Page 13 of Brick Wall

Annie

“ H ey! How did camp go?” Goldie questions with a mouthful of watermelon as I open the door to our apartment with my duffel bag over my shoulder. She’s wearing comfy pajama shorts and an oversized T-shirt, sitting at the countertop, and having some chips and salsa.

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m finally returning home after a long week away helping my brothers coach at their nonprofit summer camp.

I decided to stay over one more night since I ended up staying longer than I planned last night.

I’ll be doing it again next week, but it’s nice to be home for now to catch up with Goldie.

“Good!” I say, throwing the duffel in the corner, joining Goldie on a stool by the kitchen counter. I waste no time and steal a piece of watermelon from her plate. “Except my brother was trying to play matchmaker, of course.” I roll my eyes when I share the tidbit with Goldie.

She turns on her stool to make eye contact, and her attention is one hundred percent focused on me. “Ryan?” she accurately guesses, and I simply nod as my reply. “How did that go?”

“Poorly, as expected. Sebastian ignored it.”

“Did he ignore you?”

“Sebastian?” I clarify, and she confirms my question. “No, not really,” I admit. “He was polite, but not really interested.”

“Interested in you or the matchmaking?”

“Both, I think?” I say with some uncertainty, but I’m pretty sure he’s just not interested in me, which is fine.

He’s a very talented football player and an awesome person.

He can get any woman that comes his way.

Why would he be interested in me? It also doesn’t help that I have the world’s most annoying brothers to bring to the table.

“Well, he’s an idiot,” my gorgeous and loyal friend firmly states.

“Thank you.”

Goldie nods as she takes a sip of her drink.

“I should probably warn you…” Goldie says ominously. “Your brothers invited Sebastian to your thirtieth surprise party.”

I arch one eyebrow in surprise. Yes, I’m surprised he’s invited, and no, I’m not surprised about my upcoming surprise party.

I hate surprise parties, and Goldie told me in advance like a good friend.

Don’t worry, I have my surprise face all planned out, but I like to mentally prepare for the unknown when possible.

Plus, there’s a concert on the night of my surprise party that I wanted to go to, and I didn’t understand why Goldie wouldn’t go with me.

That’s probably the real reason she caved, because she was afraid I’d still go to the concert, anyway .

“Is he coming?”

“I’m not sure. I know Bryce is coming, and a few of his teammates will be there. The party is near the stadium, and it starts shortly after practice gets out.”

“Is Finn coming too?” I ask Goldie, referring to my youngest brother, who is a year older than me but is currently on the opposite coast. He works heavily in the summer, but with my brothers, you never know.

“I’m not sure about that either. I guess we will find out next week.”

* * *

“How about this face?” I say to Goldie as I make a look of extreme shock, and she just scrunches up her nose in distaste.

“Too dramatic. Keep it simple. I don’t think any big facial expressions are needed. Cover your face with your hands if you are concerned,” Goldie advises as we open the door to a little cantina in the Seaport District a week later for my “surprise” party.

I pull down my black dress because it was riding up a little, and I’m not always comfortable with short dresses since I don’t wear them often.

I’m also not comfortable being the primary source of attention, for that matter, but it’s too late now, and my fate has been sealed.

We push open the heavy doors that lead to the back area of the bar, typically reserved for private groups.

“Surprise!” I hear everyone shout.

I automatically cover my face in shock .

Goldie was right. I didn’t need to practice because I’m genuinely surprised how many people showed up tonight to celebrate me.

“Oh my God! Thank you so much!” I honestly say to a crowd of people, most of whom I recognize but some I can’t place. I start to hug my friends and family as I go around the room and thank everyone for coming and to see how everyone is doing.

One of my friends hands me a margarita while I’m chatting with a few cousins, and I happily take a sip. I edge closer to the bar with each person I talk to until I’m conveniently at the bar and in need of a fresh drink.

“What’s your drink of choice?” I hear that familiar deep voice over the loud crowd, and I turn to see a small smile on his handsome face.

“Pink lemonade margarita,” I reply to both him and the bartender, who is awaiting my reply.

