Page 59 of Endgame

Her mom looked at her knowingly. “What’s his name, Lila?”

“King,” she mumbled.

“That handsome, slightly broody athlete Layla and I saw when we came into the restaurant last year?”

Lila nodded.

“He’s one of your roommates, isn’t he?” Her mom tried to keep her voice modulated, and Lila smiled at her efforts.

“Yes, but things were over long before we were ever roommates. He and Knight kind of surprised me with it, and it really took me off guard.” She exhaled. “Things didn’t…end well with us, but he genuinely apologized and we’re trying to start over as friends. He’s made a lot of positive changes in his life. And he’s overcome a lot.”

“But…?” her mom prompted.

“I think I may still have non-platonic feelings for him. So I don’t know if the whole friend thing is going to work out super well for us.”

“For what it’s worth, Layla said that he’s crazy about you.”

“Wait, what?” Her sister hadn’t mentioned this juicy little detail to her, and they’d spent the whole weekend together.

“She said he didn’t take his eyes off of you at the football game. Or ever, really, the entire time she was visiting. Plus, he went out of his way to make sure that your sister had a good time and felt comfortable. Which leads me to believe that he might feel the same way that you do.”

“Doubtful,” Lila snorted.

“Then he’s an idiot, honey,” Diana said matter-of-factly. “You’ve got a big heart and a great head on your shoulders. I doubt they’ll steer you wrong.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

They sipped the rest of their hot chocolates in comfortable quiet and then headed up to bed.

* * *

The next day included her waking up to two eager sets of eyes, in the form of her two youngest brothers, Lance and Landon, ages nine and eleven respectively. Back when Lila still lived at home, this lack of privacy would have bothered her, but now, she didn’t mind it so much.

She pulled back her covers so the three of them could all snuggle for a minute before they headed upstairs to join her parents, Layla, and her 14-year-old brother, Leo, for breakfast. In classic Erik Alexander fashion, her dad had made a delicious breakfast consisting of all of Lila’s favorites: French toast, hash browns, and super crispy bacon.

The boys had various sports ball games, so Lila spent the bulk of the day with her family watching a couple of fall baseball games (Leo and Lance) and a soccer game (Landon) before she headed back down to Bradley.

While they were watching Leo’s game, Layla sidled up to her sister and put an arm around her waist. “I’ve missed you.”

“Same.” Lila kissed Layla’s cheek affectionately. “You’ll have to come down for another visit sometime soon.”

“So I can watch you and King make sexy eyes at each other the whole time? Count me in.” She craned her neck to make sure their parents and brothers weren’t paying attention and lowered her voice. “The sexual tension between the two of you is off the charts, sis. Off. The. Charts. Like that old-school video of Beyonce and Jay-Z when they’re all up in that phone booth. Or, like, whenever Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes did their thing pre-breakup.”

“And why exactly were you watching music videos made before you were even born?” Lila evaded.

“Because Ashley’s mom is a huge fan and was playing the album the other day. So I did a Google deep dive. And voila! Phone booth shenanigans.”

“Look at that internet coming through.” Lila smiled. They turned their attention back to the game, but Lila knew that Layla wouldn’t let the topic drop for long. “We’re just friends, Layla. It’s better that way, trust me.”

Layla just snorted a laugh and said, “We’ll see.”

When it came time for her to drive home, she hugged everybody and made a firm promise to come to the next extended family dinner. She put on a 90s hip hop playlist she’d created to try to psyche herself up for the upcoming rebrand of the party formerly known as the married name of jock itch and toe jam.

With Wren’s electronic help, she’d already picked out her outfit for the party. A thrifted vintage yellow baby doll dress that hit mid-thigh paired with platform sneakers that would’ve made the Spice Girls jealous. She figured if she got excited about the music and fashion elements of the party, she’d feel less anxiety. Because, if she was being perfectly honest, the last one hadn’t ended well. Neither had last year’s Halloween party. Lila was pretty sure that she had some Jock Row-related party issues, but couldn’t avoid attending, seeing as how her place of residence was kind of the epicenter of the whole damn thing.

Her phone picked that moment to ring. Knight. She carefully put her earbuds in and answered the call.

“Please tell me you’re on your way home,” he whispered. “Someone has been really cranky since you left.”

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