The Game Changer The Final Score - By L.M. Trio Page 0,103

that?” Mikey asks. “It’s your house, too.” The tension is so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

I can tell Deanna is annoyed by Luke’s tone and I also know she can be spiteful when she wants to be. She reaches over and tangles her fingers with Mikey’s. He doesn’t pull away, but looks totally uncomfortable. She asks why we are out so early and I tell her we were on our way to the store.

“It’s not that early,” Luke responds arrogantly.

“What is your problem, Luke?” Deanna asks.

“Yeah, sorry. This is just too fuckin’ weird for me,” he replies cockily as he walks off towards his bedroom.

“Yeah, I know what you mean, it was weird for me too when you started sleeping with my best friend!” Deanna shouts back angrily.

Mikey shushes her by covering her mouth with his hand. “You shouldn’t have said that,” He tries to calm her down.

“Well, he needs to get over it. I was happy for him when I found out about JJ.”

“That’s true. It’s not like he didn’t know about the two of you… I’ll go talk to him,” I jump in, coming to De’s defense.

“Knowing it and seeing it are two different things. I’ll go,” Mikey says, getting up from the table. “Go easy on him,” he tells De, kissing her lips as he heads into the bedroom.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” De apologizes to me. “But really, what’s his problem? He saw us leave together last night.”

“I know. He’s fine. I think Mikey’s right. Probably if he saw ya’s out to dinner first, or hanging out as a couple, it may have been a little easier to swallow than walking in on you in the morning half undressed.” I laugh. “I texted you both to warn you.”

“We turned our phones off.” She laughs. “Oh great, I don’t need my brother saying anything that’s going to freak him out again,” she whispers to me, nodding towards the bedroom. “You have no idea what I went through with him last night in the beginning.” De gives me the in-depth details of how he panicked last night and was nervous to sleep with her.

“You mean our little Mr. Hotshot bragger backed out?”

“Yes… almost. Probably for the first time in his life, too!” We both begin laughing. “I was ready to kill him. We ended up talking for almost an hour, and then finally, he got his little arrogant self back and got over it. The rest of the night and morning was great.” De says, giving me a wink.

***

(Mikey)

Luke is pulling a box from his top shelf in the closet when I walk in.

“Yo, bud,” I say quietly. “Sorry about that.”

“Nah, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. De’s right. She was cool when she found out about JJ. She didn’t quite have to put it like she did, though. I could have lived without the visual.”

I laugh. “I know, I told her to go easy on you. Please tell me you know that I love her, right? You know this is not some casual thing for me.”

“You don’t even have to say it. I know that you would never even consider hooking up with her if you even had the littlest doubt about how you felt about her.”

“There’s no doubt. I swear I tried for years to avoid it. I told myself over and over, no way, but no matter where she is—here, Arizona, where ever—I can’t shake the way I feel about her. I hated when she moved to Arizona, I hardly ever got to see her. The feelings didn’t go away, though, if anything, they got stronger.”

“I know the feeling.”

“I know you do. Every time you talked to me about JJ, I could relate. I just tried to play it off and act like you were crazy ‘cause I didn’t want to admit to myself or anyone else how I felt about her.” I knew Luke understood there was no need to plead my case to him. “So are we cool?” I ask, holding out my hand.

“Yeah, we’re cool.” He grabs my arm and gives me a pat on the back while the girls can be heard laughing hysterically in the other room.

“What are they laughing at?” Luke asks.

“I’d pretty much bet that DeDe is having a ball making fun of me.” I laugh.

Luke doesn’t question it, and I don’t elaborate. I relay my plans to fly out and meet the guy to get a better sense of