“He kind of spiraled after she got diagnosed. And I know he loves her and doesn’t want to lose her, but he stopped showing up years ago. After her first chemo session, he just fell apart.”
“I’m sorry, Zeke.” I sigh. “And I don’t want you to take that as pity; I know that’s probably why you don’t talk about it. I just mean, I’m sorry that it’s all on you. You shouldn’t have to carry it by yourself.”
“Thanks, Em.” He squeezes my bicep before directing his attention back to the road. “And I don’t carry it alone, not recently.”
“Is that so?” I wonder, but I know exactly what he means by the look on his face.
So, when he turns up the radio to avoid the rest of the conversation, I let him.
Because his face confirms the one thing I’ve suspected for months— A girl.
Zeke’s talking about a girl.
thirty-three
Ember
By the time we pull up to the house, it’s nearly midnight, so I have no plans to stick around. Declan probably went to bed hours ago because they have a game tomorrow.
I put the car in park and wait for Zeke to get out before I wave goodbye to him, but he rests against the open door—
“You coming in?” he wonders.
“No, Declan probably went to sleep hours ago, and I should get home. I don’t want Cam to freak out when he wakes up and I’m not there.”
“Text him and say you’re staying at Brinley’s.”
“I can’t. She was over earlier and talking about how she wouldn’t be around because she and Alex were driving down to this museum for tomorrow's opening. Cam heard the whole thing, so I don’t think that’d be the best lie.”
“At least come say hi,” he continues.
“I don’t know if you heard me, but I’m pretty sure Declan’s asl—”
“He’s up. He texted me twenty minutes ago to ask when we’d be back. He wanted to make sure we got back to campus okay.”
“He waited up for us?”
“For you, more like it.” Zeke laughs, shutting the passenger door, and I take that as my cue to turn off the car and follow him.
The second we get inside, I see Declan sitting on the couch with his computer, and he’s more focused than I’ve ever seen him. That is, until he sees us.
“Hi.” He puts his computer down before walking toward me. “How was the drive? Are you tired? You can sleep in my room if you want. I’ll sleep down here.”
“Nice to see you too, man,” Zeke jokes, patting him on the back and heading up the stairs. “See you two losers at the game tomorrow.”
“Night, man,” Declan replies before smiling at me. “Are you hungry?”
“Actually,” I begin, “I’m starving. I totally forgot I didn’t eat dinner until this exact moment.”
“Good. Brinley made us some meals before she left.”
“She gets back on Sunday,” I respond. “How many meals do you need?”
“This is a house full of hockey players. Zeke alone eats like three dinners.”
I laugh as I follow him into the kitchen and hop onto the counter as he grabs a container from the fridge. He pops it in the microwave before turning his attention to me.
“How was it?”
