Page 34 of Play Along

Isaiah

“What the hell did you do, Isaiah?” Miller scolds from the kitchen of her and my brother’s house. My future sister-in-law is like me in a lot of ways, so when Kai told me I had to be the one to break the news to her, I didn’t exactly expect this reaction.

Was hoping for a nice work, or thanks for marrying my friend so we get to be related.

Aiming too high on that, I suppose.

“How could you do this to Kennedy? She just got out of a relationship. She needed time. Alone.”

“What’s up with everyone blaming me? Maybe Kennedy was the one begging me to marry her.”

There’s a beat of silence before Kai and Miller burst into laughter.

“Fuck you guys.”

“Language,” my brother corrects through his laughter.

My eyes dart to the kitchen where my two-year-old nephew, Max, sits on the counter and smiles at me, holding a half-licked whisk that his mom was using.

“Sorry, Maxie. Don’t say that word. That’s not a nice word.”

“Zaya!” He waves his whisk wildly, a bit of chocolate cake mix flying around the kitchen.

Evan Zanders, a defenseman for the Raptors, Chicago’s NHL team, sits on the couch next to my brother, holding his daughter in his lap. Now that he’s a dad too, he and his wife have been spending more time at my brother’s place, letting Max and Taylor entertain each other.

“Kennedy?” he asks. “The girl you’ve talked about at every family dinner you’ve ever come to?”

“The one and only,” Kai says for me.

“Good for you, man.”

“Don’t encourage him, Zee.”

“Why not? Stevie met her last summer and she thought she was great.”

“She is great,” Miller and I say at the same time.

She shoots me a look. “That doesn’t mean they should pretend as if their relationship is real.”

Zanders shrugs. “Worked out for Ryan and Indy.”

“All right, Bug.” Miller picks Max up off the counter. “I think it’s time you and your dad go knock some sense into your uncle.”

“Miller, don’t be mad at me,” I plead. “I’m only going along with this so she can keep her job. Aren’t I such a great guy for doing that?”

She laughs. “BS. You’re obsessed with the girl. This is as much for you as it is for her.”

A flash of our wedding song pops into my head. I still remember how fucking funny I realized Kennedy was as I watched her walk down the aisle with full confidence to Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed.”

“Stop smiling to yourself.” Miller swats me in the arm with her son on her hip. “You’re walking around on cloud nine, meanwhile my friend is probably alone and freaking out. I should go over to her apartment.”

“She’s not alone, and she’s not at home. She’s meeting with her lawyer to get a prenup drafted. Or a post-nup. Whatever the hell it’s called after you tie the knot.”

“Shouldn’t you be there?” my brother asks from the couch in the living room. “It’s to protect your assets.”

“Apparently, it’s to protect hers.”

Kai’s bright eyes squint in confusion.

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