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“You look confused, honey,” Sheila said.
“Ian won’t want me here,” I told her.
Tim chuckled. “I think you can handle him.”
“You want me to?” I asked. Because yeah, I fucking could.
“Sure. I’ll charge his siblings for the price of admission. That’ll be more fun than watching football.” Then he nodded to the chess set. “Besides, now you owe me a game, young lady.”
I took a deep breath.
I didn’t really want to sit back at the house by myself.
I wanted to play chess with Tim.
I wanted bacon and cinnamon rolls, and if I was being honest, I wanted to sit across the dinner table from Cameron and watch him with his parents and his siblings.
“You might regret inviting me,” I warned them.
Sheila laughed. “Oh honey, you haven’t even met half our kids yet. Even if you’re at your worst,” she set a hand on my arm and smiled, “we can take it. Why don’t you let us decide if it’s too much.”
Chapter 18
Cameron
Ivy: Please give your parents my regrets for missing dinner tonight. Something came up.
I fought a frown, but Ian saw my face anyway.
“She’s bailing, isn’t she,” he said. “I told you she’d bail.”
Mom sighed. “I’m sure she’s got a good reason.”
Ian opened his mouth, then caught sight of my glare and snapped his mouth shut.
Dad was in his chair, watching Parker and Beckett’s game. “What happened?”
I rolled my neck. “I haven’t asked yet.”
We paused while the Portland Voyagers offense took the field and the camera panned in on my youngest brother.
“Parker Wilder has been a critical part of this blistering Voyagers offense,” the announcer said. “He’s been absolutely unstoppable in the red zone this season, hasn’t he?”
“Absolutely. No one has been able to stop him. He’s faster than last season. Blocks like a linebacker when he needs to, and did you see that two point conversion last week? No one should have been able to catch that ball like he did. Amazing.”
The other announcer nodded. “I expect some more of those fireworks tonight too. Voyagers play their best when they’re coming from behind, and this ten point deficit should be easy for them to overcome with Parker lining up to the right there. Beckett Coleman is on the left, but Parker’s been the favorite target all season, and you can understand why.”
My brother needed a haircut, his eyes looked hard, and I wished he came home more, but something in my chest clenched at the sight of him, just like it always did when I realized just how fucking great he was doing.
Dad smiled. “He looks good, doesn’t he?”
Mom walked over to the chair and set her hand on Dad’s shoulder. “He does. He sent you a text earlier while you were sleeping. Said he’d score one for you.”
Dad closed his eyes and sighed. “That’s good. I won’t let him come back home unless he does.”
Poppy snorted.
I tapped out a reply on my phone.
