Page 39 of Against the Odds
Jos’s snicker was music to my ears. “You’re weird.”
“But also six-three and a hundred and ninety pounds of pure muscle, which I got by eating… well, not so much bacon but a full breakfast, for sure. And if Zeke wants to cook for us, we gotta take advantage.” Callum strode into the kitchen and Jos followed, looking bemused but not resisting.
I cooked. Callum devoured eggs and toast and bacon in a quantity that made Jos give me a wide-eyed stare, although I noticed the pro player didn’t dig into the donuts. Jos did, and atesome bacon on the side, which was more breakfast than I usually got into him. He watched Callum chug down a second mug of coffee and asked, “Can I have coffee too?”
The rules and strictures I was brought up with pushed me to say no, but really, this was the best morning we’d had, and what would it hurt? “Sure.” I poured him half a mug. “Cream or sugar?” Although maybe I should make him drink it black and he’d be put off the stuff until he started cramming for exams.
“I guess,” he said.
I doctored his mug with a little of each and passed it over, pretending not to see him wrinkle his nose as he took a sip.
We were lingering over the food when a car pulled up in front and someone knocked on the door.
“I’ll go.” Callum bounced to his feet and ducked out of sight down the hall. I heard him say, “Sully. You made it, dude. Hey, Hannah.”
Jos threw me a quick look at the woman’s voice, and I wondered momentarily if that was too many strangers in his space for one morning. But then Ethan Sullivan, whom I recognized from some recent Googling of the Foxes, bounded into the kitchen ahead of Callum. “Hey, hi, I’m Sully. Lead me to the goodies.”
His girlfriend followed him in and elbowed him blatantly. “Give them a chance to say hello.”
He grinned. “Hello. Hey, you still have donuts. Can I?”
“Help yourself.” I couldn’t help smiling back. Sully’s bright eyes and snub nose and thick blond curls made him look like a manic hobbit. One close to six feet tall.
“Thankmphf.” He stuffed a cruller in his mouth in three bites. “Now I need to wash my hands. Oops.”
Callum said, “That’s Zeke and Jos, and the sink’s over there. Guys, this maniac used to be my roommate, and the sane, pretty one is his girlfriend, Hannah.”
Hannah smiled at me. “I think playing a game for a living stunts their social development.”
“Hey,” Sully said. “I’m social.”
“Yes. Yes, you are.”
He laughed and dried his hands on a paper towel. “So, did someone say comic books? Tell me they’re in acid-free protective sleeves.”
“More like giant plastic tubs,” Callum said. “Come on, Jos, let’s show the man.”
Hannah and I hung back in the kitchen as the other three headed for their treasure trove. “Thanks for inviting us over,” she murmured. “Ethan was worried about Callum. He said Callum takes losses really hard, especially any time he lets in more than a couple of goals.”
“He was kind of beating himself up about it last night,” I agreed.
“He looks good this morning.” She nodded at the two big players and the slender boy huddled around the first bin. “It took forever for me to convince Ethan to move in with me. He didn’t want to abandon Callum.”
“I guess it worked out, what with the water damage.”
“Yeah. Lucky timing.”
“And with Callum wanting to move in with his grandpa.” Although that reminded me of Uncle Wayne, and whatever his presence would do to Callum’s peace of mind. I really hoped Wayne wouldn’t drive Callum off to live elsewhere, and not just because it was convenient to have someone Jos trusted next door. Not just because I couldn’t get the memory of his hands on my skin out of my head either.
“Callum’s a good guy.” Hannah pushed a strand of her dark hair off her face and looked up at me. “You might not think it from all his penalties and stuff, but he’s really kind.”
I watched Callum patiently listening to Jos, his shoulders straining the button-down shirt, his ass a delectable curve in those fitted slacks, all his attention on my little brother, who finally seemed to have a lot to say. “Yeah,” I agreed. “I think I figured that out.”
CHAPTER 11
CALLUM
I had to force myself to leave Zeke’s place and head back to Grandpa’s around lunchtime. Sully and Hannah had taken off after a couple of hours, but Sully had promised to come back sometime and take Jos to a collectors’ shop to get storage boxes and good covers for the seven comics that were most valuable. They hadn’t found any real treasure— not like the million bucks Zeke had found online for the very rarest comics. But one in the second tub listed for almost two hundred dollars online, which was a lot for a twelve-year-old, and there might be more. They hadn’t had time to research everything.
