Nigel’s words made me stop in my tracks. “Excuse me? You’ve been holding back?”
Nigel’s smile was blindingly bright. “I didn’t want you to know just how bad you suck. I was doing you a favor.”
I saw the truth of it written on his face. He had been going easy on me all these years. I’d always known that I could never beat him at pool. Even if both his arms were tied behind his back, he’d still manage to beat me in an embarrassing way.
“Sometimes I hate you.” I didn’t mean it and he certainly didn’t take it that way because, if anything, his smile got bigger.
“I know,” he replied cheerily.
Darts was just as much of a debacle as pool had been. But I didn’t mind losing to Nigel. I wasn’t here to win anything, I just wanted my brother to know that I was behind him every step of the way. Even if I did think that he and Trevor were a terrible match. But I’d long ago made the commitment to keeping my opinions about his life to myself unless he specifically asked. I wasn’t perfect at following my own rules, but I did my best.
Nigel was three drinks deep, and I’d finished my beer, then switched to Coke. He had a dart in his hand and was aiming at the board, closing one eye, which I’d tried but somehow it made my aim worse instead of better.
Suddenly he lowered his arm and turned to me, his expression a picture of misery. “Can we get food now? I’m fucking starving.”
“We can absolutely stop now,” I said, taking his darts from him. “You go sit down and I’ll grab us drinks and menus while I return these.”
When I came back to our table, a new drink for him and a couple of menus in hand, Nigel was looking like death. His eyes were downcast and his shoulders were rounded. He was soft and sad, and I wanted to hug the stuffing out of him.
“Okay, spill it.” I slid his drink across the table to him.
Nigel let out a sigh. “I miss Simon. That’s it. That’s all. He barely speaks to me now, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Well, let’s break down your options.”
Nigel lifted his gaze and looked at me. He offered me a smile. “You always were a methodical little shit.”
“You can’t call me little. I’m older and bigger than you.”
“So pedantic too.”
“Someone’s dragging out the big words,” I teased back, the mood shifting away from doom and gloom. It wasn’t going to be sunshine and lollipops, but it didn’t have to be so dire.
“Someone’s still a pain in my ass.”
“Someone is still wondering if you’re going to drop the shit and tell them what’s going on with you.”
Sitting across from me, Nigel was the perfect example of stoic strength. Nothing was going to budge him a moment before he was ready.
“I told you,” he tried to evade, but I’d been anticipating that.
“Yes, you told me Simon is mad that you’re marrying Trevor and that he’s been icing you out and avoiding you. Now tell me what you plan on doing about it.”
Nigel ran a hand through his hair. “That’s the thing. I don’t know, Rex. I don’t know. I want to get married, and I want to start the next phase of my life, but I always thought Simon would be there through it. And now he’s acting like our friendship meant nothing.” His rant seemed to take a lot out of him and he slumped in his seat, picking at the label some more.
“Well, the way I see it, you have a few options.”
He perked up. “I love your brain. Yes, please tell me what to do.”
“Oh, absolutely not. Any decision made has to be your own, but I’ll run you through some possible choices.”
“It would be so much easier if you would choose for me.” Nigel pouted.
“We don’t have that kind of relationship.”
“Okay, fine.” He sighed. “What are my options?” He sounded bored and skeptical.
“First of all, the only person in all of this you can control is yourself. You can’t choose how others are going to react or what their opinions will be. All you can do is make your choice and ride out any consequences, good or bad, that come from that.”
