“You showed up on hell day,” I told her.
“What?”
“We all get guilted, bribed, screwed—you choose the right verb—into going to everyone’s house and helping them tear down their fucking Christmas trees.”
She laughed. “Who’s everyone?”
“God, aunts, grandmas, the works.”
“Why would you do this?” She looked up at me with a crooked smile, like she was amazed I’d do anything my family wanted.
“Food. Drink. Family.”
“Aw. I see now.” She was grinning at me.
“You keep looking at me like that, and I’m locking the door, tying you to the bed, and telling everyone to go to hell.”
“Promises, promises,” she said as she drifted by me, opening the door and sauntering out before I could stop her.
I caught up in time to smack her on the ass and whispered in her ear, “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
She had the audacity to wink at me. Fire and ice. She and I.
In the living room, all the cousins were scooping food from the buffet of appetizers Mom had laid out on the counter. Mom had all the storage boxes lined up, ready to go. The work would be over in minutes before we moved on to the next house and the next. We’d end the night at Aunt Cam’s, and I’d try to sneak the notebook back into Blake’s office if I could.
My little sister, Eliza, was finally there with her hulk of a boyfriend at her side. His brown skin was more muscled than the last time I’d seen him, and his shaved black hair declared his soon-to-be-military status. Mom had tried to hide the hurt and sorrow at not having Eliza home for Christmas. She’d tried to reason with herself, and anyone who mentioned it, that it was hard on Eliza with him shipping out for pilot school with the Air Force right after the holidays. Especially after he’d just returned from pilot screening in Colorado. It was going to be pretty much impossible for him to come to see Eliza during the next few years. We were all counting the days on their long-distance relationship, knowing we’d be there to pick up the pieces for her when they fell.
“Twerp-ette,” I said, grabbing her and hugging her to me.
“Darth!” she said, hugging me back. She’d been calling me Darth Vader as long as I could remember, and she wasn’t wrong. I probably would have been drawn to the dark side if I’d lived in a Star Wars movie.
“We missed you,” I told her, assessing her gray eyes, black hair, and pale skin to see if she was okay or about to run for the hills as Eliza could sometimes do.
She slugged my shoulder with a smile that relieved me. “Wow, getting all mushy on me now? Who are you, and what have you done with my real brother?”
Then, she turned to Maleena and hugged her. With everyone but Mayson at UTK, it meant Maleena knew most of my siblings and cousins. My family just hadn’t known Maleena and I were more than friends.
“I didn’t know you were here. Merry Christmas,” Eliza said to Maleena.
“Didn’t know who was here?” Mama asked, coming out of the kitchen to take in Maleena for the first time. “Maleena! When did you get here?”
“I’d say a couple of hours ago,” Ginny replied dryly.
I just grinned and winked at my twin, and she rolled her eyes at me again. Eyes that were just like mine. We both looked like Mama more than Dad. Ginny was just shorter and wiser than I’d ever be.
Mama hugged Maleena, and they talked Christmas while I sat on the arm of the couch and watched the woman I loved interacting with my family as if she was one of them. Like I wanted her to be. Like I hoped she would be for the rest of our lives.
The thought entered my head that I might just need to ask Stephen where he’d gotten Khiley’s ring. Maybe I needed one of my own before she graduated and moved on to some pro team’s management office. I was asshole enough to want everyone who met her to know she was mine. Truth was, I was hers, too. It worked both ways. I wanted the world to know we were each other’s.
While we ate, I noticed Eliza and Brett were both quieter than normal. Neither one of them was the life of any party, but there was some weird vibe between them today. I wasn’t the only one to notice. Ginny had caught on as well. Something was up. Something Eliza didn’t want everyone to know, and I hoped to God we wouldn’t have another pregnancy announcement. Especially because none of us were sure Brett and Eliza were going to last past his time in Texas. Having a baby with him wouldn’t be the positive thing that Khi and Stephen’s was. Plus, I wasn’t sure the parents and grandparents could handle any more shocks, and I still had one of my own to announce.
When the rest of the crowd showed up, including the entire set of cousins, parents, and grandparents that had been at Christmas dinner the night before, the conversation got louder than a locker room, and the tree was deflowered in less than fifteen minutes.
We donned our coats and scarves and were about ready to walk across the path to Uncle Lonnie and Aunt Wynn’s house when Maleena halted everyone.
“Ty has something he needs to say,” she announced, elbowing me.
“What?” I growled. I was going to tell them, but I hadn’t planned on telling them amid our annual anti-holidayification party.
“Just rip off the bandage, QB. Isn’t that what you always say to do?” she said, winking.
Goddamn, she was right, as usual.
I looked at Mama and Dad. Leaving school in the middle of my junior year certainly wasn’t what they wanted for me. But it wasn’t like they were out of pocket for it. My football scholarship had paid my way.
“I’m declaring,” I said.
It was silent. The noise that had been in the house just moments ago all but disappeared.
“Declaring what?” Grandma Swayne asked.
“Entering the football draft. Declaring,” I told her.
Mama frowned. “But that means you can’t finish college.”
I didn’t say anything. It was true.
Dad put his arm around Mama, drawing her to him, communicating with her in that way they’d always done, without words. It was something I understood now, because I swore Maleena and I could do the same thing. Like how I’d known she was full of conflict when she’d shown up in my room earlier.
“What’s the rush?” Dad asked.
“School should come first. You can’t play football forever,” Grandpa Swayne said.
I ignored him and looked at my dad, who understood an obsession and living for your dream. “We’re losing most of our offensive line, and the ones coming up aren’t half as good. We still don’t have a defense or a defensive line coach, for that matter. I don’t want my collegiate career to end on a season worse than this one. And I certainly don’t want to stay on a line where I could get hurt. I just feel like I have a better chance now.”
“What does your dad think about this?” Uncle Lonnie asked Maleena.
“My dad is devastated,” Maleena spoke the truth. It was why I loved her, but it also made my chest ache again at the thought of disappointing Coach. “But I think he understands. He’s trying to figure out a way to have a team that would be worthy of Ty staying.”