Page 186 of The Fake Date Agreement

He gives me another probing look. “Fun?”

It’s been years since I talked about hockey being fun.

How did I not know that until now?

“Fun,” I say again, more firmly.

He looks around, taking in the empty stands and the banners covering the walls. “Just think. Two weeks from now, I’ll be lifting the trophy right here.”

I snort. “Course you will.”

We skate a bit, tussle a little more, and just enjoy the quiet.

“You’re right. I did meet a girl,” I eventually say.

Chris glances at me. “And?”

“She made me realize some things.”

“Like?”

I slam the puck into the goal. “I’ve been afraid I’d turn into Dad.”

“You’re the oldest. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.”

I glare at him.

He’s too busy whipping around the goal to notice. When he’s back beside me, his expression is thoughtful. “You’re nothing like Dad.”

“And you know this because…”

“You know what it’s like.” We both know what it’s like having a dad as obsessed about something as he was self-destructive.

“He was my hero.”

“He was both our heroes,” he says, looking down. “I guess all kids get to realize their parents are just regular people who fuck up and make mistakes eventually, right?”

“Right.”

We spend another twenty minutes on the ice. I asked him down here, thinking we’d play a quick game, but I’m not in the mood, and Chris is quiet. It’s not awkward or as uncomfortable as I thought, given it’s been weeks since we last talked.

“I gotta go if I want to dodge traffic,” Chris eventually says.

As we step off the ice and sit on the bench to remove our skates, he says, “I’m going to ask Cheryl to marry me.”

“The fuck you are.” I grin at him.

He drags a small black ring box out of his gym bag and flips it open. “See. Got the ring and everything. That’s why she’s not coming home with me for spring break. I want to tell Mom first.”

I look at the pink diamond ring, then I study my little brother and shake my head. “I’m happy for you.”

“She might say no.”

“She’ll say yes. You guys have been together forever.”

They met in the first year of high school, but her family moved away, though they kept in touch. When they went to the same college, they started dating again. I always suspected they’d eventually get married. I just didn’t think my nineteen-year-old brother would be ready to tie the knot so young.

He bends over, carefully tucking the box back in his bag. “I wasn’t going to ask because I thought I’d wind up like Dad, too, for a bit. Then I figure we both saw what it did to Mom, and there’s no way I could ever do that to someone or to my kid, you know?”

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