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“I need a partner.”
Finn saw Matt gape in astonishment before he even realized it had been Vance that had spoken. Vance stepped up to Matt, smiling encouragingly. “We can either play your buddies, or you can join us?”
Matt still sat with his mouth open, but the girl piped up again.
“Are you evenallowedin here?”
It was Vance’s turn to roll his eyes this time. “Too chicken to take us on?”
The girl stiffened and glanced—suddenly unsure—at the two other boys. The oldest took a step toward Vance. “Set ‘em up.”
“Set ‘em up,” orTaylor, as he introduced himself, was apparently the self-elected leader of the group, although as far as Finn could see he was just a self-absorbed, righteous douche-bag. The girl was called D.Zee which Sawyer immediately mispronounced as Dizzy as often as he could to annoy her. In fact, when her frustration became palpable, Vance intervened with a hand on Sawyer’s shoulder.
They were just kids. Kids that needed a lesson in manners, definitely, but Sawyer was in danger of crossing a line. The quick nod Sawyer gave Vance as he backed off showed he knew that.
They suggested two games, and Talon offered to split the team to pair up with the kids but Taylor wouldn’t have that, as if he had something to prove. Since it would have been ridiculous for them all to play, Daniel took Sawyer, Eli, and Gael to the spare lane and they played a separate game.
That left Vance and Matt, Talon and Finn, Taylor and D.Zee, and C.J and the last boy to arrive—Mike—all playing in pairs. Vance, Matt, Finn, and Talon were one team and Taylor, D.Zee, C.J., and Mike another. Finn tried not to roll his eyes as Talon went first. Talon had deliberately pulled his strength to be fair to the kids, but he had so badly misjudged it he only knocked over one pin. His second go was a little better, but he still only got five. Taylor snickered and took a ball. Of course, he got a strike on his first attempt and high-fived his team.
“Matt, do you wanna go first?”
Matt gave Vance his bestdeer in the headlightslook and shook his head, so Vance took his turn and immediately knocked every pin down. The boys were silent because Vance hadn’t smashed them. He hadn’t hit them so hard pins had ended up one lane over like Gael had the first time. He had been careful, slow, but incredibly accurate. The smile on his face as Matt high-fived him was infectious.
Taylor bristled, and Finn sighed. He honestly thought he would unbend a little. D.Zee remained quiet, but C.J. and Mike both were soon laughing and joking with Vance. Vance even gave them tips on holding the ball, and they were really eager to learn.
Taylor was the only one who seemed to be getting more pissed off by the minute.
“It’s not his fault,” Matt said quietly as he followed Finn’s gaze.
Finn glanced back. “Taylor’s?” Matt sighed and nodded. Not completely sure what Matt meant, he just stayed silent, convinced more information would be coming. The technique usually worked on the team, anyway.
“He’s my brother,” Matt clarified. “There’s just us now, and my mom works two jobs.” Matt took another breath and looked around to make sure he wasn’t being overheard. Finn didn’t tell him it was likely the team could hear him anyway. Matt was silent for a little longer before he said. “He hates me.”
Finn shrugged. “All big brothers hate their little brothers sometimes. He won’t really.”
Matt nodded emphatically. “He does. It’s my fault Callum got locked up.”
Callum? Who the hell is Callum?“And Callum is?”
“My older brother.”
Finn was getting confused. “Older than Taylor?”
Matt nodded. “But just by one year.”
“We’re just gonna get some sodas,” Finn called out to the others and practically dragged Matt with him. They stepped around the seating area and walked toward the counter. Finn paused. “Tell me from the beginning.”
“Callum is like your friends.”
Finn did a mentalohand started to understand why Matt was sharing. “He got his scar just before Thanksgiving, but we didn’t care.” Matt stared at the floor. “Anyway, I wanted these Nike’s like Eric Salter had. He was showing off. Saying we were trash. So, I took them.”
“Eric’s?”
“No,” Matt said like Finn was slow or something and looked up at him. “I took them from the store, but I didn’t even get past the door. I set all the alarms off.” There was a pause. “Dumb, huh?”
Finn’s smile was gentle.
“Anyway, I started crying because the security guard was holding me really tight. Taylor was with me, but Callum was waiting outside. Taylor had some money he got for his birthday,” as if that explained why they were there in the first place. “The guard was mean. He was yelling and trying to take me to the office and asking where my mom was. Taylor was trying to say she was at work, but we knew if she got called out, she wouldn’t get paid for the day. But the guard didn’t care, and he was hurting me.”
