I let out a breath, wanting to hit him a little below that belt to make things even. “What about you? Think you can execute your plan on being the leader without help from… oh, I don’t know, me?”
Kai gave me a dark look. “I think I can manage it.”
As a kid, I was the talker. I got us in plenty of scrapes while Kai used his head to get us out. He led in silence which worked when it came to most things in life. I could tell from the dinner and practice, it wasn’t going to work at Westbrooke. He wasn’t going to get the guys on the team to respect him by throwing moody looks in their direction. And I knew he wanted their respect.
“You could ask my opinion,” I threw a line without any hope of him actually reaching out for it.
“I’m good.”
“I did get the girls in my troop to band together and sell more cookies than everyone in our county that year before middle school,” I reminded him. Silas rubbed his stomach at the mention of cookies.
“I remember,” Kai said, sounding bored.
“And I ran for class president in high school. Would have won too if we didn’t move,” I continued.
He snorted. “Debatable.”
“Debatable!” I snapped my fingers. “I was the best speaker on the debate team and made that one exchange student from Norway cry.”
He paused and tilted his head to the side, recalling my moment of victory. “I’ve never seen someone cry like that on stage. Actually, I kind of admired the courage of it all. Him crying, not you making him.”
“Damn,” Silas said, excited that his five minutes were up. “You made a kid cry?”
“Not purposely. I was doing my job,” I said.
“Your job was to make a teenage boy cry?” Silas laughed.
“You’re saying it like I wasn’t a teenager myself. I don’t go around making kids cry. What does that look like?”
Silas snorted. “Looks like you, apparently.”
Kai actually joined in on the laughter, and you know what? Good for him. That’s what I wanted for him. It’s unfortunate it was at my own expense, but everyone had to start somewhere.
“My point is, I’m good at convincing people to feel some type of way,” I told Kai. “It’s a skill that I will gladly teach you for a small fee.”
He eyed me and placed the last of his fruit in the blender. “What would that fee be?”
“Live a little,” I said.
He was quiet for a moment and then finally said, “No.”
“I’m going to give you skills that will carry you throughout your entire career. You’re turning me down because you don’t want to go out of your comfort zone?”
Silas made a noise of agreement.
“Get Silas to hang out,” Kai suggested. “I’m busy.”
“No, the point is to get something from you,” I argued. “I miss hanging out. Besides, I know for a fact you’re having a difficult time bonding with the team this year.”
His expression clouded over. “Who said that?”
Silas and I tried not to look at each other, but we couldn’t help to sneak a quick glance. Kai scoffed, disappointed in both of us. I put in too many hours volunteering for Kyle at the clinic to not hear the guys talking about how much of a grump my brother was to everyone.
“These guys need time,” Kai insisted, not sounding convinced in the slightest. “Any transition of leadership is difficult. And since a lot of the players are seniors, they already have their set group of people they enjoy hanging with. It’ll be easier to form tighter bonds next year.”
My shoulders sagged. “I thought you wanted to be an NCAA champion this year? You only have two more years left, Kai. Now’s more vital than ever.”
“Em,” Kai said in a flat tone. “I don’t need football advice from my little sister. Okay? I got this.”
