Page 87 of Afterglow
Our eyes lock, but the hardened outer layer has melted from them. “And you’re my big brother. I want you to be happy, I wanna make Mom and Dad happy. But I wanna be happy, too. Hockey isn’t my dream, it’s yours.”
The conversation stills for a beat. Parker stares at the rug between his socked feet. “So what, you’re gonna quit?”
“I didn’t say that. Hockey is my job. I enjoy it sometimes, too, and I’m gonna keep playing, but not for you. Now, Behraz?She’smy dream, and I’ll do anything to keep her. One day, that might mean quitting hockey.”
It’s the worst thing I could threaten him with.
“But not today,” I end. This is probably the longest conversation I’ve had with him, ever. “She’d never ask that of me, anyway.”
Another pause hangs in the air, thick with the uncertainty of how Park will react.
He clears his throat. “Fletcher.”
For a second, he throws me a sorry glance, and my heart pangs with guilt. But it passes as quickly as it came.
“You don’t owe me anything, Parker.” I straighten, getting to my feet and casting a tall shadow over him. “I don’t expect or need an apology from you. But when you come back in there, you’re going to tell Bea you’re sorry for being a jerk.”
My nervous system is wrecked. I’ve never spoken to anyone like that, much less my brother. I duck into the washroom in the hall on my way back to the dining table. Splashing cold water on my face helps enough to encourage a return to the chaos.
Miller and Cam have since switched spots, and all the women in my family, save Harper, have their elbows on the tabletop, leaning toward Behraz. My sisters stare at me with knowing, almost sinister, smiles. I slide into my seat next to Bea. She locks her hand onto mine under the table.
“You okay, Annie?” Piper grins.
My girlfriend pushes her plump lips forward, and wrinkles her nose, unable to hide her distaste for the nickname. “I really don’t think it’s cool to call him that unless he asks you to.”
Her grin drops, eyes shifting to me.
“I’ve never really been a fan,” I admit.
Greer coughs when Parker sneaks back into the dining room. “Anyway, we were just talking about how we had no idea you two were living together.”
Oh, great.
Parker closes his eyes and sighs through his nostrils.
Behraz titters. “That’s a funny story, too.”
“You’re full of funny stories, huh?” Piper sneers.
I glare back at her, mouthing the wordsbe nice.
Bea either doesn’t notice the snark or doesn’t care. Her sweet face remains unbothered, smiling into her next bite. “You have no idea. For every instance Fletcher is quiet and restrained, I am overly chatty and delightfully clumsy. Hence, bicycle accident.”
A chorus of understanding or agreement replies.
We tag-team the explanation of how she stuck around to aid in my recovery, how I found out her sublease had ended and offered a temporary place to stay, and how living together, as friends at first, only deepened our mutual admiration.
Not as poetically as that, but you know. “And the rest is history” is a surefire way to end an interrogation.
“Well, I think it’s sweet, Fletch,” Mom says, handing out dessert plates of pumpkin pie. “Your first love being your one and only is really special.”
Greer makes a lewd motion, forming a V with her fingers and flicking her tongue through it when Mom turns her back. Bea’s eyes widen with an instant flush, and I use my middle finger to wipe my tear duct.
“Grow up,” Miller grumbles.
Parker pounds the back of his fork onto the table, clearly annoyed at how all the siblings return to our pubescent dynamics when we’re together too long. “That’s enough.” Everyone’s attention turns to him. “Hey,um, Bea? I’m sorry.” The clatter of metal on porcelain ceases. Greer’s bite falls out ofher open mouth back onto her plate. “For the way I acted earlier. I was upset with Fletcher and rude to you.”
She accepts with a nod, throwing me a fleeting, surprised look.Wow, she mouths.
