Page 36 of Ours to Lose
“Have you heard from them lately?” Evan asked. “Your parents?” The anger had softened from his voice.
“Nothing since their lawyer informed me they were dropping the case.”
Nana had left me everything when she died, which hadn’t amounted to much aside from her house. She and my grandpa had bought it in the seventies, a few years before my mom was born, and Nana had maintained it as well as my grandpa had before he’d died. The resale value was high, and my parents thought they should be the ones who got to cash in on it. It turned out Nana hadn’t agreed.
I’d offered to sell the house to my parents, but it wasn’t the house they wanted. They hired a lawyer to contest the will, but Nana had changed it to make me her beneficiary almost ten years before she died, when I’d been twelve and she’d been of perfectly sound mind. They eventually gave up, at which point I sold it myself. It wasn’t home without Nana, and she’d want me to use the money to build my own future.
Unlike Gabe with his mom, my parents hadn’t made it to my grandma’s funeral. Hadn’t even tried to get leave. Last I heard, they were stationed in Hawaii.
“I’m sorry your parents are shitty,” Evan said.
I blew a bitter laugh through my nose. “Me too. Gabe’s not, though.”
Evan shot me a look before returning his eyes to the road. “You still have a crush on him or something?”
My stomach flipped, but I forced my voice even. “That ended when we were still in high school.”
A few resurfacing butterflies didn’t make it any less true. All the heated skin and restless energy I’d had in response to Gabe recently was just a holdover from the kiss, and the kiss had meant nothing. A simple favor between friends. I didn’t imagine him as Prince Charming and dream of marrying him anymore. And thoughts of anything else, I flung from my mind.
“He is my friend, though,” I added, “and even if you say different, I think you need him. I think you need each other. He’s your brother, and he loves you.”
I’d always wished for that sibling love—a built-in best friend who would stand by you no matter what and keep you from ever truly being alone. To a military brat who had no friends because I’d moved every two years when my parents got assigned to a new base, it was all I ever wanted.
Then my parents left me with my grandma, and I got Evan. He was my brother in all the ways that counted. And even still, what we had didn’t compare to the innate closeness he and Gabe shared throughout our childhood.
He could be pissed at Gabe all he wanted, but I wasn’t sure I could forgive him if he threw that kind of bond away.
I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Gabe.
Me:You okay?
He responded right away.
Gabe:All good
I doubted that, but then again, most of us hadn’t been all the way good for at least two years. Some days, good didn’t feel attainable anymore. Not when the people we loved most were missing.
Gabe didn’t have to deal with it alone anymore. I may have left with Evan, but I wanted him to know I was here for him too. Especially now that we’d gone all in on our friendship.
Me:Want to grab coffee tomorrow morning?
Another immediate response.
Gabe:Yes
Gabe:Where should I meet you? I can head there after my run
He’d start training for the tournament soon. More than the workouts he already did most weeks. I couldn’t be the one to whip him into shape, but I could support him in other ways.
Me:I’ll bring the drinks to you.
Chapter Nine
Gabe
My legs screamedas I sprinted the last few meters to the base of the museum steps, the brisk morning air burning my nose and throat on the way to my lungs and back out. As I crossed the invisible finish line, the rush of endorphins coated my muscles in relief. I slowed to a walk, my hands finding the top of my head, sweat dripping off my face, and cooled down in big circles.
It was still early enough that while plenty of cars were out, only a few other pedestrians dotted the museum’s courtyard. I liked to get here even earlier when I could. Just in time for the sun to crest the horizon and bathe the museum’s stone in orange light. I missed it this morning, in part because I’d gone to bed late.
