls his eyes. “It hasn’t been that long, Caulder,” he deadpans. “Please don’t tell me you forgot what I look like.”
“No, I—” My words trail off as I shake my head. I know he’s joking, but I’m too surprised to see him to laugh. “Did I forget you were coming?”
“No, but it’s like eight degrees out. You want to let us in?”
“Oh,” I say, taking a step back. “Sorry.”
The entire household comes in and suddenly, there’s no way I can feel like my house is empty with five more men and three kids. Jasmine flings her arms around me right away. She’s taller now; I think she’s grown like four inches. She’s ten now and the top of her head is nearly in my chest.
“Jeez, Jazz. How tall are you now?”
Jasmine shrugs. “Not as tall as you.”
Coraline pushes her out of the way. “My turn. Stop being a hog.”
“She’s bossy for a six-year-old,” Jasmine comments, stepping back and unzipping her jacket.
Grinning, I pick up my second niece and hug her tightly.
Destin doesn’t try to pry his sister away for a hug. Instead, he just wraps his arms around us both. “You okay, Uncle?” he asks, concern in his eyes.
I kiss his forehead. “I’m good.”
“You look less good than you’re trying to have us believe,” Luca comments.
Fuck, they’re going to be here when the interview is live. I think I’ve done this wrong.
“And now you look panicky,” Orson says, frowning.
Because I can’t hide this from my face apparently, I turn my back on them and walk into the living room. Should I turnthe television off? I think that’s more suspicious than leaving it on. Especially since it’s almost always on. I like to hear sports updates.
I set Coraline on the couch with her siblings and turn to my brother. “Really, I didn’t forget plans? You randomly dropped everything to fly across the country and just drop in?”
He doesn’t have a chance to answer before we all hear my name on the television. My breath catches as I stare. Oh no. It’s coming.
“Caulder Haines has finally released a statement in response to the accusations against him. If you’re unaware or are living under a rock, it’s come to light these last two weeks that an aspiring influencer is claiming that after a club hookup, she is now pregnant with Haines’ child. There has been zero response from Haines or Buffalo. Even with the damning photo of him in the club,” Adrian Tirico says.
“It’s probably the photo that’s forced his hand,” Dari Nolan suggests.
“It’s hard to argue that and yet, this is very compelling. Shocking, even.” Adrian pauses and a clip of my interview plays.
The room is deathly silent as my voice fills the room. It’s surreal hearing myself when I’m not speaking.
“This is a case of mistaken identity,” my voice says. “I admit that the man in the picture looks uncannily like me. I even questioned it. But I’m over six feet tall. The man in the picture is at least half a foot shorter than I am.”
The recording stops.
“Ohhh,” Adrian says and the picture I’m referring to is now on the screen. “That’s some sleuthing for sure. I didn’t notice that.”
A picture of me standing beside our assistant coach pops up next, illustrating my height.
“Definitely curious.”
