Page 15 of The Goat in the Bedroom
“Final Kingman family game night,” I grinned. “One last chance to destroy you all before Flynn and I become Los Angeles residents.”
“Oh, you're going down, little brother,” Declan said immediately.
Hayes pointed my way. “I've been practicing my trash talk.”
“I get the lucky pillow,” Everett said and literally held the green throw pillow over his head like he'd been planning this all day.
“Cheater,” the rest of us all declared in unison.
As my family dissolved into the familiar chaos of competitive planning and good-natured insults, I felt some of the tightness in my chest ease. Tomorrow night, we'd have one more evening of this. One more game night with the lucky pillow and ridiculous arguments and everyone trying to cheat at board games.
One more night to tuck into my heart before we left our home behind.
THE LAST HUDDLE
ARTEMIS
The chaos of Kingman family game night was just as fun as the first scrum of a game, and it hit me before I even made it through the door of the Cool Beans coffee shop. Through the windows, the Kingman brothers were already deep in heated debate about something, hands waving dramatically while Jules stood on a chair orchestrating whatever insanity was about to unfold.
Liam and George, Willa's guncles who owned the coffee shop, were bustling around setting up tables and looking absolutely delighted to be hosting what they'd dubbed “The Last Huddle.”
The Kingman family operated at a volume that would have given my mother a migraine. She liked order and stability. My dad would have fit in better. He had that touch of chaos about his life. As demonstrated by the way he’d called me at two in the morning his time while I’d been on my way to game night.
“With this new job coaching the lads,” my dad said, “you and I just might get to meet up at the next Olympics, hen. Wouldna that be a lark?”
The Scottish men’s rugby team was lucky to have my dad as a new coach this year. Just the prestige of having him on staff would draw in the kind of players they wanted.
“Yep. It’s the best kind of excuse to get together.” I hadn’t seen him since I graduated from high school, and even then it was just for a few days.
“You sure you don’t want to come play for good ole Caledonia? I’d love to have you back home now that you’re out on your own. You could just squeak in under the three-year rule in time for the next games.”
Scotland hadn’t been my home in a long time. But moving thirteen times in thirteen years had taught me well that teams, friends, and even family were fleeting.
“You coming in, or are you planning to stand out there all night like a creeper?” Gryff's voice made me jump. He stuck his head out the door to catch me lurking outside while I finished up my call.
I covered the phone and faux glared at him. “You're the creeper.”
He snorted and said, “Your face is a creeper.”
“I’ve got to run, da. I’ll think about Scotland, okay? Love you, bye.”
“Haste ye back, love.”
The moment we walked through the door, the chaos enveloped us like a bear hug. Chris and Declan were arguing about board game superiority while Everett set up what looked like a complex scoring system. Hayes was stress-eating cookies, and Isak was filming everything on his phone.
“The natives are restless tonight,” Willa observed, appearing at my elbow with a fancy tea latte. “Apparently the stakes are higher because it's the last game night before you guys abandon us for California.”
“We're not abandoning anyone,” Flynn said, emerging with an armload of board games. “We're just... expanding our territory.”
My usual spot was between Gryff and whoever he was getting too competitive with, which was usually Flynn. Tonight I was surrounded by a half a room of Kingman Queens. And any last vestiges of tension and stress I’d been carrying just kind of melted away.
It was the same way I felt when I was on the rugby pitch with my girls. There weren’t a whole lot of places in the world where I didn’t have to think about how my body was going to fit.
I spent quite a few Sunday evenings just like this, and I liked feeling it was where I belonged, even if it was only for the night.
Bridger let out one of those sharp two-finger whistles which had everyone shutting up and sitting down real fast. His coach voice cutting through the remaining chatter immediately. “Before we commence with the traditional family bonding through competitive gaming, I want to tell you kids a few things because we don't know the next time we might all be in the same room together like this.”
Gryff grabbed my hand underneath the table. His family meant everything to him and this had to be hard on him. I squeezed his hand back and for the first time it hit me that this move to LA was going to upend his world. A whole lot more than it would mine.
