Page 11 of Score to Settle
Jake’s looking like he’s ready to make a run for the back door when it flies open and Mama steps in with a bag of groceries in her arms and a beaming smile. Jake leaps up and takes the bag from her and she stands on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek.
“You won’t believe who I found on my way back from the store,” she says.
“Who?” Jake asks as Dylan appears from somewhere in the house, leaning against the kitchen doorframe. He’s trying to look casual but there’s something about his posture that seems stiff. It makes me wonder if he’s in more pain than he’s letting on.
Before Mama can reply, Buck tears through the open back door, barking with delight, dancing in circles, looking between us as though he wants to be the one to answer.
“Buck only ever looks this happy for one reason.” Jake’s face breaks into a huge grin as he throws himself at the door and drags his younger brother into the kitchen.
“Surprise.” Chase laughs before struggling out of the hugs Jake and Dylan are trying to give him.
“Go easy on my baby,” Mama warns, although she’s beaming with pride and delight at her three boys all in the same room together.
Chase is exactly how I remember him. Tall and athletic with a smile that makes me think he’s only ever one step away from mischief. The only difference from the Chase in high school is his hair—the Afro curls have been replaced with a close shave. And even though I know he’s not Dylan and Jake’s brother by blood, he has the same air of confidence about him, like all three of them are exactly where they’re supposed to be in the world.
I smile, one part of me happy to remember the times in senior year when we hung out together—two sets of best friends. Mia and me, and him and Serena. This was the year after Chase and Mia’s short romance fizzled and they realized they were better as friends. Back then, I felt like I didn’t really belong, but Chase always went out of his way to be nice to me and often had us cracking up with his silly jokes. But another—larger—part of me is dying inside for the car crash about to happen. I was really hoping to get through the next five weeks without Jake learning I was only two grades below him at West Denver High. And that meant not seeing Chase.
It’ll be fine, I tell myself without confidence. Even if high school comes up, it’s not like Jake knows I’m the one who wrote that story about him. I never put my name on it, thank God. My cheeks still burn at the memory of my story plastered over lockers and walls, and Jake’s response to his friends, those cutting words.
In hindsight the article I wrote was more of a love letter, questioning if the star of the football team was really quite lonely. It ended with a time and place to meet if he wanted to know who I was. I still remember the hope I felt slipping it intohis locker in the last week of the semester before Jake left for college. The excitement that he might come to find me in an empty top floor classroom. My last chance before he was gone to tell him who I was and how I felt about him.
I cringe thinking about that version of myself. But I was just a dumb kid who was lonely and thought she was in love. The article was never meant for anyone but him. But Jake made a joke of it and then he made copies for the rest of the school to laugh at too. He might not have known who wrote that article, but it didn’t reduce the sting of humiliation I felt seeing him and the entire school laughing over my words.
I lost two things that day: my faith in Jake—the boy I thought I was madly in love with—and any shred of confidence in myself and my choices. Years later, I still battle with the latter. Still question everything I do, everyone I let into my life, while Jake continues to walk around messing with people’s lives and not giving a damn. At least with this feature, the rest of the world will see Jake is every bit his reputation and then some. I just have to let him prove he is who they all think he is…
“What the hell are you doing here?” Dylan asks Chase. “Tell me you didn’t get benched,” he adds, shooting a side-eyed look to Jake.
Chase laughs. “For your information, the doc says my shoulder needs another week of rest and Coach wants his star quarterback ready for the big games. The Trailblazers are going to crush the Skychargers tonight, anyway.”
“Good to see you haven’t lost your ego in joining the Trailblazers,” Jake quips, slapping him on the back. “Seriously though, it’s good to see you.”
“You too, bro.”
Jake nudges Chase. “Hey, let’s hit the field for some throwing practice in the morning like old times.”
Chase sighs but he’s grinning too. “Here we go. This is about my throw in the second quarter of the Desertraptors game, right?”
Dylan laughs. “You mean the throw even Mama could make?”
“Leave me out of this, thank you,” Mama calls out.
I watch as the three brothers fall into an easy banter about Chase’s last game. It’s impossible to miss the strong bond between them and how being with his little brother brings out a softer side in Jake. It’s not just the absence of his usual scowl. He’s holding himself differently. He looks happier.
Quietly, I close the lid of my laptop, about to head for the door. I might be here to get to know Jake, but right now I’m intruding on some precious family time. Except Mama is calling across the kitchen before I’ve made it two steps. “You can sit your ass back down, Harper.” I swear she hasn’t even turned around. “While you’re staying in this house, you’re part of this family,” she adds as though reading my mind.
I smile and sink back on the bench. The truth is, even with Chase here and the looming knowledge Jake is going to find out we went to high school together, I’m enjoying myself. The kitchen is warm and cozy and it’s not the stove. It’s this family and the love they obviously share. It’s impossible not to compare it to the TV dinners I grew up with when my dad was working late or on the other side of the world, barely registering my existence either way. The times we ate together were formal. Stilted conversations about grades and staying on track. It’s why, when I came back to Denver with my Louis Vuitton heels and my suitcase full of shattered dreams, I chose Mia’s couch over my old room at Dad’s place in Lakewood.
Chase looks my way before doing a comical double take and a wide grin spreads over his face. “Harper?” He steps away from Jake and Dylan. “Harper Cassidy.”
My face reddens but I smile at Chase’s shocked grin.
“But the last time I saw you…” he starts. “I mean you used to look… You were…” He laughs at the words he’s stumbling over. The last time he saw me would’ve been high school graduation, before I started taking better care of myself. “You look gorgeous,” he finishes with a shrug, stepping forward and enveloping me in a bear hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
Dylan chuckles. “Why am I not surprised you know Harper, Chase? Is there a beautiful woman in Denver you don’t know?”
“You too,” I say to Chase as we step apart, the blush still burning my face. Maybe it’s Dylan’s comment. Or maybe it’s because I don’t know if Mia ever told Chase about the enormous crush I had on Jake and how my professionalism is going to fly out the window the second he tells his brother.
“Oh, Harper and I go way back,” Chase says.
