Page 5 of Unforgettable Player

Scout rolls her eyes. “Oh, goody.”

Ignoring the attitude, Connor takes something from a gift bag on the counter and hands it to Naomi. She unwraps the tissue paper to reveal a stuffed bear wearing a t-shirt. “Aww,” she says. “It’s wearing a little ‘Mom’ shirt.”

“Dad next.” Connor’s smile never leaves his face. Not even when Scout huffs and crosses her arms to show how bored she is.

Richard walks away from the stove with his shirtsleeves rolled to the elbows. We all watch as he unwraps the tissue paper to reveal … something plastic with things floating inside?

Everyone stares in confusion while Richard turns the object over in his hands.

“It’s a paperweight,” Connor explains, the confident smile never leaving his face. “You know, for your office. It’ll stop your papers flying around when the fan’s on.”

“So it is,” Richard says, smiling. “Thank you, son. I’ll put it to use right away.”

“Scout and Eli are next,” Connor says. A pleasant shiver runs up my spine.

When was the last time Connor said my name? The way he naturally shortens it with such automatic familiarity makes me giddy.

I block out everything else while I unwrap my gift. At first, it just looks like a plain, black fridge magnet. But when I turn it over, it has a picture of Fox Mulder hugging a wall, looking all moody and tortured. Underneath, it says, I’m not saying it’s aliens, but … it’s aliens.

I’m too touched that Connor remembered my favorite show to even laugh at the joke. When I look up, everyone’s too busy watching Scout unwrap her gift to notice mine.

“A little bear,” Naomi says. “Like mine. Twinning.”

Scout rolls her eyes.

“What does yours say?” Naomi asks, pointing to the shirt on Scout’s bear.

Scout grits her teeth. “Even baddies get saddies.”

Naomi snorts before clamping her hand over her mouth and I note how Richard smothers his smile with a cough.

Connor’s the only one grinning unabashedly, those attractive fangs on display.

“Very funny,” Scout spits.

“I saw it and thought of you, sis.”

“What did he get you, Eli?” She turns to me and I have to stop myself from covering the magnet with my hands. It feels somehow … private. But of course it isn’t. Connor’s watching me openly, that confident, easygoing smile still in place. There’s no way his intentions are anything but friendly, so I should have no reason to hide—right?

Scout picks it up before I have a chance to make a decision. “It’s Mulder, from The X-Files.” She reads the quote and laughs. “That’s actually funny.”

Connor clutches his chest. “Did you just say something vaguely nice about me?”

She rolls her eyes. “Get over it, loser.”

At that word—loser—Connor’s easy layer of confidence disappears. It happens suddenly, and the moment passes before anyone else notices. But I saw it. It was disarming. Like seeing a superhero without their costume.

His gaze flickers to me for just a second and I blush deeply and look away.

When dinner’s ready, we all take a seat and clasp hands to say grace. I close my eyes and go through the motions. Once, when we were kids, I opened my eyes and caught Connor watching me with a cheeky smirk. Later, he pulled me aside and said, “Don’t worry, I don’t believe in God either.” It had felt as though we were in on a conspiracy together. I was too shy to tell him the real reason I felt awkward saying grace is because at my house, we ate Japanese-style and my mom taught me to bow over my food and say a simple Itadakimasu.

All through dinner, I try to focus on the moment I can slip away to catch up on my reading for the class I failed last semester. Scout will tell me I don’t need to stress about it—that I had good reason for failing that class and I should probably just drop it—so I’ll need to slip away as discreetly as possible to avoid a scene. I’ll probably have to wait until she falls asleep, but that shouldn’t take too long. She’s usually snoring by the time her head hits the pillow.

Connor keeps drawing my attention simply by existing. I’m used to ignoring my straight guy crush by now, but that second of a mask slip has sent me off balance. Was it a mask slip? Of course I know that no one is that confident and happy all the time. But there was something so drastic about the change that I can’t get it out of my head.

I’m brought back to reality when Naomi asks, “How’s your dad, Elliot?”

The table goes quiet.