Page 55 of In The Game

He nods and brings his attention to my son again. “So, you and I are new friends, but I actually knew your mom a long time ago.Annnnnd, I didn’t realize you had four whole birthdays that went by, so I got you something small for all the ones I missed.”

Damn him.Why does he have to do sweet things like that?

“Holy fart feathers! This is a birthday party!”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Dude, what did I say about fart feathers?”

“Don’t say it.”

“Yup. Let’s work on that.”

“Sorry. Can I open them now?” Arthur looks up at me, eyes pleading.

“If Barrett says it’s okay. But open them in the kitchen so I can finish working on the coleslaw.”

Arthur grabs up the bags and rushes to the table.

“Can I help?” Barrett rises back to his full height and smiles.Heaven help me.

“Sure. I’ll let you do the hard part, putting the frozen fish in the air fryer.”

I go back to chopping and tell him where to look in the freezer. “I used to make it fresh and roll the fish in breadcrumbs, but Arthur says these taste better, so”—I shrug—“you’re stuck with frozen tonight.”

He smiles as he pulls the bag out of the freezer. Motherfucker looks happy to just be in our presence. It’s so weird.

“Which one should I open first?!” Arthur asks Barrett.

“Whichever one you want.”

“The red one! Red’s my favorite color.”

“Mine too.”

Of course they have the same favorite color.

He tears into the bag, tissue paper flying. “It’s a piece of paper. What does this say?” Arthur holds it up.

“Those are tickets to my hockey game… if you want to go and your mom says it’s okay.” Then he murmurs to me, “I put you and Arthur on the list for the box, but I understand if that’s a lot right now. So you’ve got the seats if that would be more comfortable.”

Thebox? Is he fucking serious? I pull back from slicing up produce. “Are you talking about the WAGs box?”

He side-eyes me but doesn’t answer.What the fuck?That’s for wives and girlfriends.

“A camera!” Arthur shouts, digging into the green bag and pulling out his gift.

“What?” I lower my voice back down. “I know you’re new to this, but you can’t give a four-year-old a digital camera.”

“Relax.” He chuckles. “It’s made for kids, it’s fine.”

I wasn’t aware they made digital cameras for kids.

“It’s so you can take some family pictures with you and your mom.”And dad, I’m sure.“But you have to send me a copy so I can put it in a picture frame at my house.”

Why does the thought of him keeping a photo of Arthur and me fill my stomach with that scared-excited feeling?

“Cool! I want to try it!”

“We’ll probably have to charge it first. Here, let me take a look.” Arthur hands him the box, and Barrett nods to the other gifts. “Open another one.”

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