Page 28 of Hello Forever
The reply was swift.No worries. There are six of us here. See you in the saltmines.
I wondered who the six were, and if Axel wasamongthem.
Sigh.
The waitress delivered our food, and Jareddugin.
“I’m going to call Dad,”Isaid.
“Why?” He looked upsharply.
“Trust me. I won’t throw you under the bus.” I dialed, and the old grouch answered on the third ring. “Hey, Dad,” I said, keeping my voice light. “I’m sitting here at the diner with Jared, and I realized it was getting late. You don’t have to wait up, I’ll drop him home withinthehour.”
There was a pause on his end of the line. “I thought he was at a friend’shouse.”
“He was. But I wanted to see him. I had to break the news that Amy and I broke up.” This was my strategy—throwingmyselfunder the bus. But he was going to hear about it eventually. Probably from Scotty, who had nofilter.
Two birds. Onestone.
“What?” my dad snapped. “Youcheat?”
Jesus Christ. My family watched too many movies. “Sorry to disappoint you, but there’s no real story here.” And notice that nobody said,Hey Cax, we’re sorry. This must be roughonyou.
My father gave an unintelligible grunt. “You’re bringing thekidhome?”
“Sure thing. After he eats hispancakes.”
“Allright.”
I knew better than to expect a “Thanks, Cax. You’re a good brother and an asset to the family.” “Goodnight,”Isaid.
“G’night.”Click.
I sighed. “Okay. Eat slowly. He’ll go to bed because he knows I’ve got you covered. You won’t even have to pretend to besober.”
Jared put an elbow on the table and lifted his eyes to mine. “Thankyou.”
Aw. There it was. “You’re welcome. If you get into a situation, you canalwayscall me.” I resisted the urge to lecture him about drinking. Tonight he just needed to know that I’d show up to bail him out. Tomorrow I could give him thelecture.
After he cleaned his plate, I drove him to the all-night pharmacy for some Advil and some breath mints, just in case our father wasn’tasleep.
Then I took my brother home and told him I loved him as he got out of the car. And even though he didn’t say it back, I heard itanyway.
ChapterTen
Axel
Cax didn’t showup at the bar thatnight.
I had a very pleasant time drinking with Boz and a few other guys, but it bothered me that Cax hadn’t come. He’d played a hell of a ball game, and he hadn’t shied away from me in the gym. Was it really too risky to share a beer in a crowded sports bar with the gay guy? Orguys, if we were countingJason.
It was a fun time. Having Cax there would have made itperfect.
The next morning I emailed him from my personal account. Smack talk, ofcourse.
Axeldental:Well, you aren’t QUITE as easy to beat at bball as you usedtobe.
The reply didn’ttakelong.
