Page 34 of Playing for Keeps

I’m sweating, exhausted, and overjoyed when the final family clears out. Lucia grabs at her lower back, and Omar whistles. “Great job today, team. Emerson, you good?”

I smile and sit cross-legged on the stage. “I’m great. When do you need help next?”

Omar laughs. “Um, every day? All day? Seriously. How much time you got?”

I explain that I’m currently not employed. “Music is incredibly important to me. I have both the time and enthusiasm. I want to help!”

Lucia starts gathering her things, shaking her head. “Well, I don’t know what we did to deserve you, but we’ll take it, Emerson. See you tomorrow afternoon?”

The academy is an out-of-school organization, so their hours are naturally in the evenings. I’m a little wary of cutting into time I could be spending with Gunnar, but I don’t have the time to unpack that urge. “You bet,” I tell Lucia. “Can’t wait.” And it’s true.

I walk outside, determined to figure out which bus to catch toward my apartment. I looked up the routes, and I’m pretty sure I can catch an 88 every few minutes at this time of day. But I’m thwarted by a pleasant honk and a woman leaning out of her car window, hollering my name.

It’s Gunnar’s mom.

“Juniper?” I walk toward her black SUV.

She beams. “Gunny said you might need a ride home. I wasn’t sure when you’d be finished. Hop in!”

My mouth drops open, but I walk around to the passenger side and climb aboard. The vehicle smells like food…and my mouth waters immediately. Juniper smiles. “You hungry? I thought maybe we could eat some pho and chat.” My stomach gurgles loudly, and we both laugh. “That settles it, then.”

She starts to drive. I tap my hands on the bag on my lap. “You’re not going to the Fury game? Aren’t all three of the guys playing?”

“Meh. They have plenty of games. I let go of the guilt about missing their games a long time ago. We’ll watch it on the TV, of course.” She smiles.

I nod. “Of course.”

Juniper asks me how things went at the music school, and I talk her ear off during the drive, telling her about all the joy they showed in their instruments. “And the music selection is so fun! They’re playing a song about hot dogs.”

Juniper parks on the street and grabs a takeout bag from the back seat. “Nothing like a song about food to put everyone in a great mood.”

Up in the apartment, I can tell that she’s used to moving about this space, but she hesitates midway through setting up the game on the giant TV. “I’m sorry,” she says. “This is your house, and I’m barging in as if I own the place.”

I shake my head. “Not at all. I don’t know how that thing works anyway.”

She laughs and gets back to work, pulling up the game, while I grab us bowls and silverware. I appreciate how Juniper sets up the food on the coffee table, where we can be comfortable eating on the couch. This family is so casual yet so intimate. It’s easy to feel good around them. It makes me realize how much of my life I’ve spent feeling bad.

“Do you eat meat? I wasn’t sure, so I got one chicken and one veggie. We can split them…”

“Mmm,” I interject. “I eat everything.” We work together, scooping the soup into two giant bowls, along with the rice noodles, bean sprouts, basil, and lime. Juniper dumps hot sauce into her soup and offers me a packet, but I scrunch up my nose and shake my head. “Okay, so I don’t eateverything.”

We’re quiet as we watch Gunnar, Alder, and Tucker being announced as starters, and Juniper eats a big bite of her soup before saying, “I was so sorry to hear about the article. Gunnar’s Uncle Tim asked me to share that he is ready to help, legally, however you might need. You know, he’s already Gunnar’s lawyer, so he’s pretty looped in.”

I furrow my brow. “Legally? What would that mean?”

She leans back against the couch and takes a slurp of broth. Swallowing, she says, “Things might get dicey if your family wants to retaliate against whoever wrote the article.” My expression must reveal my unease about the whole situation because Juniper squeezes my leg. “I want you to know we’ve fought this kind of crap before, and our family is here for you, okay?”

My throat is dry, and I take a sip of my soup, not sure what to respond to her offer. “I don’t even know what I would do. I’ve just been hoping it will all die down.” I haven’t answered my parents’ calls, and the longer I avoid speaking to them, the more I realize that it’s a healthy choice for me right now. I have space here to discover what I like, to eat when I’m hungry, and to wear clothes that make me feel good.

I know I stumbled into this as a drunken mistake, but every day in Pittsburgh feels more and more like I have finally found my real life—the one I’m meant to live.

Juniper sighs. “Honey, I don’t think it will blow over so easily. I haven’t met your father, but I’ve met men like him.”

I frown. “Meaning?”

She looks at me, quite serious. “He’s wealthy and powerful, and someone is threatening that. When people feel threatened, they act in their own interests and often don’t consider the people they harm in their wake.”

Her words ring in the air as Gunnar blocks a shot on the ice, and the announcer screams his name. We hear a roar from the crowd that continues as the camera zooms in on him. He’s smiling—beaming, really. I know in my gut that my father will attempt to wipe that expression from his face.

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