Rogers
He’s alive
They pretend they didn’t see it, but I know they did. I simply lock my screen and flip my phone over so no one can see anything further. The server comes over, and we order our food before the guys start talking about hockey. Conrad and Ethan have not taken their eyes off of me, and it’s making me even more uncomfortable. I can feel it in the way they stare at me that they know I’m lying.
When our food arrives, I realize that Sutter and Landry aren’t here. I wonder why not, but I don’t ask. Instead, I join the others in eating. By the time I am nearly finished, I start feeling weird.
“I don’t feel well,” I say, looking to Jovian.
“Yeah,” Jovian says. He has a tight grip on my hand, and the way he looks at me says that we should’ve questioned the restaurant he picked. I look over at the others, and they all look to be in similar states of unease, except Ray. He’s been pushing his food around the whole time. I lock eyes with him, and he stands.
“Alright, kids. We need to get back,” Ray says. “Boys, it was good meeting y’all and coming to a truce. We should do this again after the game.”
“Aww. Leaving so soon?” Conrad asks.
“Yeah,” I say, almost slurring. “I have a call with the detective also. He’s in town.”
“Oh?” Ethan asks.
“Yep. So, we will see y’all at the game, I guess,” I say.
Jovian wraps his arm around my waist and holds me up until we are out of sight of the guys. Ray swiftly scoops me into his arms right as I start to collapse. Mom pauses and pays, as she is in a much better state than the rest of us. I am weak and unable to move now, completely reliant on Ray.
We all struggle to get to the bus, but Ray lays me in Jovian and Elijah’s lap before jumping in the driver’s seat and driving us away.
I gasp and sit up in a full panic, but hands catch me before I can get up. “Relax. It’s me,” Elijah says softly.
“They drugged us,” I whisper.
“They got the staff to do it, I think,” Rogers says. “How do you feel?”
“Tired,” I say. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah. You got most of it, I think. You’re safe, though,” Rogers says. “Sit up here. I want you to meet someone.”
I sit up and rub my hands down my face before blinking away the haze. I jump up from the hotel couch in our suite as I see a familiar man. “You,” I say.
“Hey, Ari,” the man says with a tearful smile. I back away from him, but he puts his hands up as if to communicate that he is not a threat as he walks closer. No one is stopping him, not even Mom.
“Momma,” I say, tearfully.
“It’s okay, baby. You’re safe,” she says.
“No,” I say, looking at the man.
“Ari, you’ve grown up so much,” he says.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, baby,” he says, cupping my cheek. Before I can process anything, I shove him away from me.
“No,” I yell at him. “You don’t get to come back in my life and pretend you gave a fuck about me. You don’t get to show up and play Dad whenever you weren’t there for me.”
“I didn’t have a choice, baby,” he says. “I never wanted to leave you and your mother. I never wanted to put her through that pain. I never wanted you to have to lose your father… I’m just glad Ray was there. He’s a good man.”
“Heis my dad,” I say, crying.
“I know, Ari. He did a wonderful job, too.”
