Page 60 of The Incredible Ordinary

He opens one eye and peers at me. “Yeah. Just didn’t sleep well.”

“Everything okay?” I ask with a frown.

He’s quiet for a bit. It almost feels like he’s carefully picking his words. I’m not sure why he would, though.

“Kira stuff,” he eventually says. “It’s boring. Nothing important.”

“You sure? I’m not a great listener, but I’ll make an effort for you.”

He grins. “You’re not that bad.”

“Well, then lay it on me. Let’s see how I do with advice.”

He turns his head away and looks straight ahead, somewhere into the distance.

“Have you ever had a moment when…” He hesitates for a bit. “A moment when you think you’re in the right. When you think you did the right thing. And you’ve thought you did the right thing for a while, so you’re putting everything you have in you into proving that you’re right. But then it’s just one blow after another until you’re not sure anymore. Until you start to doubt yourself. And then you think, well, maybe that other person is right. Maybe you could’ve done things differently. Solved the situation differently. Maybe you should’ve just accepted that… things change and might not go your way.”

It takes me a while to process all that.

“I’m not gonna lie,” I eventually say. “That’s too cryptic to say anything of substance.”

He snorts out a laugh and shakes his head. “I annoyed myself while I was speaking.” He blows out a breath. “Just ignore me. I’m tired and it makes me overdramatic. It’s been a long day.”

I study him for a bit. “You sure?”

He nods, still with that frown on his face.

I don’t believe him.

“You know, I’m here if you’re ready to talk,” I say.

He blows out a breath and his shoulders relax. He sends me a look that’s pure gratitude.

“Thanks,” he says.

I squeeze his arm.

Coach blows his whistle, and the boys run to their water bottles. Rory’s still hovering on the edges of the group. But Theo’s also there. Hovering on the edges of Rory. And I’m here. Hovering on the edge of my seat.

“Do you ever wish you could just snap your fingers and fix everything? Make everything easy for him?” I gesture to the field. To Rory. To Theo.

“All the time. But that’s not how life works. He will stumble and fall and then get up and try again, and you’ll be the home base where he can recover from the bruises life gives him before he gets back out there. It’s how these things go.” He claps me on the shoulder, then keeps his hand there and squeezes. “You’ll be great.”

That’s the thing, though. I won’t be. I’m not going to be somebody else’s safe harbor. I can’t. I don’t know how. And Rory deserves somebody who won’t bail on him.

I won’t say any of that, though.

Not right now.

Not when Jordan is looking at me with that spark in his eyes. With all this unwarranted belief in me. Goddamnit. This is why I don’t make promises.

We sit and watch as the practice winds down, then we go help Chloe distribute snacks and clean up, then we’re standing outside the stadium gates, waiting for Rory and Theo.

“Hey,” Jordan says, “before I forget. Theo’s birthday party. He’s going to play laser tag with friends. Rory’s invited. We’ll have a smaller celebration the weekend after for family. Just dinner with everybody. I was wondering if you’d come too?”

I blink just from sheer surprise, speechless at the thought of being included in something like this.

“Are you sure?” I ask.