Page 116 of Hits Different

I always thought the Senator was an asshole, but he’s Brandon’s father. The void where a dad should be is impossible to fill. “He’s talking about coming out publicly. But he’s afraid it’ll cause more trouble. For him. For us. And for you”.

“Brandon doesn’t care about what other people think”.

“Yes, he does. It’s all he cares about”.

“He’s never been interested in politics before”.

“Your Chief of Staff has never threatened him before”.

There’s something off about this whole thing. The pictures. The stories. It doesn’t add up, and now that I’m here, I can see that Brandon’s dad feels the same way. “Who has access to your personal account?”

“Just me”. He pauses, “And Winston. Parker…I fired him a week ago. It’s not been made public yet. The campaign needed a different direction”.A week ago. Brandon’s birthday.“It was cordial. As much as these things can be”.

“Do you have your phone with you?” He nods. “Can I see?”

He hands it over. I open his email. “Those are sensitive”, he begins, but I flick straight to the contacts section, open settings, and find Blocked. There’s only one name.

Brandon Carter.

“When it could have hurt you politically, Winston engineered an estrangement between you and Brandon”, I say slowly. “But now…”

I hit ‘unblock’, and we both stand there for a moment, when suddenly there’s a soft chime. Then another, and another. Emails from Brandon filling the screen. I hand the phone back. “These are for you”.

But he’s not listening. His eyes are glued to his screen, as letters continue to drop into his mailbox. “Parker”, his voice is strangled. “Tell Brandon”, but he trails off. “Tell him…” he tries again.

“Tell him yourself”, I say. And then I’m gone.

Chapter 44

What Goes Around

Brandon

I never sleep the night before I have a big match. It turns out, I can’t sleep the night before Parker has a big match either. By 3am, I’m standing outside his place.

He’s waiting for me. We hadn’t planned on meeting. But we know each other. He lets me in without a word. Leads me to his bedroom.

There’s so much I want to tell him; but this isn’t about what I want to say, it’s about what he needs to know. In every touch, in every kiss. That even though I can’t be there tomorrow, I believe in him.

That even though he might not come back the same, I’ll be here anyway. Because all that matters is that he comes back at all.

****

“Don’t people usually buy the engagement ringbeforethe actual proposal?” I ask, as Freddie and I arrive at the jewellery store. “Not that I mind being dragged back to the scene of my life-changing accident. This isn’t traumatic at all”.

“Taking you back to the scene would be dragging you onto the pitch. This is just the same town”, Freddie flew in from Europe last night, and wasted no time in hitting me up for an urgent shopping excursion, “And you very much invited yourself”.

“You practically begged me to come”. It’s not being back in Bears-country that I mind, it’s that word on the grapevine is the scouts are visiting their soccer ground today. It still stings they cancelled coming to Summit.

No matter how much I suck.

Freddie ignores me, his eyes scanning the trays of sparkly rings intently. I gotta be honest; jewellery isn’t really my thing. Nor is shopping. But anything to get my mind off Parker.

The store is deserted, apart from a bored-looking girl flicking through a magazine behind the counter. She smiles as I wander by, following Freddie as he inspects the rows of rings below the counter. “I had a stunt ring for the proposal but I need the real thing. We’re getting married right after graduation”.

That’s a year away. Which feels…fast.

“You guys are pretty young”. I venture. “What’s the rush?”

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