Page 53 of Stick By Me

Dad hung his head. “Doesn’t look good.”

The Vikings snapped the ball and the quarterback backpedaled, then threw a long pass toward the corner of the end zone.

“Shit, yes!” Archer set his wine on the coffee table and hopped up, pumping his fist.

The Viking wide receiver tore away from a defenseman, ran into the end zone, jumped, and picked off the ball from mid-air, then rolled to the ground, hugging the ball to his chest.

I stood up. No way I could sit through this.

“Oh my God, Vikings won!” Archer dropped his mouth open and grabbed me up, lifting me from the floor. “We won.” Laughing, he dropped me back down.

With a wide smile, I chuckled. “Go Vikings.” I fist bumped Archer, then turned my attention on Dad.

He rolled his hand in the air. “Go ahead, celebrate. You deserve it.” Shaking his head, he huffed a laugh. “It was a good game. But next time, the Packers will get ‘em. You’ll see.” He shook a finger at Archer.

“Maybe. But a tie like that? Could have gone either way.” Archer held up his fist to Dad

Dad fist bumped him. “Good game.”

Axel, sitting almost on top of Remy, sighed. “Guess the winners get to do the dishes now.” With a sly grin at Remy, hekissed his cheek. “I am way too comfortable to get up.” He sipped some wine, then focused on Dad. “What’s next? I hear there’s a gay Hallmark movie on. Can we watch it?”

“Oh, Axel.” Dad waved him off. “Put on what you want.”

Mom strolled over from the table. “Gay Hallmark movie? I’m in.” She sat down next to Axel and took his hand in hers, then snatched up the remote.

“Come on, Archer, let’s go clean up.” I tagged his arm, made to grab his hand, then stopped myself and freed a soft snicker. God damn it, this was hard, and I wanted to be like Axel and Remy.

After cleaning up,we all sat around the table with coffees and slices of pumpkin pie, piled high with whipped cream.

“So, Archer, tell us a little more about yourself. What do you think you’ll be doing when you finish school?” Mom cut into her pie.

Archer rocked once, then a smile broke out over his face. “Well, I’m hoping I can play well enough the rest of this season to get into the Coyotes development camp.” He bit his lower lip.

“Coyotes? Wow, that’s big.” Dad beamed at him. “We might have the next Wayne Gretsky sitting with us.”

“Oh…” Archer’s cheeks flushed, and he freed a soft chuckle. “I’m not nearly that good and Wayne Gretsky was a center. I play left defense.” He ate a bite of pie.

Dad swallowed some pie, then said, “The damn centers get all the attention, but without good defenseman, and especially a great goalie, a hockey team won’t get anywhere.”

“Do you keep up with hockey?” Archer peered at Dad.

“I watch some. Football is my game, but hockey is fun to watch, too.” Dad sipped his coffee. “But playing in the NHL, that’s something.” With a warm smile, he focused on Archer.

My chest swelled. “He’s good, Dad. You should see him play.” I glanced at Archer.

“Yeah, we’ve been to a few of his games. It’s a blast.” Remy stuffed a bite of pie into his mouth.

“Hey, would you um, maybe you’d like to come to a game with Leo? I get some free family tickets and well, my family isn’t here to use them.” Archer set his fork on his plate, studying Dad.

Dad looked from Archer to me, then nodded. “You know what? Yes, that would be a load of fun.” He cut into his pie. “You two work out what day and I’ll be there.”

“I want pictures of you all at the game.” Mom ticked her shoulders.

“Good, then Leo won’t be stealing my life partner on the weekend.” Axel flung his arm around Remy’s shoulders and kissed his cheek.

“Having some time away from your life partner is good for the relationship, Axel.” Mom gave him a look. “You’re smothering that poor boy.”

“Naw, it’s okay. I like him smothering me.” Remy gave Axel a cheeky smile.

---