“Make that two,” Sebastian says while putting two fingers in the air to the bartender as he turns to make our drinks. “Happy birthday,” he adds, turning his attention to me.

“Thank you,” I say with a smile.

“Is it today or is the celebration today?”

“Oh, it’s today!” I proudly announce while I look down at my watch. “I was born exactly twenty-eight minutes ago. Oh wow, I walked through the doors right when I was born, when you all wished me a happy birthday!” How fun. I bet that was Goldie’s idea.

I’m surprised to see that Sebastian came. I’m pretty sure that detail was Ryan’s touch. It’s a happy surprise.

I haven’t seen or talked to him since last Friday, his last day of summer camp .

It was weird seeing him at camp for the week, and not this past one. It wasn’t even a long period of time, but I feel like I’m having Sebastian withdrawals. I miss seeing his face often, even when he’s a little grumpy from a distance.

“How did camp go this week?” Sebastian asks as the bartender slides two gorgeous pink lemonade margaritas toward us with floral straws, big umbrellas, and an array of fruit.

I take a sip—yum!—and try to remember his question. “Good, we had a lot of new kids this week, and it was such a great group. How was your week? Minicamp, right?”

“Yeah. Great, busy but good.”

An older gentleman, I think my aunt’s latest boyfriend, approaches us by the bar. Randy, I think his name is. He orders a generic beer and then looks over at us while he’s waiting.

“Don’t you worry about your masculinity drinking that thing?” Randy curls his lips into a snarl and wrinkles his nose. He is not impressed.

“Nah, the way I see it, the most masculine thing you can do is the thing you actually want to do regardless of what other guys think. And what I want to do is drink this super tasty drink,” Sebastian says, taking a giant sip of his frilly pink margarita.

“God bless you,” Randy says, quickly walking away from us with his beer in hand and his eyes on the floor..

We say nothing to each other, but we do share a brief, amused look.

How have I missed this man, and we aren’t even dating? I’m not sure if we are even friends. Friends of friends for sure, but are we considered friends? I’d like to think so .

“How’s the gal—” I start to say, but a teammate slaps him on the back to say hello, and a family member steals me away at the same time, which is fine. We can talk later.

* * *

We don’t talk later.

In fact, I only saw him for a short time. I think he must have ducked out within an hour of arriving, because I had a hard time finding him again. He’s usually an easy man to find, even in a large crowd, but he left without saying goodbye.

That fact still bugs me the next morning as I lay hungover in bed.

I should be happy that he came and stopped by to say hello. I shouldn’t be upset that he didn’t tell me he was leaving. It was great he was there. I wasn’t expecting it.

I don’t know why I keep obsessing about Sebastian. He’s not even my type.

He’s exactly my type.

Dammit, he is. I wish I was his type in return. If I was his type, wouldn’t he already have made a move? We’ve seen each other so much in the last week and even months.

I grab my phone off the end table by my bed and see I have a few different messages, including a group text message with my brothers.

There are many texts from last night and I scroll through to see if there’s anything relevant in that chat when I notice this:

Ryan: Scarlett said all the tables for the gala are now sold Ryan: Are you all good with having no dates?

I didn’t realize we were doing dates in the first place, especially since, as far as I know, we are all single. Although if Tristan told me he was dating someone for years, I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s a lot more private than my other brothers.

Tristan immediately sends a thumbs-up emoji, and my youngest brother Finn sends a GIF that essentially says yes through complicated measures for a laugh.

I actually didn’t know that Finn would be there. I guess it lines us perfectly with the few days off he gets. To be fair, though, I didn’t know I would attend the gala until last week.

We all work together on our family nonprofit, which our parents started when we were younger. My mom was the driving force behind our foundation, Moore Good. She is still a part of the foundation, but she is less involved now that she’s older and her children are fully capable of doing so.

We all run the foundation together, but to be completely honest, Tristan probably does most of the work, with Ryan a close second. I do help out, especially when volleyball isn’t in busy season, but it’s not my main focus.

