Page 98 of The Baller

“Yeah, all twenty minutes of it stuck at Dupont Circle.”

“Benny? What about you?” She removed the coffee mug from my dad’s hand and sipped.

“Non-eventful.”

My dad took his coffee back. “How was the rest of the meeting?”

“Ugh,” she groaned, tossing her blazer onto a kitchen chair, and steppedback to stand in front of my dad. Removing the cup from his hands, she jerked her shoulders enough that he got the hint to rub away the tension in her neck. “Another meeting about the nuclear arms treaty where the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs can’t come to a single agreement. Thanks for walking out, by the way.”

“You’re welcome.” My dad dropped a kiss on her head, ignoring the sass in her tone. “I knew you had it handled.”

“Pftt.”

To anyone who didn’t know my mom, she was a determined, resolute woman who got shit done, and heaven help anyone in her way. This included four-star generals and members of her senior cabinet. Ever since I was a kid, that’s how she rolled. She was the one who took on school boards, PTAs, and local government. It was how she found herself running for Senator of Pennsylvania and winning. It was how she became President.

She got shit done.

It was why her opponents didn’t like her.

But to people who did know her, she was the woman who always greeted her family and friends like she hadn’t seen them in a year, even though it had been a few months at the most.

She was loving and fierce. Warm and steely. She fought passionately for causes she believed in, and stood her ground against the most fervent of oppositions. I’d grown up watching her, hoping that one day I would find that same ferocity in me.

Maybe, recently, I had.

My parents were chatting among themselves, I was waiting for the final coffee, and Henry was still reading about football when Ben stood up. We all watched in silence as he put his bowl into the dishwasher, and wiped down the mess he’d made at the table.

My brother tidying up was an occurrence as rare as an eclipse.

He sat back down and glanced around before clapping his hands demanding everyone’s attention like a judge calling order, which was wholly unnecessary seeing as we were all still mutely staring at him.

“Great. Now we’re all here, we can talk about Radley dating Lux Weston.”

Henry’s phone clattered on the floor, followed by another second of silence, though I think it was more down to shock. My parents broke it first.

“Ben!” snapped my dad, while my mom went with “Benjamin!” which meant he was really in trouble.

As for me, he was lucky I wasn’t close enough to kick him again. “What the fuck, Ben?”

“Radley! Language.”

It was only Henry’s loud whistle that stopped the four of us yelling over each other. “Hang on a minute!” His hands sliced through the air before we started up again. “Everyone, shut up.” His eyes flicked between my parents and me. “Radley’s dating Lux Weston? The baseball player? Center Field for The Lions? That Lux Weston?”

All four of them stared at me. You could have heard a pin drop, if, you know, the weather wasn’t raging outside. In fact, the windows might be bullet-proof, but I wasn’t sure they’d be able to keep taking this wind and hail.

I weighed their expressions – from Ben’s glee, to the almost identical worried wince both my parents had, like they were praying to whomever was listening that it was all a terrible joke. I tried to ignore the guilt knocking on my brain because I’d waitedto tell them in person, instead of telling them two days ago when the Lions’ comms team had called Lux. But I chickened out.

Instead, I nodded. “Yes, that Lux Weston. And yes, I’m dating him.”

“Radley…” Mom began, but she got cut off by the loud burst from Henry.

“Are you kidding? When did this happen?”

I reached over the table to grab a banana; taking a great deal of satisfaction in the way they watched me peel it in silence, and shrugged. “A few months ago.”

“A few months!”

My mom stepped away from my dad and turned to me, “Radley…”

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