It didn’t help that I wasn’t on my A-game. Normally, I would have found his weak spot and used it to score. In this game, I couldn’t get away from him long enough to even see the net.
My only saving grace was the agility and like-mindedness of my teammates. They compensated for my lousy playing, and while I could sense their irritation, they didn’t shit on me for it.
Coach swapped me out of the game eventually, making me feel like a child with his disappointed parent. He didn’t chew me out, but his side-eye was so lethal I had to turn my back to him. I scanned the crowd again as I sipped my water. Rather than finding him, my mother’s warm smile and loving eyes greeted me for the first time. I waved back, her presence the only flare of happiness I had felt all evening.
Carson, playing like the MVP he was, clinched the victory by scoring the final point just before time ran out. Deep shouts and surging male hormones filled the locker room. You’d think we’d just made it to the NBA finals, judging by the way the freshmen were celebrating and pounding on the lockers.
After we won the game, Coach expressed his pride, congratulated us, and suggested we continue the tradition of eating pizza. My eager teammates hustled out of the room behind Coach, shouting “Pizza!” in unison. Pizza was the last thing I wanted.
While the team continued their chanting, I left to move through the overcrowded bleachers to find my mom. From the left side, two rows down from the top, I saw my mother waving, her short, curly puff bobbing as her beautiful smile shone. I waved back, quickly noticing her red dress with my jersey number and face plastered on it.Ah, some things will never change.
The sight of my grinning friend, who I hadn’t seen leave the locker room, wiped the smile off my face.
“River!” Mom’s arms extended wide as she welcomed me into an embrace. “My star boy.”
Pulling back from the hug, I rubbed my neck sheepishly. “Momma…”
Mom had been calling me her star boy since I was little, and it never failed to embarrass me.
“Sorry.” She rubbed my shoulder apologetically. “I know you don’t like that name, but I can’t help it.”
“I wish someone would call me their star boy,” Carson pouted.
Her gaze shifted to Carson, a look of love welling up in her eyes. “You’re my star boy too, Car.”
He shot me a smirk, almost boasting of the affection he was receiving like a youngest child. My mom was just as much Carson’s as she was mine, and he loved to remind me of it.
Her comforting hand rubbed the backs of our heads. “Let’s get you boys some food.”
We went with my mother to her car, and then she drove us to a local diner. Pizza was her suggestion, but we had to tell her it was the one thing we were trying to avoid since our teammates had an obsession with it.
The diner had a classic American vibe with red booths, milkshakes, a broken light, and everything else that made it what it was, and I knew I was about to get a damn good burger.
I was hungrier than I realized, and my mouth watered as we placed our order with the waitress.
Being away from Alex made me mimic his behavior, like his habit of putting other things ahead of eating three meals a day. I liked to think it was my body’s absurd method of staying connected to him when we were distant.
Was he taking care of himself, or was he still stressed out? Could he have had another seizure, one that I wasn’t around to help? Fuck, he probably should have gone to the doctor after the first.
Or maybe all his stresses are gone because I’m finally staying away.
A warm hand on top of mine pulled me from my spiral. Mom rubbed her thumb on the back of my hand, a shaky smile painting her lips. It was the kind she wore when she had bad news.
“I need to talk to you boys about something,” she said softly.
I slowly retracted my hand from my mom’s touch. An abrupt, heavy feeling settled in the air, which was sudden since Mom hadn’t appeared to have bad news until now.
Carson raised a hand. “Is it about River’s sulking? Believe me, I tried to fix it, but he’s hopeless when he’s upset.”
My brows narrowed, and Carson winced when my foot collided with his shin underneath the table. He was like the annoying tattletale brother I never asked for. If I ever went down for a crime, I knew who would rat me out for a ten-piece nugget and a large fry.
Mom’s eyes softened. “Why are you upset?”
“It’s nothing.”
“River,” she drawled.
Why did I even bother? Lying to my mom never worked.
