Page 145 of On His Team

“Ten.”

“What did you say?”

“That I found paperwork.”

“Did you?”

“No.”

He starts laughing.

“But I made paperwork.”

That makes him laugh harder.

“I used one of my mom’s folders and wrote ADOPTION CERTIFICATE on printer paper.”

“G.”

“I didn’t understand what official documents looked like.”

“Did he believe you?”

“For twenty minutes.”

“What happened?”

“He cried.”

Rowan looks horrified.

“I was eight.”

“You made your brother cry because you told him he was adopted.”

“He ate my popsicle.”

Rowan laughs. “Oh my God. That is not equivalent.”

I smile sweetly. “My mom called me an evil little bitch.”

His eyebrows go up. “Your mom said that?”

I nod. “She was mad.”

“I would be too.”

I point my fork at him. “You’re supposed to be on my side now.”

Something shifts in his face. “Am I?”

The question lands in a place neither of us expected.

I look at him.

Rowan looks back.

He isn’t being serious-serious. But he isn’t joking either.