Page 38 of Sleepless Nights and Hockey Fights

Huh?

“But you’re not gonna sink to his level like that, are you?”

Matty sighs. “No. I’m gonna show my mom the stuff Raiden’s been posting and let her talk to the school.”

I stifle a growl and continue eavesdropping.

“Good call.”

“Although...” Uh oh, I recognize that tone. “Seems a shame to have wasted my time making Raiden look ridiculous, though, right?”

“All right. Hand it over. But then we’re deleting it, deal?”

“Deal.” Matty quickly pulls his phone from his lap and scrolls for a few seconds before sliding it over the table to Bobby with a smug grin.

Bobby picks it up and squints at the screen. “Is that...Elmo?”

Matty chortles, chest puffed with pride. “Yeah. I took a picture of Raiden eating a burger at lunch and edited it to make it look like he’s kissing an Elmo doll instead.”

Bobby’s lip curls. “More like eating its face. Remind me to hire you next time I want to play a trick on my brothers.”

“I like computers.” Matty shrugs.

“It’s good to be creative—not to mention have a good sense of humor.” Bobby slides the phone back and folds his hands on the table. “But it’s easy for a joke to get out of hand. Believe me, I know. I recently got into some big trouble for taking a joke too far. It could have cost me my job.”

I didn’t know that.

“Seriously?” Matty asks, just as clueless as me.

“Seriously. But I’m being more careful now. Less impulsive and more mature about things.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Matty straightens in his chair.

Bobby stifles a laugh. “Good to hear. Now, delete that photo.” He waits for Matty to do as he’s told before continuing, “Your mom is going to be here any minute and she’s probably going to be all worried and want to love on you a bit before she lectures you about breaking rules. You’ve got to let her, all right? Moms worry. It’s their job. They’re also usually right about things, so make sure you listen, yeah?”

I bite back a smile. Bobby isreallygood at this stuff. I got a glimpse of it the other day, but this is next-level mentoring. He’s made more progress in two chats than Blake or I have in the last three months!

“Okay. I will.” Matty pauses and clears his throat. “Bobby, um, can you keep the part about what Raiden said to me the other day just between us?”

I huff out a frustrated breath through my nostrils. I am going to make sure this Raiden kid’s bullying days are over if it’s the last thing I do.

“You don’t want your mom to worry,” Bobby states instead of questions.

“Yeah.”

Oh, god. I love my kid so much.

They’re both silent for a long moment until Bobby replies, “I’ll keep it between us if you promise to tell me or your parents the second Raiden says or does anything else, okay?Andif you promise to keep your cool and do the exercises we talked about to control your temper. Got it?”

“Got it. Thanks for coming, Bobby. It’s nice to have a dude that’s not my dad to talk to, you know?”

My eyes suddenly fill with tears, but I shove them back, along with all my other regrets that serve no constructive purpose.

“A guy’s got to have his boys, right?” Bobby extends his fist and Matty bumps it with his much smaller one.

They both push back their chairs, and I realize I’m about to get busted, so I hurry back through the aisles and sneak out the door before they turn the corner and see me. As soon as I’m outside, I turn back around and push through the doors again, entering the shabby fluorescent-illuminated shop to the confused expression of the cashier. I ignore him and wander toward the aisles.

“Mom!” Matty calls, and I pretend to be caught off guard.

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