We have an away game on Thursday, and I spend the days leading up to it feeling off and not sure why. Other than a shiner that Piper helps her cover with makeup, Everly is fine. Or that’s the story everyone keeps telling me. Despite the good conversation we had the night of the ‘blow job decking incident’ as Ash has started calling it (cringe), we haven’t really spoken since then.
Sure, we do the usual small talk, but neither of us seems to know how to navigate things anymore.
On Wednesday, Piper and Everly are sitting at the dining room table with a stack of college brochures next to Piper’s open laptop. I kiss Piper and then take a seat next to Everly.
“Heard anything back yet?” I ask my sister.
“Not yet.” She shakes her head. “But Piper got into Madison.”
“Wisconsin?” My gaze snaps to Piper.
She looks away quickly as she responds, “I applied to a bunch of places just so I’d have options.”
“Their campus looks gorgeous, and you’d be close to Milwaukee which is so cool,” Everly adds.
“Congratulations.” The information catches me off guard, but I wrap both arms around her in a loose hug. I’m sweaty from working on my car in the garage.
She waves it off but doesn’t pull away as I lean in for another kiss. I don’t press on Madison, for now.
“What about you?” I ask Everly. “Do you have a favorite yet?”
“I’m going to whichever one will take me, assuming any of them will.”
“You’re gonna get in somewhere,” Piper reassures her. I hope she’s right. I think it hit me this week how important it is for her to do something. I’m not saying it has to be college, but since she doesn’t seem to know what it is she does want to do yet, then I think college is the safest bet.
Grace comes over after dinner and the two of them spread out in the living room to do homework. Piper pulls me upstairs with a knowing smile.
“She’s not going anywhere,” she says once we’re in my room. I leave the door open and can faintly hear them talking downstairs.
I lay on the bed with my back resting against the headboard. “I can’t shake this awful feeling. Not just about Everly. It’s just everything.”
She sits next to me and curls up with her head resting on my chest. “You have a lot going on.”
“Yeah,” I hum my agreement at the same time Piper’s phone pings.
“That’s going to be Heather. I promised her I’d swing by and hang out for a little bit,” she says without checking. She hasn’t seemed to want to leave Everly’s side any more than I have this week, but since I’m going to be gone the next two days, I encouraged her to take the night off and get out. She never complains about how we rarely go out (and the one time we did we came back to chaos), but I don’t want to lose her as my girlfriend because I hired her to be the nanny.
“Go ahead. I’m going to shower and go to bed early.”
She moves onto her stomach so she can look at me. Her face is inches from mine. “Can I wake you up when I get home?”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t,” I tell her honestly.
She wiggles closer until her lips touch mine. I could get lost in her kisses right now, but if I do then she might never leave.
I lean forward to kiss her quick and hard, then sit up and force her to her feet.
She lingers another moment, stealing another kiss. “Okay. I’m going. Call me if you need anything.”
“I will.” I absolutely won’t. She’s been a saint, and obviously the lines are blurred on what she does for Everly, and what she feels like she should do as my girlfriend, but I think the shit with Everly has exceeded what any rational person would sign up for on either front.
We split our away games, winning in Toronto and losing in Vancouver. The road was good to clear my head a bit. Everly is staying at Grace’s house tonight, and I’m anxious to get back, kiss my girl, and show her how much I missed her. Her old roommates are having a party, and she’s been torturing me with dress and shoe options the entire time I’ve been gone.
I’m sitting next to Declan on the plane back to Minnesota. He has a tablet in hand, watching video of his time on the ice, but when I call Everly to check in, he pops his head over.
“Hey, Little Sharpie.”
“Hi, Declan.” I don’t miss how her greeting to him is way friendlier than the one I got.
With him listening in, she gives us a few more minutes of her attention before she says, “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“I don’t know how you do it,” I say to Declan when she hangs up. “You’re the teenage whisperer.”
He grins. “I was a hellion at that age. She just wants to be taken seriously and feel like she has some control when everything feels out of control, you know?”
“Well, I know I’ve said it before, but I really appreciate everything you’ve done for her. She looks up to you a lot.”
He nods slowly and works his jaw back and forth. “I’m no role model, but I’m happy to help. We all are.”
A rueful laugh escapes my lips.
He drops the tablet to his lap and sits straighter in his seat. “I’m serious. We’re a team, a family. I don’t know about you but it’s a hell of a lot better family than I had growing up. So it’s no big deal, Ty. If you need something, we’re here. No tally. No judgment. We’re just here. We look out for one another and we do it without a second thought because we’re all used to doing what needs to be done.”
His words silence me. I give him a nod and he goes back to his tablet while I close my eyes and mull over everything he said.
I doze off and wake to my name being called, and an elbow to my bicep.
“Wake up, Ty.”
Sitting up, I look around. “Are we back already?”
Damn, it feels like we just took off.
“No,” Declan says. “They’re grounding us in Spokane.”
“What?” I crane my neck toward the front. “Why?”
“They have to check something on the plane. Not sure. Looks like we won’t be back until morning.”
“No.” I get up from my seat and move up to talk to Jack.
“Hey, Rook.” He tips his head in greeting.
I skip all niceties. “Can’t we take another plane back tonight?”
“Everyone’s tired,” he says. “We weren’t going to get back until late anyway. Is Everly expecting you?”
“No.” I shake my head. “She’s staying with a friend.”
He lifts a brow.
“A girl friend. She’s good, but I was supposed to stop by a party with Piper.”
“She’ll understand.”
He’s right. She will, but I hate that I’m constantly having to disappoint her or change things up. Everything has to revolve around me and my schedule and my sister, and it feels like four years ago all over again.
