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He chuckled. “I’m good. Did you steal Murray’s phone?”
“Stole, borrowed. Tomato, tomahto.” She grinned, elbowing me in the side. “He’s here, and not even bloody or anything.”
“I’m here, not even bloody or anything,” I mimicked, adding a tremor of terror to my voice.
“Son, are you being held against your will?” Dad whispered.
“Yes, I’m afraid,” I whispered back.
Yael snarled at me. “I’ll take away your phone privileges if you’re not a good little priso—I mean, boyfriend.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and smacked a loud kiss on her cheek. “I’ll be good, don’t hurt me anymore.”
Dad laughed raucously. “All the fun appears to be happening uptown. Unless this really is a call for help…?”
“Nah. I’m her willing victim.” I kissed her cheek again, softer this time. “Yael wanted to tell you something.”
“Oh? Is it that she’s calling you her boyfriend?”
That made me grin. While we had said we were each other’s, we’d never labeled what we were. “Since she’s my girlfriend, it would be pretty damn awkward if I wasn’t her boyfriend. But no, that’s not it.”
Yael tipped her mouth toward the phone. “I’m sure Alex has told you he’s teaching me to skate, right?”
“I heard something about that, yes.”
“Did he tell you I’m better than he is?”
Dad laughed again. “He didn’t, but I believe you can do anything you set your mind to.”
Her head fell to my shoulder, and she sucked in a deep breath. “Thank you, Brian. That’s sweet of you to say.”
“It’s true. I’ve known you long enough to make that judgment with confidence. Tell me the news, I’m on the edge of my seat. Since I’m a fall-risk, that’s a dangerous place to be.”
Yael squeezed my knee at my dad’s non-joke. She knew I didn’t find anything about his condition funny. He knew it too, but it was his right to deal with it how he needed to. Didn’t mean I had to laugh.
“Well, I’ve been determined to land an ollie. Alex didn’t think I was ready, but I forced him to teach me. And guess what?”
“You landed it?” he asked.
“I did! I landed exactly one. My butt is going to be bruised for weeks, but I did it. I have quit almost everything challenging in my life, but I didn’t quit this. And look at me now, headed to the X Games.”
Yael and my dad continued to talk like old friends, the wariness he’d claimed to have about her nowhere to be seen. By the time they hung up, I wondered if I had to worry about my old man moving in on my girl.
Yael sighed. “I’m really jealous, you know.”
“I was just thinking I might be jealous of how much my dad likes you.”
Her nose wrinkled. “No, don’t go there.”
“I won’t. I’m just kidding.” I nuzzled the corner of her jaw, pulling her closer. “What are you jealous of?”
She tapped my phone. “That you have a parent like that, who you can call to tell the littlest achievement and know before they even pick up the phone they’ll be proud. If I called my parents to tell them about the ollie, they’d tell me to stop wasting my time on such trivial pursuits.” She shook her head, looking at me like her eyes were brand new. “No wonder you walk on your hands in front of new girls and live in a van to make the music you want and fly across the country for a girl who needs you. You’re not afraid to take chances because you have a safety net that will catch you no matter how hard you fall. I’m jealous, but I also love that you’ve always had that.”
“Me too.” My voice cracked as my throat flooded with unidentifiable emotion. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Boo. Sorry your parents suck and they can’t see how amazing you and Mo are. I just...my dad’s all I’ve got, and when I think about something happening to him, it shreds me. He sounded good just now, but he’s adept at hiding his pain.”
“I know, Alex. I know.” She climbed onto my lap, wrapping herself around me with her long limbs. “You never have to hide your pain from me. You know that, right?”
I buried my face in the side of her neck, inhaling her scent and exhaling my worries in hot rushes of breath. “It might take me a while to remember that. I’m used to being the sole person for my dad to lean on for his medical issues.”
