had been really concerned about me after Brooklyn died. And I hadn’t wanted to talk about it. So I pretended I was fine. And I was pretty sure that he pretended that he thought I was fine. But it worked for us.
I lifted up the scotch they’d ordered me and tried to ignore how awkward it was that James hadn’t said a word since I’d arrived.
“Did you finish all those papers you had to grade?” I finally asked him, hoping to break the awkward silence.
“Yup,” James said, his eyes trained on me. But he surprisingly didn’t look mad at all. If anything, he looked…happy?
Why did he look so happy? I was pretty sure it was because he was about to try to break my nose.
“How was the game last night?” James asked.
“Good. We won again. Undefeated so far.” I stared at him, waiting for him to punch me in the face or something, but he just smiled. Weird. “It might be fun if you guys came to a game one of these days.”
“The Untouchables back at it again?” Rob said and slung his arm around my neck before hugging James and doing a weird handshake with Mason.
No one called us the Untouchables anymore. Not after we all realized that we weren’t untouchable back in high school. That real life could break through a good last name and an exorbitant amount of money. I’d learned the lesson the hardest.
“Sorry I’m late,” Rob said. “I swear RJ is actually aiming to kill me. Whenever I change his diaper it’s like a freaking golden shower.”
We all laughed, but I was pretty sure Mason and I looked more horrified than anything. We were the only ones without kids. Rob’s hair still looked wet and I had so many questions.
“I have so many questions,” Mason said, reading my mind.
“Right,” I said. “The most important being…did you shower after your kid’s golden shower or…”
“Of course I took a shower. RJ hit me right in the face.” He shook his head but he was smiling. “Straight shot into my left nostril.”
I laughed. “Why do you seem proud of that?”
“I think it means he’s going to be great at whatever sport he chooses. Don’t you think most kids just spray everything all over? My boy zeroes in on a target and hits it. He’s a total baller.”
James laughed. “Smart kid.”
Rob nodded. “I bet Liam just pisses all willy nilly without true purpose.”
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing. My son has never pissed in my face. I consider that a win.”
I had to agree with James on this one.
“Whatever,” Rob said. “Just wait until RJ makes varsity and Liam gets cut. Now enough about piss and back to Matt’s game. We really should all go to one. It would be fun.”
“I’m pretty busy on the weekends,” James said. Even though we were all sitting here together with nothing else to do on a Saturday night. But even as he said it, he still didn’t look pissed at me.
What was his game here? I’d snuck around behind his back with his wife. He should have been threatening to kill me by now. I shrugged. “Most of the games are on Fridays.” I didn’t really care if they came to my games though. And I also didn’t expect them to.
“Maybe we can come to the next one,” Rob said. “Geez, I haven’t stepped foot in Empire High since graduation. I bet the girls would like a tour. Do you think you can arrange for us to walk around the school?” he asked me.
“Yeah, probably.” As long as Jefferson stops putting dings in the principal’s car.
“Well, let us know. Even if James and Mason can’t make it, I’m sure I can convince Daphne to come with me. It would be fun. And it would be nice to have a familiar face in the crowd, huh?”
James didn’t mention the fact that Penny had already been to one of my games. And I wasn’t going to mention it either. I cleared my throat. “My parents come to some of the games. And Tanner always comes.”
“Tanner?” Rob shook his head. “Psh. That guy.”
I laughed. “I really don’t understand what you have against him.”
Rob stared at me like I was insane. “He’s just so…Tannery.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I know you guys don’t believe me, but I swear I’ve seen him rocking a man bun walking around the city in a neon green tux. And these weird little goblin shoes.”