Page 74 of Puck Shots
“He’s mentioned you once or twice,” I say, and Lyn pats his shoulder.
“Leave Eli to settle in, go help your brother with the salads,” Lyn says, and he lets go and turns on his heel but not before I catch the slight roll of his eyes.
“He’s got his lover boy in there helping him already.”
“Then start on dessert,” she replies and leads me over to the barbecue.
“This is Jo, Cosmo’s father.”
He gives me a smile and a nod that, funnily enough, is just as welcoming as the hug his mom gave me.
“It smells delicious,” I say, and he smiles wider.
“The secret is the home-made barbecue sauce. Old family recipe.”
“I’m sure it’s great.”
“Mom, he’s totally ruined my hair,” Rachel screams from inside somewhere, and then Cosmo is waving from beside a fire pit burning in the side yard.
“Eli,” he calls, and Lyn releases my arm, and I head over. The crackling wood is giving off some serious heat, and from the looks of the pit, this gets some serious use, too.
“I met Tony and your dad. That just leaves Calvin, right?”
“Yeah, Brent’s still in the UK, but you can meet Ash, Calvin’s boyfriend. He’s ridiculously tall and has…interesting fashion sense, but he’s a cool guy.”
“Why do I suddenly feel like I’m walking into a test I haven’t studied for?” I ask, my stomach a flurry of butterflies. He hugs me to his side in the warm glow of the fire.
“It’s not a test. But if it was, it would be one of those open-book ones that make zero sense.”
“Those tests are more about determining your ability to analyze and summarize information rather than just being able to memorize it and recall it later. It tests understanding.”
“Well, you understand me better than half the people here, so I think you’ll do just fine.”
“Only half?”
“Okay, maybe two-thirds, Rachel knows all my secrets and Mom has this sixth sense about us kids, like there was some link created when we were in her womb that never really broke.”
“So I should ask Rachel to spill all your embarrassing childhood moments then?”
“Please don’t,” he says, cuddling me tighter. “I want to keep the illusion of perfection in place as long as possible.”
“I don’t need you to be perfect. I just need you.”
“Well, you got me. I’m really glad you decided to come.”
“Me, too,” I say, and he kisses me on the top of my head, and we stand there in front of the fire until the sun sets over the horizon, and Lyn calls us up for dinner.
25
Cosmo
Eli’s visit home couldn’t have gone better. I was worried my super handsy brothers were going to make things awkward for me. I mean, when you tell a guy your family are huggers, you can’t always be sure they will get it and will be okay with it. But he just went with it. I swear he surprises me more and more every day.
“Do you want the giraffe or the pig?” Eli asks me, waving the two origami animals he’d brought home with him from his physics class. Generally, he doesn’t make a lot of these things anymore, given he’s inclined only to rip the labels from bottles when he’s nervous, but he’s been stressing about that class more and more. The teacher is determined to make it as difficult as he can for Eli. Setting extra assignments and challenging his theories. I don’t really know what that means exactly but I do know it is stressing Eli out, and I don’t like it. The cute origami animals, though, those I love.
“I want both, please,” I say as I grab my gear from under my bed.
“I promised Luka he could have one, so you have to choose.”
