“You know we were close to our grandpa too,” Bronny announces at the same time he tucks one hand behind his head. “He was def the dad energy for Thayne, but Thayne was def the dad vibe for me.”
Bewilderment isn’t kept out of his tone, “What?”
“Yeah,” his little brother warmly grins, “youwere the one who taught me not to kiss girls too soon-”
“You were onlytwo,you little shit.”
“Taught me not to drown in the duck pond-”
“All you had to do was stand up.”
“How to ride my bike-”
“And change a flat.”
“How to catch a football, baseball,andpuck.”
“Still ain’t good at the latter.”
“Andto always pour Grams that extra shot of whiskey, so when she falls asleep, leavin’ you to clean it up, you can have it ‘cause you’re never supposed to waste the good stuff.”
Loud, loveable laughter shakes Thayne’s entire frame, calling me to tuck myself into him tighter.
Curl in closer.
“Plus…” Bronny briefly pulls his lips to one side, “he was always there for me even when he wasn’t.”
My head tilts in a wordless request for more.
“Didn’t matter where in the world he physically went, he was always just one text or video or SNAP away.”
“Still am, bud,” sweetly swears Jukes as his arm drapes itself around my shoulder. “That’ll never change.”
Rather than lean into emotional moment, the young guy pulls out his phone to instantly distract himself with one swipe, “Denver needs one more for a game of touch. Can I go?”
“You goin’ for the game or for the girls?”
“Both.”
“Bronson.”
“But I’ll be responsible or whatever.”
“The ‘or whatever’ makes it less convincing,” I inform right above a whisper.
“You’ve got an hour.”
“Two?”
“Ninety minutes.” His fingers lovingly feather my shoulder. “Ninety-one and you’ll be up at six doin’ reverse lunges ‘til I feel like makin’ breakfast. Got it?”
Bronny flashes him a thumbs up prompting me to snicker, “How bad did you wannasaythumbs up emoji?”
“Pretty bad,” he admits on a chuckle. “But I didn’t!”
“Growth,” amusedly acknowledges Jukes. “You’d make the Beach Boys proud.”
A curious hum precedes me meeting his gaze. “Not sure I know that one.”
