Page 12 of Houston, We Have a Problem
Jordan snickers. Yeah, I probably overdid that one.
Darcy looks like she wants to laugh at me, which is pretty much the expression she’s had since she realized I wasn’t going to murder her. It’s a strange feeling, not immediately charmingher the moment she learned my name, and her disinterest has me feeling off kilter. She’s clearly not a baseball fan, or at least not a Red-tails fan, and it’s been so long since I wasn’t an object of desire that I honestly have no idea how to interact with this woman.
It’s a pity, because she’s definitely cute. With her average height and build, the most I’ve noted about her body is her strength—she carried several boxes of books up to her room that weren’t light—but I keep finding myself drawn to her face. Her blonde hair falls in wavy curls to her shoulders, a bit wild and free. It’s not nearly as curly as my sister Micah’s hair, but I would imagine it takes her a lot of work to keep it tamed. Her eyes are the warmest brown I’ve ever seen, like melted chocolate mixed with honey. Her round face leaves her looking soft and sweet, and it’s so different from the women I’ve been dating the last several years that I find it hard to look away. She seems like the kind of person who laughs easily and loves hard. But there’s a toughness about her too. She could have sat back and watched the three of us unload the truck, but she was right there in the middle of it all, taking the other end of the dining table and hefting boxes of plates and Christmas decorations. I’ve never seen anyone like her.
Her brother—Jesse—clears his throat, and when I look at him, he’s giving me a steely stare that puts me on edge.
I don’t think Jesse likes me very much.
Darcy clearsherthroat, pulling his attention to her, and then the two of them have another silent conversation. They’ve had a lot of those since their arrival, and it’s a clear indication that they are siblings.
“So,” Jordan says, breaking the silence. “Where did you guys move from?”
“St. Louis,” Darcy says at the same time Jesse says, “Dallas.”
I meet Jordan’s eye, but we’re not at mind-reading friendship levels despite knowing each other since we were fourteen. He’s just giving me a weird look.
“We were in Dallas,” Darcy amends, “for a little while, but then we went up to St. Louis. Now we’re here.”
“Why Sun City?” I ask. In terms of metropolises, Sun City isn’t anything major. Not like St. Louis or Dallas, anyway. We’ve got the Red-tails and a USL soccer team, but other than that there’s not a lot that goes on here.
Darcy gives Jesse a sharp look before she shrugs. “It just felt like a good place to be for a little while.”
“Not very long,” I point out. “You only signed a three-month lease.”
Another shrug. “Our lives are pretty transient right now. Maybe we’ll stay longer than we planned, but it’s hard to say what will happen.”
“That sounds hard, constantly being on the move.”
“Sure does,” Jordan agrees loudly. “I don’t know why anyone would be opposed to settling down and growing roots.” He doesn’t look at me, but I’d be an idiot to think he’s talking to anyone but me. Either he has been taking notes from Brook, or he sees what I’ve been ignoring the last couple of years: I’ve spent too long letting good things slip away from me because I’m afraid to hold on too tightly and risk getting hurt.
It’s crazy to think, with the life I’ve lived, that I would ever reach a point where I want to take that risk, but I do. Terrifying as it is, I do want to settle. Especially now that I know I won’t be able to pitch next season.
My shoulder twinges painfully, probably because I’ve barely had any rest time since the last game.
Like I need the reminder, shoulder…The only reason no one knows about my injury yet is because I have a high paintolerance, but I am almost never pain-free anymore. It’s as constant as my fear of the future.
“I’m guessing your sister lives here in Sun City?” Darcy asks, eyeing me with interest.
I realize I’ve been subconsciously rubbing my shoulder, and I drop my hand. “Yeah, they both do. And my older brother.” Unless he never comes back from Laketown. I swear, if Chad ends up staying in that tiny mountain town for a girl… I always sort of pictured Chad being there as a fixture of my life—the silent support, solid and steady on his own. It’s not that I don’t want him to be happy, but losing him to a relationship would be like losing the man who pretty much raised me.
I should probably call Chad. I don’t remember the last time we had a real conversation that wasn’t about sports. The only reason I even know there’s a girl in Laketown is because Micah said something about it in our group chat. Beyond her existence, I know literally nothing. Not even if Chad is interested like Micah claims, though it would surprise me if he was. He’s only a few months off of his breakup with his stupid cheating girlfriend—good riddance—and probably not in a place to date.
I love my brother, but he’s not exactly big on emotions.
Micah thinks he’s falling in love, though, and no one is more about love than her. Maybe I should trust her take on the situation, partially because she talks to Chad more than Brook or I do. I’ve never fully figured out why when they have eleven years separating them and Micah has never really lived with Chad, but sometimes I wonder if I’m jealous of my half-sister for getting more of his attention than I do.
“Well, as much as I love awkwardly stilted conversation,” Jordan says, rising to his feet, “I’ve got a movie night planned with Brooklyn, and no offense, but she’s way hotter than any of you.”
I groan. This is hardly better than stressing about my brother. “Do you have to call her hot?” This is only adding to my suspicions that they’re more than friends, but I don’t want Jordan’s side to be a casual fling. If he’s going to date Brook, he had better be serious about it.
As he heads for the door, Jordan gives me the kind of grin that I know is meant to torture me. “Gorgeous, bodacious, enchanting, bewitching,delicious.” He closes the door before I can throw my empty chow mein container at him, but I can still hear him shouting words to describe my sister. “Patient, confident, caring, clever.”
He keeps going until his voice fades away, and while I’m glad he sees the awesomeness that is my twin, I still stand by my assertion that he’s dead to me if he’s only playing with her heart. I should probably ask Brook what’s happening on her side of that relationship; she never liked Jordan when we were in high school, and she wasn’t afraid to tell me so. What if he’s just forcing himself into her life and driving her crazy like he used to? Jordan can be pushy when he wants something.
“Are you guys close?” Darcy asks, her voice a lot gentler than I expected. “You and Brooklyn, I mean.”
We used to be. “We’re twins.”
