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“We haven’t really talked about it yet. But I think he might have changed his mind. We’ll figure it all out after the championship. He has a lot on his plate right now, and I don’t want to distract him. He already missed practice because he stayed with me for a couple of days . . .”
Her face lights up. “Oh, and—”
I hold my hand up. “Let me stop you right there. We kept it PG.”
Her face falls as she shakes her head.
“Sorry to disappoint,” I scoff.
“I mean, we’re talking about Wade Hunter.” She takes a sip of her coffee. “Let me live vicariously.”
I bark out a laugh. “You have a boyfriend! And from all the spicy details you’ve shared with me that I can’t un-know—thanks for that, by the way—you don’t need to live vicariously through me or anyone else.”
She rubs her bottom lip absently, and her cheeks turn a light pink. “I did share a lot, didn’t I?”
“You might have overshared just a bit, yeah. Especially considering he used to be my boss. Thank goodness he doesn’t work here anymore and I don’t have to see him every day.”
She cackles, then narrows her eyes at me behind her glasses. “Nice try. I’ll still want all the deets.”
With a roll of my eyes, I drink the last of my tea. My stomach flutters at her words. Because if I’m being completely honest, I can’t wait to get all the deets myself.
I’m turning off the lights in my bedroom, preparing to leave for the airport when the doorbell rings. Maybe Lina forgot something? She left only five minutes ago.
I open the door and muffle a gasp.
“Liam, what are you doing here?” I blurt. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he utters, wearing a ghost of a smile. “But aren’t I the one who should be asking you that?”
I stare at him for a second, trying to understand what he means. But then the recent memory of lying in a hospital bed comes to mind. “I’m fine, Liam. Really.”
He pushes through to my living room, which forces me to take a step back. “But sure, why don’t you come in?” I grumble. “It’s not like I have a plane to catch or anything.”
“Where are you going?” he asks, swinging around to face me.
“Paris. It’s the Champions League finals, remember?”
He scratches his eyebrow. “Oh, right. That’s tomorrow.”
Wait a minute. My brother’s favourite football team—and his favourite player—are participating in the most important game of the season, and he forgot?
“Liam, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he says. “Not with me, at least. You’re the one who exercised yourself to the hospital.”
My heart swells, any lingering frustration melting away. The fact that my brother is showing that he cares means more to me than he’ll ever know. We give each other crap all the time, but he’s still my baby brother, and I love him.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. “I know I’m a moron sometimes . . . I can’t help it.”
“What do you mean? Liam, what happened isn’t your fault. Dating Wade and being in the public eye has just put me under a lot of stress. It stirred up all my old insecurities.”
He tilts his head downward, not meeting my eyes. “I shouldn’t call you ‘Chubs.’ Sometimes, I forget how bad it got when we were younger. You’ve seemed so much better these past few years, I barely recalled it ever was an issue. You look amazing, Roxy. You don’t need to lose any weight.”
“Oh, Liam.” I shuffle a few steps toward him, my eyes watering. When I lace my arms around his neck, he draws me into a hug. I can’t remember the last time we embraced. It feels like a soothing balm on an old wound.
“Don’t feel bad,” I say once we break apart. “We’re siblings. Giving each other a hard time is what we do. I call you names all the time—knucklehead, moron, loser. But it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Even if you don’t brag about it, I know your final grade this year was 90 percent. I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you, Ch—sis,” he corrects himself, his cheeks reddening.
