so much for communication.
thirty-four
Declan
She missed our game.
I guess I can’t blame her; I wouldn’t want to watch my boyfriend play after he just stared at me after I confessed my love. She told me she loved me, and not only did I not say anything, but I watched her leave. I followed her to the front door… and watched her get in her car and drive off.
I can still see the rise in her shoulders as I stopped the door, the hint of hope. But once she reached her car, that hope was gone, and I couldn’t blame her. I froze.
She told me she loved me… and I froze.
“You know, I didn’t think Ember meeting my mom would actually make her fall in love with me.” Zeke enters the kitchen, grabbing one of Brinley’s premade meals from the fridge. “Sorry, man. Would’ve waited until you really sealed the deal if I knew that’d be the case.”
“Huh?” I wonder.
“What’s going on with you guys?”
“With who?”
I know who. But maybe if I play dumb, Zeke will just drop it.
“Brooks said you guys were weird last night, and then she missed the game?” Zeke continues. “Oh, shit, did you guys have sex, and you were horrible? I always felt like your sex game was overhyped.”
My nose crinkles at the thought of Zeke, thinking aboutmysex life. “Overhyped? I don’t think my sex game is even hyped. I haven’t slept with anyone in well over a year.”
“So, you guys still haven’t—”
“Don’t finish that sentence; we’re not discussing this.” I wave my hand at him. “And everything is fine.”
“Doesn’t seem fine. She would’ve come over today if everything was fine. She would’ve been at the game.”
“How’s your mom?” I change the subject, hoping he gets the hint that I don’t want to talk about this.
“The cancer is a stubborn motherfucker, but we got some good news today,” he replies. “Hopefully, we’ll know more after her next round of chemo.”
“You know, you can always talk to us, right? I know it’s not easy, but we’re family. We got your back.”
“The same way you tell me everything that goes on with you?” He raises an eyebrow. “You’re not that good of a liar.”
Does he know about my parents? How’d he find out? Brinley doesn’t even know.
“So, what’s going on with you and Em?”
“Oh, that.”
“What else would I be talking about?”
“Nothing,” I say a little too quickly.
He crosses his arms and straightens like he’s waiting for me to give him an answer. So, I do.
“She told me she loved me.”
“Oh.” He grabs a beer from the fridge and pops off the top, which makes me think of Ember, and how I never get tired of watching her open a beer bottle with her mouth. It still amazes me. I don’t know how someone even realizes they can do that. “What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
