“Sorry,” he mumbles. “And, yeah, it’s been good.”
Yuck. I hate this. Milo taps my back, which feels horribly awkward, and then pulls out of the hug.
I fake a smile. “That’s good. I’m glad.”
Milo scratches behind his head, looking down. “I was just on the phone with my grandparents. They usually come for our birthdays, but they’ve had to delay their trip.”
“Oh, that’s a shame,” I say with a pout. “I always like when they visit.”
“You’ll see them soon enough,” Mr. Nelson replies as he pats Milo’s shoulder.
“James!” Kai calls from the second-floor landing. “What’s taking so long?”
“Kai, you’d better stop yelling in this house!” Mrs. Nelson yells in the direction of the staircase. “I don’t care if it is your birthday or not.”
Mr. Nelson cups his hands around his mouth. “Why don’t you boys come down? We’ll do cake.”
“We’re in the middle of a mission,” Kai calls back. “Give us ten minutes.”
“No, fifteen!” Parker shouts.
Mrs. Nelson sighs, shaking her head. “Those boys.”
“I better head up,” I say, retrieving Kai’s gift from the side table. “Once I get the controller, I’ll finish the mission in under ten minutes.”
“Are you heading upstairs too?” Aunt Maddy asks Milo.
I focus hard so my eyes don’t roll.
“Uh, no,” Milo says, looking off to the side.
“You’ll stick around for cake?” Mrs. Nelson asks Aunt Maddy.
“I’d love to,” Aunt Maddy replies. “I actually have something I want to run by you.”
Before I get sucked into whatever Maddy’s conversation is about, I bound up the stairs two at a time. A grin stretches at my cheeks as I hear the boys yell and cheer against the sounds of video game lasers and blast explosions. Time to see the man of the hour.
Two
Iraceupstairs,towardthe roaring cheers. Parker and Lewis’s eyes are glued to the flatscreen hung on the wall, but Tyler and Kai’s eyes have found me. I place his gift on the ground, jittering to wish him a happy birthday.
Kai gets up from the three-seater couch in the second-floor living room and bounds my way. Behind the living area are Kai and Milo’s bedrooms, separated by a bathroom. Kai’s door is open, funneling the sounds of a metal band playing from his stereo.
“Hi Jamie,” Kai says, giving me a one-arm hug.
“Hi, happy birthday,” I say, patting his back. “I hear you guys can’t finish a mission without me.”
“Oh, get real,” Parker bites defensively, controller in hand. “We’re doing just fine, missy.”
Kai crooks an arm around my neck and guides me to the couch. “We’ve totally needed you. Ty, move it so Jamie can sit down.”
Tyler slides across and I watch Parker and Lewis on the edge of their armchairs, failing hard at the game.
Kai beckons Parker. “Hand it over.”
Parker releases the controller. “Excuse me, I’ve gotten us this far. I doubt you can ace the rest.”
Kai signals Lewis to give his controller to me. “She will when we team up.”
