Page 111 of Sweeper
“Now you’re ghosting her?” Link asks, his brow furrowed.
“She made her decision last night,” I state, feeling my jaw muscle shift with agitation. “Hell, she made her decision last week. I was just too stupid to realize it. She’s not in love with me, and that’s that.”
Knight hits me with a flat look.
“Look, you weren’t there, you don’t know.” I wince when I think about how she looked at me like I was nothing more than a buddy she was helping out. It was soul-crushing.
“Okay,” he says, shifting off the cab to walk over to me. “Let’s just deal with one drama at a time today, okay?”
“Something new and different for me,” I reply with a laugh.
Knight shocks me by yanking me in for a hug. He slaps my back, then pulls back to stab a finger in my chest. “You got this.”
“Fuck yes, he does.” Link throws an arm around each of us and smiles. “We’d make a really sexy thruple, you guys.”
Knight and I both laugh and shove Link away.
“What?” he exclaims, looking offended.
“Get out of here.” I give him a playful kick in the ass as he slides back into the cab. “I’ll call you guys later.”
I wave them off and turn to make my way up the long gravel lane to the front entrance feeling like a kid walking in on my first day of school, hoping the kids all like me.
“Zander,” Vaughn says as he opens the door and walks out onto the front step with a smile. He pulls me into a hug and sighs. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
“Thanks for having me,” I respond, offering him a polite smile as we pull apart. I had no idea when I was just a footballer for his club that this guy was such a hugger. It will take some getting used to.
“Everyone’s waiting in the kitchen.” He gestures behind him. “Please come in.”
I follow him down the long marble hallway, my stomach a swirling vortex of fireworks. It’s really fucking weird to be nervous to see people you’ve already met before. But now that the truth is out, all our perspectives have changed. Like it or not, this will be weird.
Vaughn pushes open the door to the kitchen, and I swear it’s like a cheesy movie moment when the record scratches and everyone in the room freezes to gawk at me. Vaughn remains silent as he steps to the side, leaving me standing in the doorway, all on my own.
I open my mouth to break the silence when Tanner blurts out, “Well this is awkward as fuck.”
“Tanner,” Vi exclaims, coming out from behind the kitchen counter. She points at the jar on the table.
“The kids are all out in the woods. Surely the swear jar rule doesn’t apply when no kids are around.” Tanner turns his attention back to me. “What I meant to say was…welcome, Zander.”
I huff out a nervous laugh. “Thanks…but you’re right…this is awkward.”
“Well, come in,” Vi says, shuffling over to me. “I have tea on the table, and I think we should all sit down and have a proper chat.”
I nod gratefully and take the seat Vi points at in the middle of the long table. She sits down beside me, and I glance outside, wondering where everyone else is.
“Where is everyone?” I ask, glancing up at Vaughn, who takes the chair directly across from me.
“Hayden and the girls are all outside with the children,” he replies, splaying his hands on the table in front of him. “A few years back, Booker and the boys built a playhouse deeper into the woods out back, and since it’s not horribly cold today, we thought it’d be good for them to be out there to give us all a bit of privacy to talk.”
“I see,” I say, discreetly wiping my sweaty palms off on my jeans before taking the cup of tea Vi has just poured me.
My gaze moves around the table to silently gauge everyone’s current mood. Gareth lowers himself to the left of Vaughn and has a very stoic look on his face that I can’t quite read. Camden is by Gareth and sporting an easy grin, like this is just a normal Sunday. Tanner is at the end of the table by Cam and more focused on the bowl of nuts in front of him than the fact that he has a new half brother in the room. Vi seems nice and welcoming beside me, her smile genuine, but I can see the stress behind her eyes.
Booker finally joins us on the other side of Vaughn, and his mood is markedly more withdrawn than everyone else. I came in today knowing that I have a lot to atone for with him.
I swallow the knot in my throat and direct my attention to him. “Booker, I’d like to apologize to you first if it’s okay.”
Booker’s eyes snap up to mine before looking around the table nervously. “Me? What for?”
