Page 76 of The Knockout

“I got a mom, and she lives in Maine, dude. Fuck off. I don’t answer to you.”

“Lunch at West End?” Cross offers up, and we all agree.

But when we’re walking into the bar a few minutes later, my brother stops me. “You know Dad’s gonna be fine, right?”

“Yeah, man. I know. Just got a lot on my mind.”

“Like why you’re sneaking out at night? Is everything okay, brother? Anything you need to talk to me about, I’m right here. No judgment,” he tells me, like he’s making any sense.

“What?” I stop and stare at him, not sure where he’s going with this.

Cross shrugs and pushes the door open. “It’s just not like you to be secretive about anything. I want to make sure you aren’t getting into trouble. And honestly, you usually broadcast that shit too.”

“Trouble?” I’m a grown man with a job, a mortgage, and people who depend on me. But this fucker is worried I’m getting into trouble.

And why is that?

Oh yeah. Because I’m lying about it, and he knows I’m hiding something.

“No trouble.” I walk past him into the bar and hear him grumble behind me.

We walk over to where Nix and Easton are already sitting at the bar, and Nix closes his menu and hands it to me. “Come on, be honest. Is it a dude? Do you not want to tell us? Because seriously, we’d be cool.”

I choke on my water as the bartender approaches us to take our orders, and I press my thumb and finger against my temple, way too fucking tired for this shit.

I wait for us all to order before I answer the morons, “It’s not a dude. I’m not gay. No judgment if you are, Sinclair. But I like women.”

“Fine. Then do we know her?” he pushes, and I swear to God, I’m gonna lose my shit. “Come on, man, I’m your best friend. Spill that shit.”

“You’re a grown man, shithead,” I snap. “We don’t have best friends.”

“Dude. Don’t hurt the kid’s feelings,” Cross tells me, and I stare back at him.

“Are you fucking with me, right now?” I ask my brother, then turn to Easton. “He’s fucking with me, right?”

“Hey, man, I have enough family drama of my own. I’ll leave you three to yours.” Easton grins and drinks his beer.

“There’s no family drama.” Cross must see then that I’m over this shit because he changes the subject, and I decide maybe I need to be a little nicer to my brother. “Nix, what time does your mom want us at the house for dinner tonight?”

“I think she said six when I talked to her.”

Easton passes our beers down the bar. “Nice to see it’s not my wife’s family demanding the big family shit for a change.”

“Yeah well, I think she’s just scared that Gracie’s gonna get that job in Philly with that ballet company and she won’t have too many of these left between football season, hockey season, and good twin leaving again.”

My head snaps up, and I glare at Nix. “What are you talking about?”

“Mom got Grace an audition with the ballet she choreographs for in Philly. I heard Grace and Brynlee talking about it yesterday when I stopped by their place for dinner. Gracie’s practicing today at Hart & Soul.”

“You mean when you mooched food off your sister?” Cross asks him, but I tune out Nixon’s answer.

And the hits just keep coming.

GRACE

“Are you sure your foot isn’t bothering you? Because your heart doesn’t seem into this routine, Gracie.”

Annabelle Sinclair is far from a stage mother. She never pushed me to liveherdreams. But she is a dance teacher, and at the end of the day, I’m her student. Especially within the walls of Hart & Soul Academy of Dance. And as her student, she’s always going to push me for more. To bemore. To be perfect.

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