Page 58 of Somewhere You Belong

Maybe I need to keep my distance now more than ever.

Yeah, good luck with that, Dallas.

Grady clears his throat, his face laced with confusion. “What? I thought you just wanted her house. If you like this chick, then trying to convince her with your dick is the last thing you should do.”

I slice the lemon in front of me, barely missing my own finger with the knife. Slamming the knife down on the cutting board, I say, “You two are such a great help. Thanks for the unsolicited advice.”

“Seriously though, man,” Grady says. “Don’t go there if what Parker said is true. It’s only going to make things more complicated.”

“You make that sound so easy. She and Astrid are becoming friends, Penn’s doing the work on her house, and I swear, every time I go out in town, I see her or feel like she’s there.”

Grady pinches his nose. “Then you’re fucked. You might as well kiss that house goodbye because you can’t have both.”

“I don’t want her,” I lie, trying to be convincing even though I don’t believe my own god damn words. “But I’m not going to be shady and use her or my dick to get the house either.”

Parker chuckles. “Still the noble brother, I see.”

“I don’t know about noble. Just maybe his conscience has matured a bit,” Grady declares just as I throw a slice of lemon at his head.

“What do you know about maturing, ass wipe?”

“More than you, the guy who just threw fruit at me.”

Parker eats his last fry, tosses his napkin on his empty plate, and shoves the plate to the side. “Hey, since I’m here, I’ve been meaning to ask you if we’re all going to the veterans’ dinner together? Are we meeting at Mom’s and one of us can drive, or…”

“I don’t know yet.” I turn to Grady, grateful for the change in conversation. “You coming too?”

He nods. “You know I’ll be there. Gotta support your pop, and Astrid. Each year I wonder if she’ll make it through the night, but she seems to be in a good place lately, so…” He shrugs, not finishing his thought.

“I think it might be better if we all show up together,” Parker suggests.

“Yeah, maybe. But I know Hazel had mentioned driving mom separately just in case Mom wants to leave early.”

Parker nods. “That could work too.”

The sound of Grady’s stool screeching across the floor rings out in the quiet restaurant as he stands. “Well, let me know what you decide. I might hitch a ride with you boys if that’s okay—so I can drink and not worry about driving.”

“Sounds good. I’ll text you.”

Parker stands as well. “Thanks again for lunch. I’ve got to get back to the craziness. Why must dogs eat the most random shit?”

“I don’t know,” I reply. “That’s one of life’s greatest mysteries.”

Grady laughs. “Sure. And so is who is going to win the Carrington Cove Games this year.”

Every fall, the town hosts a weekend-long competition among teams formed in the community, fighting for bragging rights and the Cove Cup. Each team is sponsored by a local business, and the winning team’s sponsor gets to showcase the cup proudly for the following year. Tourism booms during that weekend, bringing in out-of-towners that spectate and cheer on each team while spending their hard-earned money at the same time.

It’s one of our biggest weekends of the year, and it’s a tradition that I missed when I was deployed. But last year, Catch & Release’s team came in second, and I’ve been dying to get our shot at winning first place again.

“It’s going to be me this year, buddy,” I tell Grady as the competitive spirit grows in the room.

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Dallas. You know I almost took you out last year.”

“Key word beingalmost.”

Parker slaps Grady on the back and turns him toward the door. “Okay, we’ll have time for more shit talking later. Right now, we all need to get back to work.”

“That’s right! Go back to your losing team at the vets’ office,” I call after my brother as he flips me the bird, making me laugh out loud.

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