Page 232 of Scoring the Player
I wipe my face on the neck of my tee.
“Yes. I want to be here in Brooklyn. I’m better around you,” Denzel says to me. “I’m thinking of getting my own place nearby and either partnering with the Hearts for Heroes Project or opening my own version here in New York. And I was going to ask for your help. You and I always talked about wanting to do more for vets.”
There’s a part of me that’s wanted Denzel around for years. I still do. But there’s another part that’s angry we’ve lost so much time. Then there’s the other part of me that feels like I can’t care about him this much anymore. It’s too hard.
The only problem is that I don’t know how not to care about him so much.
I don’t know how to make sense of all these parts.
I clear my throat, then say, “I need to take it one step at a time.”
“That’s fair,” Denzel replies as Blue rubs the small of my back.
“It’s bullshit that you think you have to disappear to heal. Please, no more.” I raise my gaze to Denzel, then turn it on Blue. “No more.”
Blue leans into my shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Me neither,” Denzel adds.
I blow out a breath. “You spoke to both Mom and Dad?”
Denzel nods, and the guilt written on his face tells me he probably got a sense of how worried they’ve been. “I am going to fly out to see them soon.”
I take a second and lean into the support of Blue against my side before blowing out a breath and wiping my face. “Still scrambled eggs with extra cheese and ketchup?” I ask Denzel.
“Yep.”
I turn to Anaïs.
“Cheese omelet?” she says.
“Come on,” Blue says to me. “I’ll help.”
“Hey.” I turn to Denzel. “We’ll talk more later. Your room upstairs hasn’t changed.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, stepping closer to palm my shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re safe and here.” I pull him into a hug.
“Psst,” Anaïs whispers.
I look over, thinking she’s talking to me, and catch her mouth to Blue,Big bro’s a ten too.
“Not the time,” Blue whispers back, before mouthing,Definitely a ten.
“I saw that,” I tell him.
“Sorry.” He purses his lips, not an ounce of apology in his voice.
Besides the scar under his jaw and his sharp eyes, Denzel and I do look similar.
Similar enough that I was called Little Denzgrowing up.
“Denzel, how do you like vampires?” Anaïs asks.
I shake my head as Blue and I head toward the kitchen.
Arnaz
