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“I’m happy to hang with you two,” Alex said, but he punctuated his remark with a snort. “Unless you keep doing that all night.”
We both turned our heads in his direction. “Doing what?” we asked at the same time.
“Gazing into each other’s eyes,” Alex teased.
I couldn’t keep the smirk off my lips. “We’ll try to behave.”
We made small talk through dinner and cleanup, then Lio announced he was going to the bakery to get Alex a birthday cake since he’d nearly burned the house down with the charcoal rectangle he’d set down in the sink.
“I don’t need a cake, Dad,” Alex protested.
Lio hooked an arm around his neck and kissed his temple. “My boy gets a cake.”
“Well, if you insist,” Alex said. “Can I have cookies and cream?”
“Certainly. You guys set up the Monopoly board.” When I mock groaned, Lio pointed at me and said, “And be ready to hand me your ass. Er, assets.”
Alex sighed heavily on his way out of the kitchen. “Don’t make it weird, Dad.”
“Too late,” I replied.
Lio rolled his eyes, grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter, and pecked a quick kiss against my lips before heading out.
“Is everything okay between you and Eric?” I asked when Alex returned with Monopoly. He owned about a dozen versions of the game, and he’d chosen theScooby Dooset. “You seemed sad when your dad mentioned he couldn’t make it.”
I thought he was going to shrug again, but Alex surprised me. He met my gaze head on and said, “Can you keep something to yourself?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the counter. “That depends on if your life is in danger. If so, I’ll sing like a canary to your mom, dad, and Russ.”
Alex smiled. “Fair enough. But no, my life isn’t in danger.” He reached inside the refrigerator, pulled out a soda, and took a long drink.
“Liquid courage?” I teased.
Alex set the can down and took a deep breath. “I’m having some issues at school.”
Narrowing my eyes, I said, “What kind of issues?”
“Some kids are regurgitating the crap their parents are spewing about my dad, and the attention makes Eric uncomfortable. He prefers not to be on anyone’s radar, and lately, hanging out with me has put a big fat target on him.”
“Are these cops’ kids? Is that why they’re harassing you?”
“Some of them are, but the others are just jealous about the attention I got with the ESPN footage. It’s mostly dumb bullshit.” Alex’s eyes widened. “Crap.”
I mimed zipping my lips about the curse word. The way I saw it, he was entitled to spew much worse. “Have any of them gotten physical? Do you feel unsafe?”
Alex shook his head vigorously. “No, Abe. No one has tried to hurt me, and I haven’t gone to the teachers about it because I don’t want to make the situation worse. They’ll call Mom and Dad, who will be upset their actions have caused me issues at school. This bullsh—”
“Shit,” I supplied for him.
“Yeah, it’ll blow over, and they’ll eat crow when my parents are proven right.”
I loved Alex’s faith in his parents and wondered what it must be like. It reminded me of the unopened envelope with my mother’s contact information. I’d slipped it into my desk until I decided what to do about it…if anything at all.
“You won’t say anything, will you?” Alex asked.
“Promise me you’ll turn to your parents, the school administration, or me if this gets out of control.”
“I promise, Abe.”
