BLUE
Roby: Received the docs you scanned and emailed. Much appreciated. Stay safe out there and remember what I told you—don’t get too close.
Blue: Noted. Talk soon.
I set my phone on the desk and I’m so tempted to doze. Tonight’s game wore me out. Seeing Mike in the stands after I specifically told him not to come, I played a bit harder than usual. A bit more aggressive.
He’s been trying to get in good with me since weaseling his way back in a little more than a week ago, but the problem with that is that I don’t want him to try. The years I needed him to be a father, he chose to drown himself in booze. Now that I’m a breath away from college, he wants to make up for lost time.
No thanks.
Despite how hard I’m fighting it, my lids fall closed, but I’m startled awake when someone bangs the door with their fist. I’m off my bed and sprinting down the hallway before Mike or Scar can even get off the couch. They’ve been in the living room, talking and laughing since we got home, zoned out on some lame cartoon I was invited to watch. I suppose it goes without saying, but I gave that one a hard pass. Passed on the pizza he ordered, too, choosing to settle for ramen instead.
I make eye contact with him while walking between the couch and TV. He keeps throwing me the sad, puppy dog eyes, but every time I catch him doing it, I resist the urge to give him the finger.
Fuck him.
Fuck his weak apology.
Fuck him for getting inside Scar’s head.
I’m counting the days until he breaks her heart like he’s done a million times already.
Before he can ask me to join them again, I rush to the door and unlock it. Smiling as I let Ricky inside.
“Hey. Thanks for stopping by.”
“No problem.”
After speaking, he glares at Mike. Because Ricky’s been here for most of the shit my siblings and I have seen over the years, he holds the same grudge.
“We can talk in my room,” I say, knowing we’ll need a bit of privacy.
He trails behind me and a few seconds later, the TV’s muffled on the other side of my closed door.
Without asking, he drops down onto my bed. Old habits die hard, I guess. So, since he’s made himself at home, I sit at the desk.
“Good game tonight.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you made it.”
“You knew I would,” he says with a smile.
“Pretty sure I bruised that girl’s ribs, which wasn’t intentional. The game just got intense.”
“Or you got intense,” he counters, calling me on my shit.
“Guilty, I guess.”
He shakes his head and I’m recalling how many times I nearly got into fights over a game. I grew up playing with guys who didn’t take it easy on me at the court, so I’ve never been one to play a dainty game of ball. I come at the other team hard and fast, and I make no apologies for that.
“How’s Shane?” I ask, genuinely concerned with how he’s settling in. Puerto Rico is so far away.
Ricky shrugs. “As good as can be expected. Of course, he’s pissed about having to leave Scar and school, but he’ll be okay,” he reasons.
I nod, sympathizing with that in so many ways.
“He’ll adjust, make new friends.”
Ricky nods once, keeping his eyes trained on me. “Maybe, but your first love’s hard to get over.”
I draw in a deep breath and let my gaze slip to the floor, knowing we’re no longer talking about my sister and his brother. Which brings me to why I asked him to stop by.
“I hear you and West had a talk tonight.”
After speaking, I imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for both parties involved.
Ricky nods. “We did.”
“And… do you think it’s as crazy an idea as I do?”
He thinks for a moment. “When he first brought it up, yeah, but the more I thought about it, the less insane it seemed. Why? You don’t think it’ll work?”
“Do you?”
He gives a nonchalant shrug. “I’m… optimistically intrigued.”
I think I get what he means. “It’s not so much that I don’t think it’ll work. It’s just that the whole thing feels…”
“Awkward as fuck,” he cuts in when I can’t find the words.
His summation draws a laugh out of me. “That’s one way of putting it. I mean, this whole ‘four-step-plan’ has my head spinning, but West seems so certain this is what it’ll take for his dad to keep his distance.”
“Yeah, he filled me in on the steps part on my drive over here. We had to cut our first conversation short so no one would see.”
I smile at him a little when he finishes explaining. “I get the feeling you two talk more than I realize. Do I smell a bromance in the making?”
He cocks his head to the side, as if to suggest I’ve lost my mind.
“He’s not my type,” he teases as I laugh.
“Seriously, though, how’d you do with the whole ‘cousins’ thing? I imagine that had to be quite the surprise.”
When his chest rises with a deep breath, his expression says it all. Hearing the news about his grandfather was painful, but he’s not so naïve to think it’s impossible.
“Is what it is,” he says plainly, which is code for ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ for those of us who speak fluent Ricky.
I take the hint and move on.
“Well, how are you feeling about this? I mean, with our history and all. Are you—”
He cuts me off with a quiet laugh. “I’m cool, B. You don’t have to worry about me getting attached or getting my feelings hurt. I’m a big boy,” he adds.
I see he wants me to believe that, and I’m trying, but I know the real Ricky. He’s tough on the outside, and no one on the street would even consider crossing him, but he’s got a huge heart. And, as his friend, I’d never want to do something I think could hurt him.
“You’re not lying?”
He laughs again. “No, so stop asking all these damn questions.”
“Okay, okay.”
He peers up and I meet his gaze. “So, does this mean we’re doing this?” he asks, making me think long and hard about that before nodding.
“For Scar, for all those girls out there, yeah. I guess we are.”
He nods and stands from my bed. “Then, I’m in, too. When’s this whole thing supposed to kick off?”
At the thought of it—publicly humiliating West, pretending not to love him anymore—a heavy sigh leaves me before answering.
“Monday.”
Ricky seems okay with that. “Cool. Let the games begin.”
He puts on a tough act, but I can only hope he’s really this strong on the inside. I guess time will tell.
QweenPandora: Did I call it, or did I call it?
What started as just a seemingly innocent pop-up appearance made by SeXyBeAsT at tonight’s game, has turned into a shady rendezvous of sorts. Shout out to the follower who just sent this pic of him headed inside NewGirl’s house.
While we can’t be sure what went on once they were alone, we have our imaginations. Tell me, do you think there’s a scandal brewing in Cypress Pointe?
Let the speculation begin.
Later, Peeps.
—P
