Page 15 of Pucking Never

Skyler releases a low groan. “Oh, geez, you’d be luckier if only it was a stranger.”

Nervously, I open the door and say, “Hey! What’s up?”

Carson grins and holds up two bags with a Chinese restaurant’s logo printed on them.

“I’ve got dinner,” he declares.

"Oh," I say. Usually this would be a pleasant surprise, but given what just happened between Jensen and me, I’m mortified to be face-to-face with Carson. I know if I hesitate, though, he’ll get suspicious. I need to act normal. "Come in."

Carson steps into my apartment, his tall frame filling the entryway. His eyes land on my phone and he furrows his brow.

“Who are you talking to?”

“It’s Skyler,” I tell him.

He scowls. “Are you still friends with that harpy?”

“I heard that, you stupid gorilla!” Skyler shouts through the phone. I have to hold it away from my ear. “You’re lucky I’m not there, or I’d kick your ass!”

“Ha. I’d like to see you try, runt!” Carson shoots back.

“Okay, I’m going to hang up now,” I say. “You two are driving me crazy. I’ll talk to you later, Skyler.”

“Love you, Grace,” Skyler replies. “Eat dick, Carson!”

“You first!”

I hang up the call and release an exasperated sigh. “You two are ridiculous, you know that?”

Carson smiles as if he wasn’t just bickering like a kid with my best friend who lives thousands of miles away. "Whatever. Hope you're hungry," he says as he saunters into the kitchen, setting the bags down on the countertop.

"I'm starving," I admit, closing the door behind him. I hadn’t even thought about dinner yet, but my stomach suddenly growls at the smell of the food.

"I figured," Carson confirms as he begins to unpack the food. "Decided to swing by and bring dinner. Thought you could use some company."

“Well, that’s quite thoughtful of you.”

“That’s me.” He winks. “Mr. Thoughtful.”

I start, padding over to the kitchen island and leaning against it. "More like Mr. Opportunistic."

Carson raises an eyebrow, a playful grin tugging at his mouth. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah." I grab a pair of chopsticks and a carton of what looks to be sesame chicken. "You're just here so you can try to beat me at Mario Kart, aren't you? Don’t think I didn’t notice that Nintendo Switch you got me by the TV."

He laughs. "Caught me red-handed."

"I knew it," I say, nodding sagely as I dig into the food. It's still hot and tastes heavenly after the draining day I've had. It’s actually been a long time since we played Mario Kart together, but it was our favorite game when we were kids. The fact that he not only remembered, but got me a gaming system we could play it on, makes me smile.

We eat in comfortable silence for a while, trading occasional banter and laughter. It's nice, easygoing – something I really need right now. I don’t think I realized just how much I’d been missing this. Missing my twin.

I start to relax as I force thoughts of Jensen out of my mind and focus on Carson and being in this moment with him. I’ve kept my distance from him for so long because of what happened to Stacey. It wasn’t his fault by any means, but I couldn’t stand to be around his friends. I hated going to their games and I hated seeing how happy Carson was playing with them. What happened to Stacey didn’t just ruin her life: it tainted my relationship with my brother, because I hated something that was such an integral part of his life. Now, though, maybe I can fix that. We’re adults now, and I want my brother back.

As we finish up, my mind drifts back to Skyler's words.

Could she be right? Am I hung up on Jensen? The thought is ridiculous… and terrifying. Ridiculous because there was no way I could harbor any feelings for him after all these years. Terrifying because if it's true – if even for a little bit – then it means that my life is about to become much more complicated. After we’re finished eating, we clear the table and then Carson claps his hands and rubs them together.

"Ready for some serious gaming?"

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