“You’re nuts. I’m fine,” I reply tersely and cross my arms. “Now I need to get back to work, so what did you summon me for?”
“I just wanted to know why, when I walked by that intern Nadine a few minutes ago in the hallway, she stopped me and said”—he pauses and switches into a high-pitched voice, his impression of Nadine—“Oh my God, I don’t know how I never noticed the resemblance before! Of course you and Dixie are related. You look totally alike!”
He stops his ridiculous impression and gives me a confused shrug. I sigh and shake my head. “Fuck,” I groan and hang my head for a second in defeat. Of course Trish told Nadine. Obviously she’s going to tell everyone. I look up at my brother. “They know.”
“That you’re my sister?” Jude clarifies, and I nod. “How many people know?”
“I’d guess just about everyone by now,” I reply. Could this day suck any harder? “One of my co-workers went to HR because they heard me on the phone with you and thought I was sleeping with you.”
Jude looks like he might vomit. He actually turns green. “That’s disgusting.”
“I know!” I agree wholeheartedly. “Anyway, Mr. Carling told her the truth, and I guess he didn’t say to keep it under wraps so…my cover is blown.”
“Oh.” Jude looks at me with sympathy because he knows this is the last thing I want. He reaches out and pulls me into a hug. “It’s not the end of the world. I mean, the management knew anyway. And they also know that you’re awesome at your job, and it has nothing to do with the fact that your brother is the best player on the team.”
I pull out of his arms. “No. I said they know I’m related to you, not they think I’m related to Levi.”
I grin and Jude looks annoyed. “I’m trying to be a good big brother, and you’re ruining it. Fabulous.”
“Big brother? Who is a big brother?” I turn at the inquiry and see that Duncan and Eli are now in the hall too. I turn back to Jude, giving him a pleading look: Please don’t tell the team too.
Jude moves his eyes from me to his teammates. “I am. To my sisters.”
“Right! Your family moved to town.” Duncan nods and scratches his curly red hair. “You should invite them to my Halloween do-over party too. The more the merrier!”
“Okay. I’ll invite them.” Jude looks at me. “We had a road trip for Halloween, which is Duncan’s favorite holiday, so he’s throwing a do-over party this weekend.”
“You should come, Dix,” Duncan says enthusiastically.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass,” I say. “You guys have a blast.”
I walk away, careful not to look at Eli as I go.
16
Elijah
You are the happiest gladiator I’ve ever seen,” Levi tells me.
“It’s a party, Levi. I’m supposed to have a good time,” I reply.
“We’ve been here forty minutes and you’ve mixed cocktails for people, talked to every person in the place and just spent five minutes dancing in the living room. I feel like someone should give you a lampshade to wear on your head, Mr. Life of the Party,” Jude quips, pulling up his sunglasses. He’s wearing a referee outfit with sunglasses and a white cane. A blind ref. I have to admit I smiled when I saw him. His girlfriend, Zoey, is sitting on his lap wearing jeans and a white T-shirt with fake blood on it and plastic baby arms coming out of her pregnant belly.
The party is in full swing. Every player on the team is here and so are their friends and girlfriends, and everyone seems to be having a great time. I’m doing a bang-up job of pretending I’m enjoying myself too, although clearly I’m not.
I haven’t talked to Dixie since the locker room five days ago. We played twice in that time, and I didn’t start either game. The Thunder lost both, but there was a sick feeling of relief that it wasn’t my fault, and it superseded the feeling of humiliation at being benched. That had me toss and turn all night long. I should have been more upset that I didn’t get to play than relieved by it. I’m sick of disappointing my team and myself.
I saw Dixie right after both games, directing the press for interviews. She never made eye contact with me or acknowledged my existence. This is exactly how we’re supposed to act, like we barely know each other, but it sucks. Hard. And I told myself to stop thinking about her, but I can’t. I still think about her all the time. I miss talking to her and texting with her, because it was so fun and easy, and nothing else is right now.
Levi stands up and reaches for his girlfriend’s empty cup. She’s dressed like a cat and she looks sexy and adorable. Then he turns to me. “You wanna come get drinks with me?”
I nod and stand up. Levi is dressed like Thor. It’s his way of embracing his nickname, and judging by the long, sultry stares from the women in the room as we walk back toward Duncan’s kitchen, it’s being well received. I catch a couple women looking at me that way, but I ignore them.
“So how did your meeting with Lu Price go?” Levi asks as we enter the kitchen and make our way to the island that’s covered in bottles of booze and mixers.
“Fine,” I reply shortly. Lu Price is the goalie coach for the Thunder. The meeting didn’t actually go fine, but I don’t want to get into it tonight. I’m supposed to be having fun. I walked into the meeting jovial and upbeat, but Lu was all business and blunt. I need to improve and fast. He suggested the problem was related to my accident and that I see the team sports psychologist. I told him I would think about it. He told me to think fast and hard, and that I needed to take this more seriously—as serious as a heart attack were his exact words. Definitely not the beginning of a great working relationship.
Levi looks like he’s about to keep asking me questions about it, but luckily Eddie walks over to join us. “Hey, kids!” he says happily. He’s dressed like a shark attack victim. His top half is bare, except for his chest hair, which is in desperate need of grooming, and the rest of him is covered by a felt shark. Its mouth is around his waist, where’s he’s put fake blood.
