“The dental office on Seventh Street. Front desk. Three days a week.”
“Mom.” I feel my heart racing. “That’s so awesome.” I light up from the inside. My mom used to be a dental hygienist andthen she didn’t keep up with her license because she had Bear. “Really? That’s amazing.”
She nods. “I didn’t want to tell you that I applied everywhere because I kept not getting calls back, but this one called back.”
I beam. “I’m so happy for you.”
She nods. “I knew you would be.”
“No, really, Mom. That’s great.”
She picks up her fork and eats another bite of lasagna.
I look at Tyr who’s looking at my mom. They have a silent communication, and I know he’s the one who nudged her to do it. Even if he won’t take any credit, I owe him a lot of credit for what he’s done for our family. It feels like a real family.
After dinner, Tyr and Mom clean up while me and Bear setup the Switch to play Rabbids.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Bear asks me.
I shake my head, and then I think better of it. “It’s not official,” I say, hating how that sounds. Benson texted me all day, and he’s blowing up my phone right now. I would say that it feels like we are, but there hasn’t been anything official yet.
He sets up the game and says, “Are you not going to come here anymore?”
“Why do you say that?”
“You didn’t come on Wednesday,” he says. “And if Tyr wasn’t here,” he whispers, “I know you would have come no matter what.”
He’s right, and I hate that he’s right.
I lean in and say, “I won’t miss another Wednesday, okay.”
He nods.
“I promise.”
We turn to the game, and I register that Mom and Tyr are a new thing. Sure, it’s been a couple of months, but it’s still new. We’re not exactly adjusted to my mom’s behavior yet, so he stillneeds me. I’m okay with being needed here. He’s my brother, and I would do anything for him.
The game starts, and we’re both trying our hardest to win. Of course, he smashes me in every game we play. I do not win a single one. Bear begs my mom to come with me to buy ice cream from the store. She lets us go, and when we return, we sit on the couch, eat the entire thing of ice cream, and watch a movie.
I text Benson all night, and then I let Gianna know that I played Rabbids for too long and plan to stay the night here.
My mom gives me the blanket for the couch. Me and Bear play past midnight. It’s the kind of night I needed as a child and that is healing as an adult. I’ll remember this forever. Bear falls asleep on the other end of the couch, and I stare at him until I fall asleep.
Chapter 36
Benson
Thekidhasbeenhounding Blue since the puck dropped.
He’s a winger in the green Wisconsin jersey with the number eighteen on his back, and he has spent the first ten minutes of the second period running his stick along the back of Blue’s pads after every whistle and putting his glove into Blue’s face mask whenever the linesmen are looking the other way. Blue is his easiest target to pick on, because Blue does not respond aggressively, but I’m noticing, and it’s pissing me off.
Twice Blue has shaken him off without looking. The third time the linesman pushes them apart at the dot before the faceoff and tells the kid to knock it off. The kid grins and skates a wide loop back to his own bench.
I tap Blue’s shin with my stick. “You good?”
“I’m good.”
“Want me to take him?”
