“Yep. They’re holding him for questioning. So I’m going to pray they can pull a confession out of him.”
She throws her arms around my neck. “Thank God.”
I relax into her embrace. I pretend like I’m comforting her as she cries a little into my neck and then kisses me twice on the lips. Of course, we both know that’s a lie.
Winter’s taking care of me. She always has.
She raises her eyebrows. “You know what your brothers are going to want to do now, right?”
Shit. She’s right.
* * *
“You can still see a lot of the city,” Jared says. “They haven’t built a tall building to block the view yet.”
Liam, Max, Jared, and Winter all crane their necks in the direction he’s pointing. I don’t bother because I’m too busy looking up at the sky. The big, orange sun is sinking below the skyline, and the view is prettier than any building.
The five of us are sitting on the roof of my childhood home. Our legs dangle off the ledge. The roof is flat over the outdoor patio, and it’s a one-story house, so we’re only about six feet off the ground.
Max passes me the bottle of whiskey that all of us except for Winter are sharing. I got her to take one shot, but after that, she said she’d leave the drinking to the four of us.
“It’s so wonderful you were able to keep this house,” Winter says.
“It is,” Max agrees. “It feels a little weird with none of us living in it.”
Liam bought the house back from the bank as soon as he got his first paycheck after turning pro. It was his first big purchase.
His second was to pay for his three brothers to go to college. None of us made it through four years—we all got drafted young, and we were anxious to take care of ourselves financially so Liam didn’t have to anymore.
The sad irony is that Liam was the only one of us who truly enjoyed studying, and I know he would have loved college. But life’s not always fair, and Liam was the oldest and the one who sacrificed so we could all get what Dad wanted for us—play professional hockey and excel at it.
Winter leans over and kisses me. “I’m going to leave you boys to catch up for a while,” she says. “I’ll see you at home.”
“Be ready because I have a surprise for you later,” I whisper in her ear.
She smiles. “I’ll look forward to it.”
After she’s gone, the four of us lie on our backs and stare at the darkening sky.
“Can’t believe we caught him.” Jared’s words are barely audible.
“Doesn’t change the past,” Max says in his typical rough tone.
“No,” Liam says. “But maybe it will help us bury this shit for good. The cop said he’d give us a call when they find out more.” He glances over at Max. “You don’t want to pass down all that anger to your kids someday, do you?”
“I don’t plan to have kids, so that solves that problem,” Max says with a chuckle we all know is meant to mask his pain.
“You don’t want kids?” I ask him.
“Nope. And I thought you didn’t either,” Max says to me.
“Is that why you don’t date?” I ask him.
His jaw tenses. I can see it from here. And he doesn’t answer me.
Jared elbows me in the ribs. “Has your new housemate changed your mind about having your own family?”
I flip him off, but while they’re all laughing, Winter crosses my mind.
