“I’ll keep it in mind and let you know.” That answer seems to be good enough for him as he shoots me a smile and turns back around.
Chase
You on your way home yet?
Getting in my car now, yeah.
Chase
Cool, see you soon.
When I get home, I place all of my bags on the floor as soon as I’m inside and head straight for the kitchen. I’m following my nose at this point as the aroma of garlic and pesto, two of my favorite things, take over my senses. “Mom? Hi, I wasn’t expecting you!” I give her a tight squeeze as if I didn’t just spend the whole week with her. She still lives in our hometown which is only about two hours from here, but I’m still wondering why she made the trip down again.
“Yes, well your brother wanted to speak with me, both of us actually, but instead of you two driving to me, I said I’d come back here for a night.”
She’s stirring the sauce and I’m brought back to my childhood and Sunday dinner with her, Chase and my grandparents. The weekends we were with my mom, we’d always do Sunday dinners, usually pasta of some kind, I always looked forward to it.
Chase comes walking out of his room and meets both of us in the kitchen, a nervous look on his face that we don’t often see. His brown hair is hanging in his face and his brown eyes look heavy under his eye lids.
“What’s up?” I say, gesturing to me and mom.
For the next thirty minutes, the three of us sit around the dining room table eating as Chase lets us know his news. While the initial shock hasn’t left, there’s also all of the excitement. I’m going to be an aunt and my mom is getting a grandchild. I know this isn’t the ideal situation for Chase, but he seems to be handling it pretty well. He said he’s known for a little while now, so it appears he’s had some time to come to terms with it.
“So, yeah. I’m going to do what needs to be done. I want to be involved, there’s no question about it.”
My eyes fill with tears as I’m looking at my brother with such pride. He is a good man. I glance at my mom who has a similar look on her face as she gets up to hug him and I see his shoulders relax as she does. It was obvious he was nervous to tell her, knowing that this isn’t how he’d ever expected to become a dad, but still fully embracing and accepting this new reality.
While we have the standard questions of when’s the due date, how far along is she, does he hope it’s a boy or a girl; he’s quick to answer anything he can. My mom of course wants to meet her as soon as possible and asks if they’re dating, but Chase swiftly replies that they’re not together.
Another piece of surprising news? Chase said the other day he needed someone to talk to about it and went to Ford. For a moment, I’m bothered that Ford didn’t tell me, but at the same time, I know my brother asked him not to say anything so I actually find it endearing that he kept Chase’s secret.
We leave tomorrow for an away game in Dallas and all I want to do tonight is get a good night's rest. My sleep has been shit lately and not even for good reason. I haven’t seen Abby all week, but we’ve texted almost daily. She finally knows about Chase, which is great because one secret is enough for me to keep.
Part of me wants to call Mia and ask her what she thinks I should do in this whole Abby arrangement. She would probably know if Abby is actually interested in more or not. And the last fucking thing I want is to be embarrassed like all those years ago. I thoughtGrace was all in too, but the joke was on me. As far as I knew,we wanted the same things, had the same idea for our future, but I couldn’t have been more wrong and I’ll do anything to make sure I don’t end up in a situation like that again.
Before heading outside, I grab a Gatorade from the refrigerator. I pull my phone out of my pocket and hover over Abby’s name. The desire to just simply hear her voice is too strong to ignore, even though I know she said she had plans tonight with some co-workers. It isn’t like she’s my girlfriend and honestly, I shouldn’t even be checking in, but I’m not able to stop myself from pressing her name. It rings a few times before I hear background noise, loud music and a deep voice on the other end. The moment I hear it, my body stiffens.
“Give me that!” Abby’s soft voice comes through the noise. “Hi, sorry it’s so loud in here.”
Without even greeting her back or thinking about what I’m doing, I’m sitting up straighter in the chair and balling my hand in a fist so hard, I’m sure it’ll leave indents. “Who the fuck was that?” I growl into the receiver.
“Sorry, it was my co-worker, Ben. I was at the bar when it rang, he handed it to me.” I can hear her much clearer now, she must have walked away from the fucking screaming banshees she was previously next to.
“Come over,” I demand, already standing from my seat ready to go pick her up from wherever the hell she’s at.
“I can’t, I’m still out with some co-workers. I thought you were having an early night anyway, Anderson. You need your rest.”
Now I’m pacing the patio a little bit, my mind running rampant with a bunch of scenarios. She doesn’t sound drunk, so that’s a plus.
“I just… I want to see you.” I blow out a breath and relax my tone a little bit. Just talking to her, hearing her voice calms me down.
“When you get back on Sunday, I’ll come over, I promise.”
I nod my head even though I know she can’t see me. “Alright.”
I concede for the moment, giving her the space that’s rightfully hers, even though it fucking sucks. Next chance I get, I’m letting her know that this whole friends with benefits arrangement can fuck off. I want her to bemine.
“Oh, and Mia just walked in! I’ll text you later.” She hangs up before I’m even able to reply and all I want to know is why the hell that tool answered her phone for her? Are they close? She’s never mentioned anyone from work other than her students now that I think of it. Pulling out my phone one more time, I click on Mia’s contact. I’m acting like a jealous boyfriend right now, but I can’t fucking help it.
