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“Look, your dad’s gone, thank fucking God for that. He was the problem in your relationship,” she told me one night last week. “He was the poison and he’s not here anymore. Which means you have an opportunity to fix your relationship now. Your brother really wants to get to know you, Reign. In fact, I think he came up with this whole work-for-me-for-a-year idea, just so you guys could get closer together. Just go to the game. One game. Do it. You’ll like it. And if you don’t like it, don’t go back, okay? But I think you should. Don’t let your dad win, Reign. He was a horrible man. Don’t let him punish you and your brother. Fix it.”
So of course I said some things.
About her ‘fix it’ behavior. About her good girl complex.
Which means she said some things too. About me being stubborn and an idiot.
And so we had a fight of sorts, which ended in her crying and me licking up those tears, and finally giving in.
Because I can’t do it.
I can’t see her cry; it makes my chest hurt.
I wasn’t going to play soccer with Homer though, the game I hate because of him; I have my limits. So I invited him here. On my turf, among my friends.
And fuck me, but there was this happiness on his face.
When I’d issued the invitation.
I did it on very short notice too. A couple of hours ago, just when we were leaving work — which still blows by the way — thinking he might have plans. He did. But he cancelled them to meet me here. He’s not even wearing his usual clothes, a three-piece suit with a handkerchief. He’s got a dress shirt on and dress pants; not really bar clothes but definitely a change for him.
But the biggest kicker is that we’re not having that bad of a time.
Homer specifically.
Probably because he’s not as much of a newcomer as I’d like him to be. He’s sort of friends with Stellan and Shep, or used to be back in high school. They’re about the same age and played soccer against each other. While they’d lost touch after that, they seem to be reconnecting well.
“No more, all right,” Shep goes. “I love my fucking niece. I love her to pieces. But if I have to see one more fucking picture of her pooping, I’m gonna lose it, Jackson.”
“Fuck you, you dickhead,” Reed grumbles, flicking through yet another photo of his baby girl, Halo. “She wasn’t pooping in that picture. She was playing with a poop toy. And even if she was, it wouldn’t be gross. Because my baby girl poops glitter and farts unicorns.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ.” Shep throws his hands up. “Please someone make this moron stop. He’s killing my hard-on.”
Reed flips him the bird before showing off yet another picture of Halo, his thousandth probably, since we sat down.
Ledger shakes his head, taking a pull of his beer. “It’s not as if you can do anything about it. You’ve got a fucking girlfriend, remember?”
“Who do you think my hard-on is for, genius?” Shep throws back.
“Okay,genius,” Ledger mocks. “Unless you know how to magically teleport her here from New fuckin’ York, you still can’t do anything about it.”
Shep shoots his younger brother a look. “I can. It’s called a telephone.”
“I believe the correct term is phone sex,” Reed puts in before jerking his chin at Ledger. “Which means you’re gonna need some earplugs tonight.”
It’s Shep’s turn to flip Reed the bird.
Through all this, my eyes inevitably go over to Stellan, Shep’s twin.
According to Ledger, who’s the biggest gossip ever, there’s some tension between the twins. Regarding Shep’s girlfriend, Isadora. Apparently, Stellan wants her too. Not that Shep knows, or so Ledger tells me. I’m not privy to a lot of details but all I can say is that if it’s true, that was a low blow on Ledger’s part.
For bringing something like that up in front of Stellan.
Who’s keeping his eyes on Reed’s phone, staring at his niece’s pictures like his life depends on it.
I lean toward Ledger. “Nice job, asshat.”
“Just trying to get him to snap out of it. Because it ain’t happening. Shep’s fucking crazy about his girl. Besides, what’s he thinking, going after his twin’s girl? That’s the biggest fucking violation of the bro code and…” He glances at me, at my ticking jaw. “Well,youknow what he’s thinking.”
