Eloise’s hand covers mine as she sits next to me. “He’s going to be okay.” She sounds far surer than I feel.
“We’ll make sure of it,” Artemis says confidently, but the shaky feeling in my stomach doesn’t go away.
There’s a heavy silence hanging over all of us, and I can’t help staring toward my bedroom. How often does this happen? How does he manage alone? If he hasn’t told the brothers sitting across the table from me, does he tell anyone else? So many questions, so few answers.
“Do I call his parents?”
Eloise shakes her head. “I don’t think so. They might freak out. He might get mad. Maybe just wait for him to wake up first?”
She’s right. The relationship I have with Mom isn’t the same kind everyone else has with their parents. If I call his parents and they flip out, I don’t want him to be upset with me. And what if he hasn’t even told them about Wyatt and me? That would just bring more stress onto his plate.
He’ll tell them when he’s ready.
“The kid’s his, isn’t he?” It’s Ares who speaks, but I snap my wide eyes to Eloise.
“You didn’t tell him?”
She shrugs. “It’s not my story to tell, Tori. Friends don’t tell friend’s secrets, even to their boyfriends.”
I can’t fight the urge to hug her right now. “Thank you.”
“Ofcourse. In fairness, he never asked either. Don’t give me too much credit. He’s pretty good at figuring out when I’m side-stepping the truth.” Her cheeks are red as she glances across the table to her beau.
Theirs is a somewhat unusual pairing, but they work so well together it makes my heart happy for her.
“He’s like a mini Raffi,” Apollo confirms, dragging a piece of pita through the fresh hummus quickly disappearing on the table.
“He is.” It doesn’t take long for me to give the guys a brief rundown of my history with Raffi. By the end of it, I can’t tell if they look like they might laugh or cry. I can relate. That’s how I felt when the pregnancy tests all told me I was pregnant, for real, and had no way of reaching the father.
“Shit.” Ares blows air through his teeth before glancing at Mom. “Sorry.”
She pats his hand. “That’s probably one of the least offensive words these walls have heard.” She snorts before giving me a pointed look.
“That’s tragic.” Apollo has stopped eating the hummus, which is a damn shame because it’s mouthwateringly delicious, but also works for me because it means I can swoop in and finish the tub.
“It all worked out in the end.” Mom sounds so sure Raffi is my forever. Now that I’ve found him, that’s it.
My heart swells in agreement, but my brain says it’s early still.
After the guys leave, I check on Sleeping Raffi. Disney probably wouldn’t have made the same money if they’d had a snoozing hockey player instead of a princess, but it makes me giggle.
Apollo said he’d tell their coach Raffi had a wicked case of the shits and that’s why he won’t be at morning skate tomorrow. And thankfully, they don’t have a game until way later inthe week, so he won’t be in trouble for having to sit out a game.
At least I don’t think so. If he misses practices during the week will his coach bench him for not showing up? I’m sure there is a complex system of rules at work, but I don’t know any of them, and it didn’t occur to me to ask his friends before they left.
Eloise stays. She’s going to take Apollo’s car back later, and if we need it again for something, we’ll figure it out later. Apollo didn’t seem too worried that his teammate keeps using his car. Eloise said it’s because he has a couple.
Jeez. The wealth is strong with this one.
She sets up camp on the couch and lets Wyatt pick the movie, so the three of us snuggle and watchRuby Gillman: Teenage Krakenfor the eleventy billionth time. By the time it’s over, Eloise offers to hang out with Wyatt as he smushes together multiple colors of Play Doh like a sociopath while I check in on Raffi. She’s the best.
“What time is it?” Raffi’s voice is hoarse and croaky when I enter the room.
“You don’t need to worry about the time. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a tank.” He keeps his voice low and quiet, so I mimic it.
“I brought you a drink.” I circle the bed and hold out the glass with a straw. It’s room temperature because I didn’t want icy water to make things worse for him.
