“Got it covered, Dad.”
“I know, son, just making sure. So . . .” He hesitated. “Why aren’t you in Missouri?”
“Injury.”
“You’re benched, you mean. Why?” Kerr Santo was easier going than his brother, but he was still a hard ass.
“Long story,” I answered.
“Make it a short one,” he countered, and I smiled in the afternoon sun. I missed my dad sometimes.
“Not a conversation for the phone, Dad.”
“Excellent, your mother misses you. Get your ass home for dinner. You can tell me all about it then.”
“Dad . . .”
“Jett?”
There was no point in arguing. “I’ll see you at seven.”
“Make it six so we can talk while Mom’s in the kitchen pretending to cook.”
I laughed again. My mom seriously couldn’t boil water. All our meals were prepared by our cook, but Mom could plate like a Michelin star chef, and she took great pride in presenting us restaurant-quality-looking plates of food, whereas our cook actually made us restaurant-quality food.
“She’ll have your balls if she hears you,” I warned him.
“Woman’s had my balls from the day I met her,” Dad grunted.
“Too much, Dad.” I grinned. “See you at six. Is Onyx home?”
“Yeah, fucking furious about . . . who knows what. He refuses to talk about it — another reason you can come home and calm your erratic older brother down.”
“Fun times with the family,” I teased before we said goodbye, and I turned direction. Instead of heading to class, I went back to the dorm house. I needed to fix some things before the three-and-a-half-hour drive home. I opened my messages to the chat just between Gray and me.
Me:Dad’s summoned me home
Gray:Told you he would
Me:100% truth or fudge?
Gray:Bro’s home too, go for the 100, Onyx will sniff the lie out
Me:Fine
Gray:You got this
Me:Onyx is going to bust my balls
Gray:Bust his head?
Me:Sound advice, dickhead
Gray sent me the one-finger emoji back, and I laughed again as I put the phone away. Our older brother was intense. In a good way to us, but to everyone else, he was just fucking brutal. But Gray was right, he would smell a lie on me before I evenwalked into the house. I thought about it. I needed a distraction, and then I pulled the phone out of my back pocket again.
“Yeah, it’s me. Dad wants a family supper, you up for a drive home?” I waited until Quinn answered. “Yeah, be outside in thirty minutes. Oh and, Quinn, Onyx is home.” I heard her hesitate, and then she said she’d be ready.
When I picked her up outside her dorm, she greeted me with a warm smile as she placed her overnight bag in the back seat of the car.
