“I tried to push, but…” Ian shrugged.“She’s so much braver.”
“She’s fierce.”It was one his favorite things about Tori.Decisive, unafraid.She was a force of nature from what he’d seen.
“She is.I worry that this is my fault, you know?because I was so scared when you left.”
“That the kids are the way they are, you mean?Wouldn’t that make it my fault because I left?”He was willing to share the blame.He hadn’t been here.It had all been left to Ian.
“I just…” Ian shook his head.“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He didn’t need to talk about it.“So deal already, and we’ll play rummy.”
“Right on.I’ve been waiting to kick your ass for weeks.”
“Yeah, yeah.Put your money where your mouth is.”He hit the button on his bed remote, pushing it higher so he was sitting more upright.
Ian’s laughter rang out, the cards shuffled and dealt.“You do remember how to play this, right?”
“Nope.You’re definitely going to win, so bet big,” he teased.
“All right.I should ask for something amazing…”
“Name it.I remember how to play, though.”Just in case Ian had thought he was serious about the not remembering.
“Damn, so I can’t cheat?”
Like Ian ever cheated.
“You don’t know how to cheat.”
“I—” Ian’s lips opened and closed, over and over.“Maybe I learned.”
He tilted his head.“Not knowing how to cheat isn’t a bad thing, Chou.”
Ian’s cheeks went bright red.“No.No, you’re right.I’m honest with you.”
“Come on, let’s play,” he said softly.He hadn’t wanted to make Ian feel bad in any way.
Ian nodded, and then there it was again.
That smile.
He stared, fascinated.He remembered that smile.He’d fallen in love with that smile.
Ian nodded to him, then dealt.“You can go first.”
“Okay.I guess I really do need to remember how to play now, eh?”He gathered his cards in his hand and sorted them.
It took them a couple of hands for him to get it, to find the groove again, and then they were playing, both of them laughing.
They played a number of hands, the score pretty even.
The sky went dark, and Ian glanced up.“I need to get the kids in.”
“Yeah, that came up quick, eh?”
“It did.”
He wanted to tell Ian to stop worrying.The kids could get wet without real damage.
