Page 33 of Ours to Lose
“What for?”
“Game night!” Dad called from the stairs. He clapped Evan on the shoulders as he joined us in the kitchen. “We needed a fourth.”
Game “night” was a loose term, given it was eleven thirty in the morning. They’d been in the actual evening growing up until Aubrey got her first job at a restaurant, and then Saturday game nights had turned into to Sunday game afternoons. I’d already gone pro by then, so I hadn’t been here for as many, but Aubrey still came every week.
My skin buzzed as if I’d downed two energy drinks, just knowing she’d be here soon. Somehow, it also grounded me.
Being around her calmed the restlessness of being home, made it easier to sit in the here and now instead of drowning in the past. Especially now that our friendship had taken a new step. Yesterday’s conversation had solidified it into something I could grip almost as fully as the cool glass in my hands.
It hadn’t been that way before. She and Evan had been inseparable since the day they first met, not just like brother and sister but more like twins. The kind of connection that didn’t need words. She sat right next to him in my childhood memories, a flash of blond hair and big teeth whose bubbly laughter followed wherever they ran.
She’d always been a little shy around me as a kid and had definitely had a crush on me at one point. I’d found it cute. Had liked having her around, brightening the room with her smile.
But I’d never seen her as my sister. Maybe because I’d always associated her as Evan’s. Not like she belonged to him, but like they belonged to each other. He was her family, so she became mine—all of ours. And the role I took on was looking after them both. Making sure no one picked on them. Helping her open up by making her laugh. Making sure she knew she had a place with us.
Now it was like I was finally getting a piece of her that was mine. Not one that relied on Evan tying it together. As much as we’d already had that from our texts, getting to have it in person made it feel real.
“We play with three all the time,” Evan challenged, not sharing Dad’s enthusiasm at my presence.
Dad waved him away. “It’s always better with four.”
Evan’s face told a different story, but he didn’t bother arguing.
I gestured to Dad. “Before I forget, Diego will have tickets for me this week. Let me know how many you want.”
Diego had agreed to let me into the tournament, but my spot wouldn’t be final unless I sold fifty tickets for the event. Not all the fighters had to do it, but my name wasn’t as big a pull now that I’d been out of the game for a while. They needed to know I could still put butts in seats, even if it meant me hunting them down myself.
“I’ll tell Rudy and the guys. They’ll probably all want one.”
“Tickets for what?” Evan asked.
Out in the hallway, the front door clicked, and I caught a flash of dark blond hair. My pulse stuttered before taking off at a run.
“Gabe’s fighting in a local tournament,” Dad replied, all enthusiasm.
My eyes were glued to the hallway behind them.
“Wait. Like a boxing tournament?” Evan said. “I thought you retired?”
Aubrey stepped into the kitchen, and the rest of the room shrank away to nothing. She squeezed behind Evan, a plastic container of cookies in hand.
Sable cookies. I knew without seeing them. Probably filled with chocolate, like the ones Mom used to make. Pretty much the only recipe Mom could pull off since it was one her own mom had taught her. She’d bake them every game night, with chocolate filling instead of jam, specifically for Aubrey, who’d eat more than her nine-year-old frame should have been able to fit in her stomach.
Her eyes brightened when she saw me, and she lifted her hand in a small wave.
All I could think of was that hand gripping my sweatshirt, her head on my shoulder, while I breathed in the scent of her coconut shampoo, feeling more at home with her in the silence of my old gym than I had at any point in the past two years.
“I did retire,” I answered Evan, keeping my scattered pulse hidden behind an easy tone. “The tournament is a one-time thing.”
“And you think jumping back in after two years away is smart? What about your shoulder?”
Aubrey’s smile faded as she picked up on the tension from Evan. I shifted my gaze to my brother.
“It’ll be fine as long as I’m careful. I have eight weeks to train. That’s plenty of time to get ready.” I’d stayed in decent shape during retirement, still running most days and regularly serving as a sparring partner for Noah and some other fighters while I was an assistant trainer for Coach Peters. I had a lot of work to put in the next couple of months, but I wasn’t starting at zero.
Evan didn’t seem to think so. He shook his head. “Whatever. I’m going to set up the cards.” He marched out the door to the dining room.
Aubrey shot me a sympathetic look. I wanted to pull her in for another hug and stay there for the next hour.
