Page 62 of Silver Player

I shake my head.

“Clyde knows before the family?” Mati twists to Clyde. “No offense, Clyde.”

“None taken.” He dips his head, gazing back at my sister.

“He was here when Sadie told me,” I explain.

“Sadie.” Mati mulls over the name. “Sadie Harrington.” Her smile grows as she states her name.

“Sadie McAllister,” I correct, and my heart drops a little bit. I wonder if she’ll change her name now that she knows the truth. I don’t suppose I have the right to ask her to change it, but I really like the sound of Sadie Harrington.

“McAllister,” Mati drags out the name. “So this is why Roxanne and you... Are you dating her to get close to the girl?” Mati’s voice shifts, demanding and determined. “William Forrest—”

“And I’m out,” Clyde mutters, double tapping his hands on the doorjamb and disappearing down the hall.

“I am doing no such thing with Roxanne.” My voice rises, defending myself at the offense as I glare at my sister. Have I made a mistake by telling her everything? I love my sister, and I’m closest with her when it comes to the emotional stuff. I thought she’d be a good one to test my announcement on, but this is going all kinds of wrong. “Is this what you think of me?”

Holy fuck, people really think I’m a player. I mean, I am, to some extent, and I don’t care what people think, but people might be shocked to learn Kristy is the last woman I was with, and it was back in May. Not that it’s really anyone’s damn business. Note, it’s November, though. That’s six months of celibacy, which is a record for me.

“Billy.” Mati softens her tone. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

For the next half hour, I tell my sister everything. About Trixie and the one-night stand. The reasons it happened. Rachel. Meeting Sadie. And Roxanne.

“And then I just kissed her, and I don’t know…” My voice drifts as I rub up my throat and pause on my chin. I stare off toward my office door.

“Yeah, I know.” Mati’s voice sounds dreamy, and I turn back to her, finding her eyes on me. “It’s a nice feeling, isn’t it?” After her husband’s death, my sister was sad, really sad, and I understand because they’d been married for twenty-something years and then he died in a car accident. A deer in the road. Recalling Mati’s sadness makes me think of Sadie. She doesn’t mention her mother much. How is she dealing with her death? It isn’t the same as losing a spouse, and I get that. The relationship is different, but it must be even harder when you’re still a kid and it’s your parent. Roxanne told me how she lost her mother at roughly the same age.

Mati’s sappy tone comes from finding Denton and having a second chance at an old love, but Sadie isn’t really in that position either. It’s a different kind of love with parents. She’s not going to get a second chance. Then something niggles in my chest, squeezing at me, and I grip my shirt, hoping to loosen the pressure. Am I her second chance? I’m not her mother, but I am her father, the one she’s never known existed.

“And wow, about Rachel,” Mati says, interrupting my thoughts.

“Yeah. Look, you’ve already proven keeping a secret is difficult,” I tease, nodding toward the door where she blurted out about Sadie to Clyde. “So I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about Rachel.”

Mati’s brow pinches. “How long have you been keeping that quiet?”

“Since the day she left.”

“Billy.” The softening of my name and sympathy in my sister’s tone force my eyes to prickle and sting. I blow out a breath and don’t respond. It felt good to tell someone.

“So Roxie, huh?”

“It’s the damnedest thing.” My own lips curl, imitating my sister’s grin.

“I’m so happy for you. For Sadie and you. For Sadie, Roxie, and you,” Mati adds.

“Well, it’s nothing official,” I state. Leaning forward, I place my arms on my desk and cup my fingers together.

“But it could be.” Mati’s brow tweaks, and I stare at her.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh Billy, you really aren’t that dense, are you? All that screwing around knock a screw loose?” She stands, continuing to chuckle as she knocks on my desk. But I must be that dense because I don’t understand what she means about the three of us.

Mati pauses at the door and then turns back to me. “I really am happy for you. I can’t wait for Thanksgiving.”

A mischievous gleam comes to her eyes despite her kind words. She knows Thanksgiving is going to be a shitshow when my parents learn everything.

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