I manage to extricate myself from the dog and stand up. Moving to his side, I place what I hope is a friendly — and nothing more — touch on his shoulder. “Nope. Might as well accept that now.”
“When you two were friends in college, did you ever watch him play pool?”
“You mean did I ever watch him lose at playing pool?” I say, accepting the glass of wine Evie hands me. “And oh, did I ever. I didn’t realize it was possible for grown men to pout like that.”
Rhett throws his head back and laughs before lifting his glass of water up to meet my glass. “Right? The man has perfect aim and kicks ass at any game involving a ball. Except for pool.”
“Listen. A pool cue is too fucking long,” Kai grumbles. “It’s not my fault the ball goes in the opposite direction I want it to.”
“Oh, it kind of is,” I tease. I stop myself at the last second before leaning into him. Shit. This is the downside to feeling comfortable around Rhett and Evie. It’s that much harder to not relax and act the way I normally do when it’s just Kai and me.
“Hold on. I need to write down all the ammunition for future blackmail,” Evie says, pulling out her phone before looking over at me. “Okay, continue. What other stupid stuff did my brother do?”
“Aw, c’mon, if this is gonna be a beat on Yami night, I’ll leave,” he complains, but there’s no heat behind it.
“Did you know he drinks a glass of warm milk at bedtime on the nights before a game?” I ask, lifting my glass to my lips to take a sip.
“It helps me sleep!”
“Warm milk? That’s disgusting, Kai.” Evie cringes as she lifts a bowl of salad out of the fridge and takes it to the table.
With a chuckle, Rhett moves to the stove and starts dishing up some sort of chicken dish that smells incredible. “I remember he used to insist on watchingPower Rangerson game mornings.”
“Oh my God, he did that in college, too! Did he try to tell you the blue one was his favourite when it was obviously the pink one?” I take the plate he hands me and turn around to find Kai with his arms folded across his chest, a half smirk, half glower on his face.
He lifts one hand, and points between Rhett and me. “This. I don’t like this. You two need to stop talking. So I’ve got some superstitions left over from when I was a kid. So? Who’s the starting pitcher for a major league team now? Hmm? Right. I am.”
“Yet you can’t handle the heat of your two best friends teasin’ you?” Rhett snorts as he hands Evie a plate.
“This isn’t teasing, this is a personal attack.”
Evie comes to his rescue, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Awww, it’s okay big brother. We still love you.”
Something jolts awake inside of me at her innocent statement. That part of my heart I’ve been lying to myself about, claiming it doesn’t exist anymore.
I did love Kai. I thought I always would. And some part of me always did.
But is that the same as still loving him now?
Before I can dwell too much on that slightly alarming question that I really don’t want to examine too hard, much less answer, Rhett brings his own plate to the table and sits down. Then he turns to me, with what can only be described as pure mischief on his face.
“What was his warm-up song in college?”
“‘Home for a Rest.’” I look over at Kai, and he’s staring back at me.
So many memories flash through my head. That night at the bar when he went to the DJ and begged him to play the iconic Spirit Of The West song before dragging me out onto the dance floor.
Listening to it on repeat, watching him pretend to throw a pitch in my dorm room. He would go on about his dreams and goals of making the major leagues and how every time he’d pitch, I’d know he was thinking of me.
Rhett shrugs. “Never heard of it.”
“Babe. We need to listen to it immediately,” Evie exclaims.
He gives her an indulgent smile. “Sounds good, honey.” Then, turning back to Kai, he smirks. “So how come when we first started playin’ together you had a different song every week? Drove the entertainment staff nuts.”
“I was trying to find my vibe,” Kai protests, staring down at his plate.
“What kind of vibe was ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’?” Rhett laughs. “Damn, that was a depressing week.”
