Kieran frowned. “You’re kind of a dick.” He could picture Kenna shrugging in response.
“So are you,” she said. “Why are your parents mad at you?”
Kieran dropped the shirt he was folding, sinking down on his mattress next to the pile of clothes he’d been using as a way to avoid his problems for the afternoon. “I warned you.”
“I’ve got time.” His cousin’s tone softened, just a bit, enough that Kieran decided it probablywasas good a time as any to spill all his secrets.
So he did. Kieran told Kenna everything, just as he had told his friends on the team. The afternoon light filtering in through his bedroom window faded as he went on, until the shadow cast by the tripod across the room grew long, an arrow of blame pointed directly at Kieran.
“You’ve been reading too many romance novels,” Kenna said, after Kieran wrapped up his long-winded confession. “This kind of shit doesn’t happen in real life.”
“It obviously does.”
“What are you gonna do to fix it?”
“Which part?” Because Kieran had somehow managed to land himself in hot water twice. Sammie had ended things between them, leaving Kieran reeling from feelings he still didn’t understand,andhe’d somehow managed to finally be the disappointment his parents had always feared.
“Probably the parent situation first.” Kenna paused, a weighty silence that had Kieran leaning forward as he waited for her to continue. “That’s why I called. Your dad’s surgery got moved up to next week. Aunt Mere asked me to let you know.”
Next week. Grant would be getting his hip replaced next week, before Kieran left for the tournament.
“Just to be clear,” Kenna continued. “I’m not going to keep being a messenger like this. I only agreed to tell you becauseI’m a nosy bitch. Sure wasn’t expecting a story like that though. Being the go-between really paid off this time.”
Kieran ignored her attempts to rile him. “Can you send me the details?”
“Yes.” Another pause. “But you should let them know you’ll be there.”
Because Kieranwouldbe there, regardless of any bad feelings between them. He’d already been planning to fly back home mid-tourney if necessary. Just because his team needed him, just because they were a family to him, didn’t mean that his blood family wasn’t just as important to him.
“I will.” He should probably call, even though a quick text was significantly more appealing.
“Great. So what about your other… situation?”
“I’m going to fix that too.” He couldfeelKenna’s piercing stare through the phone.
“You really like her don’t you?
Kieran hesitated, tugging a shirt out of the pile. It was one Sammie had left behind at some point over the last month. A band tee, some emo group that Kieran had never heard of, cut-off so that it hung just above her waist. Kieran could still picture her in it, the way the fabric brushed over her skin, showing off the slight swell of her stomach that Kieran loved to run his hands over.
Kieran didn’t like Sammie. But he wasn’t ready to put a different word to what hedidfeel.
“Enough to fix it,” he finally said. Kenna chuckled on the other end of the line.
“Grand gesture style?”
Kieran snorted. “That’s what I’m going for.”
“The romance novel brainrot is finally paying off.”
He folded Sammie’s shirt neatly, placing it next to the small stack of his own t-shirts.
“I hope so.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
KIERAN’S UNCLE LOOKED the same as he always had. Garrett had a slighter frame than his brother, wasn’t as tall or as bulky as Grant had always been. But they shared the same strawberry blonde curls that now held more white than red. Garrett’s lined face held a kindness, a softness that rivaled Grant’s stubborn steadiness.
As Kieran entered the hospital waiting room, Garrett rose from a chair in the corner, crossing the space to pull Kieran into a tight hug.
