Page 37 of Faking It with the Firefighter

Donny snorted and glanced out the window. “It’s wild being back here. Everything is just…the same.”

You aren’t, I thought, but I didn’t have the guts to say it out loud. “New Elwood isn’t quite as glitzy as San Antonio, huh?”

“It’s not just that.” Donny was silent for a moment, then added, “I guess I was so focused on football for so many years, and I got swept away into that life. And now…” He rubbed his knee absentmindedly.

“Now it’s gone?” I asked quietly.

Donny chewed his lip and nodded. “Now it’s gone.”

“But the physio said there’s a chance you’ll play again, right? Didn’t you tell me it was half a year of rehab and then you’d be back out there?”

“I’m a nearly-thirty-year-old with a bum knee, man. Nobody wants me anymore,” Donny said, trying to make it sound like a joke and failing miserably.

I pulled up outside of Sullivan’s and cut the engine. Not knowing what to say, I followed my brother into the restaurant, noticing that he still walked with a slight limp. We took a seatat the bar and waved at Gabe, who was pouring a beer for an old regular at the other end of the smooth, polished timber surface.

“Seems like this social media thing with Blair is going well,” I said to Donny as we waited, wanting to break the silence that had settled between us.

He tore his gaze from the TV and looked at me, sadness in his eyes. That’s when I realized the game on the TVs was the San Antonio Stallions vs. the Columbus Bulldogs. Donny would’ve been out there if he hadn’t hurt his knee. He nodded. “Yeah. She’s really good at it.”

“I’m happy for you,” I said.

Donny studied my face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you might be uncomfortable with the way things went down. I wasn’t sure…”

“If I would ever be normal with you again?”

Donny huffed. “Something like that.”

I shrugged. “Blair always wanted things I couldn’t give her. We never would’ve worked out. You guys make more sense.”

“She makes me want things other than football. And with my knee, that’s a good thing.”

“Donny Montgomery?” a male voice called out. We turned to see Mayor Greene ambling toward us, arms wide. “Our hometown hero is back! Let me buy you a drink!”

Behind Mayor Green, a couple of council people followed. They crowded around us, slapping Donny on the back. My brother would’ve basked in the praise a few years ago. He loved being the star quarterback in New Elwood, loved the attention his draft into the NFL had given him.

He didn’t look like he was loving it now.

Gabe came closer, putting a drink in front of me and another in front of Donny. The hubbub lasted until Mayor Green was called to another table to shake hands and kiss proverbial babies. Donny slumped beside me.

“You good?”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t feel the same when I might never play again.”

My chest ached. This was my little brother, the guy I’d vowed to always take care of. I couldn’t fix his knee for him, but maybe I could make sure his wedding went off without a hitch. He needed to let off some steam. That’s why, when Sebastian arrived wearing drywall dust and work boots, I nudged my old friend in the ribs.

“You still got that sledgehammer going back at your place?”

Sebastian grinned. “Why? Is Abigail around? I can hide it if so.”

I laughed, but discomfort squirmed through me. Abigailhadbeen a little, shall we say, enthusiastic with the sledgehammer the other day. But she wasn’t a menace to society, or anything.

I thought about the jokes I’d cracked with Gabe about her tools and winced. I’d judged her harshly too, and I’d played into the image of her I’d always known. But the tough, take-no-shit woman I thought I knew had hidden layers.

I wanted to discover them all.

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