“Really?”
“I’m sure of it.”
We head into the kitchen, so I can say hi to my dads and moms.
“Where are the twins?” I ask, looking around but not spotting the two hormone-riddled devils.
They were a handful when they were younger, always getting into trouble. But as they got older, their interests changed, and they began to drift apart. While Isaiah gravitated to hockey like Toby and me, Raiden became more of a bookworm like Mom and Lilly.
Raiden doesn’t have an athletic bone in his body. He'd rather spend hours with his nose in a book, researching something interesting to him, than break a sweat playing a sport.
Even though he doesn’t have a lot in common with Isaiah, Raiden is still his best friend. If anyone messes with him at school, Isaiah has his back.
Isaiah has been in trouble for protecting Raiden far more than my parents would like.
“Game room,” Chase says, sneaking a kiss on my mom’s cheek before snatching a cookie off the plate in front of her.
“Those are for after supper!” Mom scolds him. Chase dances away, a big smile on his face as he bites down on the cookie, giving her a wink.
Chuckling, I shake my head and head down to the game room.
I hear Isaiah right away, yelling at whoever he’s gaming with online.
“Hey,” I greet Raiden. He’s sitting on the couch, reading something.
“Hey.” He smiles up at me. “When did you get here?”
“Just now.” I take the spot on the couch next to him.
He closes the book and puts it on the table. “You okay?”
“Huh?”
“You look... off. Something wrong?”
At Raiden’s question, Isaiah takes his headset off and looks over.
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” I huff out a laugh.
“Something's totally wrong,” Isaiah argues. “Alright, spill.”
I look between my brothers, deciding if I should say anything. With a sigh, I give in. I always want them to come to me if something is bothering them, and for them to trust me, I need to trust them.
“Do you remember Easton?”
“You mean the jackass who punched you in the face for kissing him?” Isaiah grumbles. “Yeah, we remember.”
“I’m sure you heard about the football house.”
Raiden’s face falls. “Yeah, Dad is upset. He really cares about the guys on the team.”
“Maybe not that asshole Easton, though,” Isaiah mutters.
“Be nice. He’s still one of his players,” Raiden scolds him.
“They had to find housing for the team until their dorm is rebuilt. Some of the scholarship kids were moved to the hockey house.”
