“Yeah.”
The front door opens. My brother Cody walks in carrying takeout bags. He stops when he sees me.
“Holy shit. Danny?”
“Hey, Cody.”
My younger brother drops the bags on the entry table and crosses the room in three strides, pulling me into a hug that’s almost as tight as Mom’s.
“Dude. Where the hell have you been?”
“Around.”
“Around.” Cody pulls back and looks at me. “You know the whole world’s been talking about you, right? Videos, suspension, the relationship with—wait.” He glances at Dad. “You told them?”
“Just started to.”
“Shit. Okay.” Cody sits on the arm of the couch. “So. Coach’s son. That’s wild.”
“It was complicated.”
“I bet.” Cody’s always been the easy one. The one who rolls with things. He built his own business in San Francisco designing apps and never needed hockey or our parents’ approval the way I did. “You love him?”
“What?”
“Simple question. Do you love him?”
I hesitate. Then I nod. “Yeah.”
“Then why are you here instead of fighting for him?”
“Because he doesn’t want me. He blocked my number. He won’t talk to me.”
“So you tried once and gave up?”
“I tried multiple times?—”
“And then gave up.” Cody shakes his head. “That’s not the Danny I know. The Danny I know doesn’t back down. The Danny who beat the shit out of Jason Martin in eighth grade because he kept stealing my lunch money—that Danny doesn’t quit.”
The memory hits me. Jason Martin. Bigger than me, meaner, had been tormenting Cody for weeks. I finally snapped, punched him in the cafeteria, and got suspended for three days.
Dad had been furious. Then proud. Then furious again.
“That was different,” I say.
“How?” Dad asks.
“Because Cody needed me. Noah doesn’t. He made his choice.”
“Did he? Or did he make the choice he thought he had to make because everything was falling apart and he was scared?”
I don’t answer.
Mom comes back with a sandwich and hands it to me. “Eat.”
I eat. They watch.
“You want my opinion?” Dad asks.
