Page 43 of Sportsball is for Lovers

“When’d you get so bossy?” I mumble, even though I already know I’ll go along with his insanity.

“Shut up and take it.” I can practically hear his grin.

“That’s my line,” I sass back, more out of habit than actual good humor.

“Hey, as long as she consents, I don’t care what she says,” he says.

The line is silent with static for a few moments.

“Thanks, Yo-yo,” I tell him quietly.

“We’re family. I’ll always be your soft place to land.”

I arrive in Boston with two suitcases, a backpack, and one hell of a junk-food hangover. After a three-day binge, my sugar is majorly out of whack. I think I can hear colors and smell sounds.

Yoni picks me up at baggage claim and immediately wraps me into a hug. Not a perfunctory man hug; this is a solid hug, arms wrapped around me, holding me tight.

“I’m sorry, Jare,” he says quietly. “But I’m glad you’re here.”

Inhaling sharply, I let the tension coiling within me release.

“Me, too, Yo-yo,” I admit. Getting fired fucking sucks.

My brother slaps my back. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Outside, we hail a ride-share and zoom toward the other side of the city.

“Gotta make a stop on the way,” Yoni mentions when the car pulls up outside a shawarma shop.

“What’s here?”

He knows I don’t like shawarma. It was pretty much the only thing I ate on my 14-day Birthright trip to Israel in college, and now just the sight of it makes me queasy.

“This is Sadie HQ,” Yoni says. “My computer was running an update so I couldn’t grab it before I left. There’s some admin I have to do tonight.”

Up a flight of stairs, he punches a code into the keypad and lets himself in.

Inside, the apartment is bright and airy. There are plants on the windowsill and portraits of flowers on the wall.

I swallow. “Is she here?” My heart is pounding at the thought of seeing her again, of being in her private space without her knowing.

“Nah, she’s at the bookstore,” he answers.

My stomach drops. Why am I so disappointed by that? Of course she’s not here. She has her own life.

I haven’t talked to her since I left her naked in her hotel room bed three weeks ago. Why would I? I don’t have her phone number and we aren’t friends. So we’ve hooked up a few times. It was fun. Great while it lasted. But it doesn’t need to happen again.

Especially now that I’m here, taking advantage of my brother’s generosity.

I don’t know why I suggested we keep in touch. The way she blew me off… I should have known I was reading too much into the situation. I always do.

He disappears into a back room. I hear him rummaging around for a few moments before he returns with a laptop in his hand. “All set. Hey, you want to grab dinner downstairs before we head out?”

I glare at him.

Yoni smirks. “Yeah, I thought so.”

Cuffing him gently behind the head, I hurry down the stairs again, his laughter echoing in the stairwell behind me.