Page 19 of The Handoff

Chapter 10

Daxon

“Fuck!”Danesaidafter he came through the door.

David and I were sitting on the couch, watching a game. Just chilling, like we did most of the time when Dane wasn’t around.

“What is it this time with me…” I caught his eyes flickering to the screen and the side table from the other side of the couch.

“I was with Lisa, and I let it slip that I had brothers,” Dane confessed.

“And?” David shrugged as his eyes flicked back to his iPad, as if he was happy sitting with me, but just didn’t want to be disturbed with whatever he was doing on the iPad.

“And? Then she would start asking questions like where are they and all that shit.”

I jumped up, getting annoyed about all the drama and not caring about it. “Can you please move away from the damn screen. The Rangers are about to win, and you’re blocking the one sport I love.”

“Well, if that’s what you’re thinking is going to happen in the game, then you’re wasting your time.” David laughed as he rolled his eyes. His arrogance started to wind me up, and for a second I forgot about this side of him. The part that makes him feel like he’s superior to us both.

“As for Dane, I don’t get it. You told her you have brothers. Just keep your dick in your pants, and all will be fine. Five months, guys, can you not fuck the new girl during that time?”

He was crude and rude. Of course, the Rangers were about to win. He thought he knew it all, but not everything which came out of his mouth was right. Like the last game, he said the 49ers would win, and he was wrong about that—the 49ers never fucking win.

Dane sighed and gently put down the bag he was holding and moved it to the side. He shifted his weight, as if he was thinking about something, like he did as a kid and it used to irritate the fuck out of me. David sighed, then took out his iPad and continued to do whatever he was doing before Dane walked through the door.

“Just spit it out!” I shouted, knowing I wasn’t going to watch this game in peace. Seeing the grin on David’s face, I could tell he got a kick out of it, too. Sometimes my brothers wound me up, and they didn’t even have to try too hard. It just happened naturally.

“I got it!” Dane shouted and slumped into the middle of the sofa, pissing both David and me off. “If she asks, I’ll just say they died in some car crash.”

We didn’t date, this was clear from the moment I went out with a girl, and she commented on why Dane was hot one minute and cold the next. She even said he smelled different as she started sniffing him like a damn dog. Besides, I didn’t like the idea of Dane being up close and personal with someone I liked, and Dane felt the same way if the tables were turned. As for David, he couldn’t care less. Dane and I were sure he was still a virgin, but we didn’t tease him or discuss it. Our sex life was the one thing we kept private, and I preferred it that way.

“Look, can I just watch the game in peace,” I pleaded, thinking I could sense another argument was on its way and as much as I hated to admit it. David was right, just a few more months, and this whole charade would be over.

Dane shook his head. “Not till you agree about the car crash.”

David piped up as he stood, ready to leave, “No car crash. We’re not dating anyone. We haven’t up until now, and we’re not about to start. Whatever it is you think you’ve got going with Lisa, it has come to a dramatic end. We’ve worked too hard. I’ve worked too hard for you to fuck it all up just ‘cause you can’t keep your dick in check. I’m going to the fucking library. Daxon, talk some sense into him,” David commanded as he stood up, ready to leave.

David wasn’t really the cursing kind of guy, that was usually Dane’s department, and I was the laid-back guy.

“What happened to cursing too much was a sign of illiteracy?” I asked David before he disappeared. He rolled his eyes and stuck his finger out.

He was pissed!

I had to agree with David, for four long years we’d been living this lie, and not once did we get caught or even close to it until now. Dane fucked it up and said that he’d had brothers. The realization of what he’d done and why he was panicking dawned on me as I slowly but surely lost interest in the game.

I was worried about my future, thinking what to do when it was all over, and Dane… well, sometimes he had his head in the clouds. I wasn’t denying that Lisa, with her sea-blue eyes and blonde hair—which was clearly a dye-job—wasn’t attractive. Her roots were showing; I was a sucker for details, so I noticed it wasn’t her natural color. Then again, her dark eyebrows were a big giveaway, too.

“Dane, just forget about it. David’s right, and you know I hate to agree with him. But we need to focus on finishing UCLA and nothing else. When you’re a big star, you can date the whole fucking cheerleader squad, but until that day comes, just focus on finishing, okay?” I turned my head toward him, hoping he understood the message loud and clear.

He looked at me and said, “So, how’s the game?”

I was about to say something else when I realized the conversation about Lisa had clearly ended. We started to discuss the game—he was into the sport just as much as I was—so I was glad when we were connecting as we did so many times and there was no more talk about Lisa.

He’d got the message loud and clear, and I could go back to doing one of the two things I loved the most—watching baseball, then later, I would be in the club on the piano. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

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