“Many hands make light work,” my parents would say when we were younger and I find that sentiment true now that our whole family runs the nonprofit organization together while juggling many other commitments.

My father was a professional basketball player for his hometown team, the Boston Clovers, but only for a few short years. He was a bench player mostly, but he also won a championship in his second season. When he retired, he became our high school athletic director and math teacher.

It’s funny that both Tristan and Ryan followed in our father’s footsteps.

Tristan played basketball in college but was never drafted.

He did take over for my dad as the high school athletic director once my dad retired.

Ryan also played basketball and was drafted by the Boston Clovers, but only played for two seasons, before getting cut.

He decided not to play basketball internationally or in different leagues.

Instead, he bought some investment property in Boston and turned a pretty profit.

He eventually invested in and started Moore Fitness, which has been his main focus ever since.

Both Finn and I never received the same basketball bug as our older siblings or father. Both my parents were very supportive of whatever we wanted to try. Finn took to baseball, and I discovered my love of volleyball in middle school.

It’s been a blessing to have the nonprofit to keep us connected over the years, especially when we were off at college or chasing other dreams.

It has grounded us and made us grateful for what we have. We love giving back to the community our family has been a part of for hundreds of years.

We’ve always had family here in Plymouth, dating back to the Mayflower , and we are proud members of the Mayflower Society.

Our family enjoyed the area so much that we never left, probably. It’s an assumption because most of my family still live in the greater Boston area, mostly between Plymouth and Boston.

I love going home to my parents’ house because there’s so much history there. The house that was once a summer cottage by the Atlantic Ocean is now a beautiful colonial that has been passed down by generations .

I am so happy when I’m home. I also think it’s virtually impossible to be unhappy when you see and smell the ocean air. Plus, you can walk to downtown Plymouth quickly.

I forgot how much I miss being around my family when I moved away when I was younger. I went to college in North Carolina and then moved multiple times for different assistant coaching jobs before landing back home.

I love being back to assist with the foundation more. I was feeling a little guilty when I was away because I wasn’t helping as much, but now I’m able to help more.

Although, I could do without all the family foundation text messages, emojis, and GIFs. The current text chain is still active, and I decide to look at it.

Ryan: What are you all wearing to the gala? Tristan: Clothes. Finn: *sends a picture of himself in a dapper suit* Ryan: That’s how it’s done, baby bro! Ryan: Tristan, I expect the same level of enthusiasm. Ryan: You too, Anita. I need pics.

Ryan only calls me Anita when he’s a special pain in my ass, like today, when I’m hungover and grumpy. I also know zero fucks about what I’m wearing.

Tristan: *sends a picture of himself flipping off the camera* Annie: *sends the same exact picture of Tristan flipping off the camera* Ryan: *sends a gif of a nun with the words shame, shame, shame * Annie: I have zero ideas yet.

I’ll let you know. Ryan: YOU HAVE NO IDEA Annie: YOU JUST TOLD ME I WAS GOING.

Ryan: I TOLD YOU A WEEK AGO Ryan: AND YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KNOW.

Tristan: *sends psychic reading a magic ball GIF* Finn: LET’S GO SHOPPING! Finn: ALSO, WHY ARE WE TALKING IN CAPS?

I ignore the cap comment completely and type my reply.

Annie: Yes! Let me go shopping with my big brothers for a fancy dress! Sounds like so much fun! Ryan: YES, I’M IN. Tristan: Sarcasm, Annie? Annie: All day, every day, big bro. Annie: I’m going with Goldie.

I easily type out the lie. I have zero plans at the moment with Goldie to pick out the dress, but as soon as I ask, she’ll be an immediate yes anyway, so really, it’s a half lie.

I type a farewell to my brothers and put my phone on mute for a bit. Sometimes, too many texts at once can overwhelm me, especially when it comes to my brothers, so it’s nice to have a little break.

Plus, now I need to see if Goldie’s around and ask her for a favor.

I get up out of bed and it dawns on me that today is my first full day of being thirty. Let’s see what the new decade will bring. But first, I need to grab some aspirin.