Chapter 15
Gillian
I thought interning at a pediatric dentistry practice was hard.
But now?
Now, Iwishfor the days when all it took to chill a child out was the threat of taking away their prize drawer options.
“I don’t wanna wear my boots!” Bronny shouts from inside his room at the end of the hall.
“Why are you yelling?” I calmly inquire, frame parked near the opening of the stairs.
“You’re far away!”
“And yet I’m not raisingmyvoice.”
That fact successfully pulls him past the threshold and into more open territory.
I swear to God, it’s like negotiating with a terrorist on a TV show.
Pretty sure that’s where I got all my skills to handle these hormone-based episodes.
Although, I’dreallylike to cancel my subscription to whatever this shit show is.
I had honestly thought we were onto the next season ofBronson’s Creek.
One where I would have to worry more about neighbor chicks sneaking in through his bedroom for late night “study sessions” and less about playing the wrong songs before ten a.m.
Apparently, there’s such a thing as too early for ABBA.
Jukes and Istronglydisagree, however, not enough for it to be the declaration of war the athletic hormones in questionably tight jeans insisted it was.
It’s been a crazy few weeks.
Around school – thank fuck he only missed the one week – and preseason – including camp, media blitzes, goalie training, team pracky, the big franchise outing as well as medical appointments – dating has become much different.
What wedoandwhenwe do it has also changed.
There’re less late nights doing random things like drinking Turkish coffee under the stars while singing Cher and more early evenings with themed charcuterie boards to go along with our critical thinking conversations about Langston Hughes poems and fights about topics for early animal science projects.
We still do our best to sneak off to The Kaloon once a week for dessert and cover bands, but lunch pop ins and elaborate meal hopping dinners are basically gone.
Mornings – thankfully – still start the same.
Sex and homemade brew.
I get the feeling those are the two things I’m going to miss the most when he leaves for his first roadie.
He promises he’ll still get up early to “have a cup” with me via video chat, but we’ll see.
Road life gets unpredictable.
I remember that all the way from M’s youth hockey days.
M whostilldoesn’t know about us due to many of the same reasons my relationship with Thayne has had to change.
Except dealing with hisownkids instead of a younger sibling that now he is in charge of raising for the foreseeable future.
