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“Had a game on Thursday, remember? Played San Diego. Threw six touchdown passes. I was amazing.”
“You always are.”
“I’m playing Miami next week. Why don’t you come? I’m sure I can get you on the team plane. I’ll say you’re my emotional support cousin.”
Laughter snorts through my nose as I flip my key in the door lock. “Can’t. I’m booked all week with personal training sessions.”
I can practically hear Conner grumbling inside his head. He’s been after me to take a job with the team forever but I don’t accept mercy paychecks and if not for him I’d have no interest in football.
“Guess what?” He flops down on my sagging sofa, taking up the entire thing.
I throw my gym bag in a corner. “I don’t like to guess.”
He rolls his eyes. “What crawled up your ass and died today? Luckily I’m in a good mood so I’ll just tell you. I’m buying a house.”
“Oh yeah?” Ever since returning to town last year to play for the Cyclones, Conner has been occupying a penthouse suite at the Palace Hotel downtown.
He leans forward with his elbows on his knees. “Gage and Dani have talked me into thinking on a more permanent level. It’s time to turn the page, get to the next chapter.”
Someone else might not notice the way his tone drops and his voice catches but I do. I’m not the only one who struggles with the weight of the past.
To state that our family history is kind of messy is like saying that there are a few stars in the sky.
There are countless stars. And there’s no end to the notorious disasters that have plagued our family.
Accidents. Betrayals. Scandals. Murders.
Stretching back through generations and casting a bleak shadow over those of us who are left.
What a crappy legacy.
Once when I was in a dark mood I told Dani that our family was cursed. I was drunk and feeling the melodrama.
I don’t really believe in curses. I believe in blood and suffering and pain and grief.
So does Conner.
He learned the truth about his mother the hard way. Aunt Edie, who had always seemed so silly and harmless, was busy leaving a trail of carnage in her wake when no one was paying attention. Then came the finale when she pulled a gun, shot her own son in the leg, then pitched headfirst off a tenth floor balcony.
Good times.
Our family.
And oh boy, did the press and social media have a field day with that story. Conner, being a pro sports hero in the public eye, will need to dodge questions about his mother forever.
Of course it’s taken a toll on him. How could it not?
He’s still Conner, still a goofy crack up who excels at busting my balls. But he’s quieter now, more serious. Sometimes I wonder if he really is okay like he insists. More than anyone, I would understand if he’s not.
“Then that’s good news,” I tell him. “You have a place picked out already?”
“Not yet. I was thinking Tess might help me look but I didn’t want to bother her in the middle of her dad’s campaign and-”
“Why Tess?” I don’t mean to ask the question so sharply. I just wasn’t expecting to hear her name.
His eyebrows shoot up. “Dani says Tess still has her realtor’s license. She ran Ballerini’s business for him for years back when he was West Emerald’s mayor, before he decided to have delusions of grandeur and become the emperor of Emerald City. Why, what’s the problem?”
“Nothing.” I start flicking the blinds open so he can’t see my face. “No problem.”
