Ezra
Afew hours later, everyone is sitting at the dining table.
Digging into my food, I contribute to the chatter when required.
“How long have you been playing in the NHL, Ezra?” Peter inquires from where he sits at the head of the table, taking a sip of water from his glass.
“5 years now. Got drafted right out of college,” I answer.
Impressed, he nods. “Our Romanhere got drafted in college, too,” he raves about his son, patting his back as he sits on the left side of him.
“That’s great,” I give a cursory smile.
Janice speaks as she sits on Peter’s right side, “Kaeli doesn’t have an athletic bone in her body. We never had any expectations from her to go into the sports field.”
Peter chuckles, “Not for our lack of trying. We got her enrolled in various sports, but she always came back running and crying.”
My spoon stills midair, unable to believe that these words are leaving their mouth. I glance between her parents, dumbfounded, hoping that maybe they’d realize their mistake.
When they don’t, my gaze snaps to a tense Kaeli beside me, as she shifts her food on her plate, not really eating anything.
When I’m about to give them a piece of my mind, I find Kaeli’s hand clutching onto my thigh in a death grip. She gives the slightest shake of her head, her eyes pleading with me to stay quiet.
HowcanI?
My insides boil at the thought of letting someone hurt her, even if they’re her parents. Despite my insides raging a war to call them out,I curl my fingers around her, trying to keep myself tethered to the calm she offers me.
Her muscles loosen a little, and I hate that she can’t even have her dinner in peace.
Roman diverts the conversation to a recent movie he watched, and everyone continues as if nothing had happened. As if they didn’t almost bring tears to the eyes of my woman.
“So, Kaeli, how’s everything at your job after that debacle of an interview you gave? I’m sure the management would’ve been so disappointed with your unnecessary outburst,” Janice touches the sore topic. “What were you thinking?”
“Iamso disappointed in you, Kaeli,” Peter expresses, shaking his head.
Then I see the first tear roll down Kaeli’s face, and I lose it. Slapping my spoon on the table, I growl, “Enough!” Kaeli flinches.
I lean down closer to her and wipe away the tear with the pad of my thumb, but a fresh wave follows. “I’m sorry, Feather. I tried.” I hope she can see the truth in my eyes.
The silence that ensues is the loudest I’ve heard in a while. Every pair of eyes gawking at me with their mouth agape and bodies still as a statue.
“Is anything wrong, Ezra?” Janice asks in ahesitant voice.
A hollow laughter escapes me at that. “Anything wrong? Are you fucking kidding me?”
I look at each of their faces to emphasize my point. “From the moment I stepped into this house, all you both have done is ridicule her, demean her, humiliate her, and compare her to Roman. And the worst part is that I don’t think you both even realize it.”
I shake my head at them. Then my gaze suddenly snaps to Roman, and all I find is a little smile on his face. Is he insane? Whatever, I’ll handle him later.
“Every inch of this house holds a memorabilia of your son. Every picture on that wall holds what she had to grow up with. In the shadow of her brother that cast so long, even her parents couldn’t see her.”
Janice and Peter look at each other and then at the objects and frames around them as if surprised that they had never noticed them before.
“Stop it, Ezra. That’s enough,” Kaeli begs me between her sniffles, wiping her face with the back of her hand.
I grab her hands in mine, dropping to my kneesin front of her. “Don’t cry, Feather. I know it all hurts. But I need your family to understand that they’re hurting you with every word out of their mouth. And it makes me want to tear down everything in my path,” my voice softens for her, and my hold tightens as my body vibrates with pent-up fury.
Cupping her face and wiping away all the tears, I kiss her forehead as she breathes it in. Standing in front of her, I face her parents and fix them with a glare.
