Page 67 of Back to You

“This is a game. It’s called football. It involves two teams and a ball.”

“Okay, smartass,” Brandon told his brother-in-law. “I got that much, but what are they doing?”

He tried to keep up as Steven explained the rules of college football, but eventually gave up.

“This is too complicated. How do you keep it all straight?”

“Years and years of watching,” Steven said. “My dad was obsessed.”

“And you still like it?” Steven didn’t have the best relationship with his parents.

“Yeah, it’s fun.”

“If you say so.” Brandon kicked back and sipped his beer. “I’ll just watch and see if I can figure it out.”

There was silence as the two men watched the game, interrupted by the occasional visits from Riley and Samuel. Even the kids knew more about football than Brandon. Sports weren’t his thing. Give him spicy Netflix dramas any day.

He tuned back in when a marching band took the field, but then it immediately cut to commercial. “Wait, it was finally getting interesting!”

Steven snorted a laugh. “What have you been doing over there the whole first half?”

“You know, thinking about recipes I want to try, doing a mental grocery list, wondering what’s on Netflix.”

“You don’t have to watch it.”

“Nah, it’s kind of hypnotic.”

Steven stood to grab another beer. “Want one?”

“Grab me a diet soda?”

“Yup.”

He returned to the room and handed Brandon his soda. “So.”

“Uh oh.”

“Michelle said you talked to Ethan.”

“Yeah.” He explained the mix-up about his not-a-date with Max, and wanting to make sure Ethan understood.

“How is he?”

“Not great. He looks awful. But he’s starting therapy, so that’s good.”

“I’m sorry he’s going through that. I hope he can come through it okay.”

“Me too,” Brandon said softly.

Steven opened his mouth, then shut it. This happened several times before Brandon finally said, “Just spit it out.”

“Have you thought about y’all possibly getting back together someday?”

Brandon sat back. Had he thought about it?

“Only every day.”

“Do you think it would ever happen?”

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