I huff a laugh and shake my head. Forker will always find a hundred excuses for fun. Boys’ night? Arden’s actually off shift for once and is coming out with us? One of us got out of a speeding ticket? He shit thrice in one day? Forker loves his fun, and he hates when the rest of us aren’t on board with his plans.
I admire it. I would love to be that carefree all the time.
Not in my nature, unfortunately.
“Can’t help you tonight, Fork.” Declan sighs, smacking his hand on Forker’s shoulder. He stands, heading to the bar for that one beer, which forces Fork to slowly turn his attention back to me. He flashes me an innocent smile that looks anything but on that fucking face.
“No.”
“Come on!”
“No,” I grumble, shaking my head. I’m already regretting coming out at all.
“I’m down,” Oscar announces.
Forker’s face lights up a bit, but his eyes slice back to mine. “You need to live a little.”
I roll my eyes, reaching into my pocket to unwrap a stick of pink bubblegum. I pop it into my mouth.Live a little.That would be nice. I have been more on edge than usual lately, but I’ve got my own shit going on. Shit I don’t want to bother the guys with. Embarrassing shit. Family shit.
Getting drunk and sleeping with women has never been the way I solve my problems. Work does that. I work harder at practice. I work harder on game nights. The farm has never looked better, even when I’m doing all the work on my own.That’show I cope.
“Maybe next time.”
Forker lets out a dramatic sigh, leaning forward so he can speak to the more influenceable boys in the booth. Reno is already swapping spit with Goldie. Oscar is grinning from ear to ear. Waters, who has been the city’s most eligible bachelor since his cup-winning rookie season, looks just as interested in Forker’s plan as he does.
Good. The kid deserves it. Plus, half of them will be scurrying on home in the next few weeks for the off-season. Theyshouldhave a boys’ night.
Lowesy falls back into his chair with his beer, his gaze meeting mine. The boys start talking about getting a round of shots and I mentally check out of this evening at the same time.
I blow a bubble, and Declan angles his head a bit.
“You good?” he mouths.
My bubble pops, and I shrug.
Yeah.
Nothing I haven’t been through before.
Lowesy watches me carefully, so I bring my whiskey and Coke to my mouth, forcing a flashy smile his way. That seems to unsettle him more than it comforts him and his brow furrows even deeper.
We’ve got a brotherhood thing between us. Have for a while, to be honest, but it got even tighter after the last couple of seasons. It’s him, it’s me, and it’s the idiot beside me that’sdefinitelygoing to end up fighting some poor asshole tonight. We check on each other and help each other, but we’ve all got boundaries.
Mine are a bit tighter than most.
Forker’s parents are divorced, but they’re best friends. His mom, dad, and their new partners are all buddies now. He’s got his very own brand ofBrady Bunchgoing on, without all the kids. He has a little sister who looks at him like he hung the fucking moon. His childhood was unicorns and rainbows.Comes from money, never had to work for much in his life, apart from getting into the league, and eventhatwas easy for him. Forker’s one talented mother fucker.
Me? Two brothers. Three, technically. One is dead. Died young, too, right in front of me. Was a bit confused standing over my youngest brother, not understanding why he wasn’t moving. I screamed at my mom, who was passed out on the couch, for giving him a blue popsicle when I didn’t get one.
There was no popsicle. His lips were just blue because he was dead.
That’s how my dad found out that my mom had a drug addiction. Because my little brother, Ryan, overdosed on what she’d left on the table. Before she went to prison for a good chunk of my life, she persuaded my dad to try her favourite candy to grapple with his grief.
It made her feel good and forget it all, so why wouldn’t it help him? It made her numb, and why wouldn’t he want that after burying his four-year-old?
She went to prison for a long time and left my dad in charge of taking over her drug addiction and taking care of their remaining children. He did. With ease. The first one, at least.
Carter has Ariana. He has a sister to take care of. I have one dead brother and two that have become strangers to me. Miller is a lawyer, living somewhere in Arizona, the last I heard. He’s the oldest. Took off the day he turned eighteen without looking back. Never checked in on the two little brothers he had left behind in that mess. The ones who had to live in that house where the ghost of our brother still played.
