Page 26 of Call the Shots (For The Arena #1)
BEAR
HAVING A GOOD TIME
When it rains, it pours, and when it pours, everything gets so much shittier than you thought it could be.
There were only two things I had to look forward to: hockey and the party Xavier invited me to.
It was suit and tie, sponsored by some organization on campus.
In the bathroom, I slicked back my hair, listening for the sound of June, but when she finally opened her door, she left without looking back.
Iced out.
It’d been like that since I yelled at Montoya, and it was so much worse than June just ignoring me.
Stomach sinking, I drove to the party and idled outside the house. It was my first night in a while without the team and June. It felt weird without them.
My palms were sweaty, so I rubbed them on the back of my jacket. It wasn’t the nicest suit jacket, but it was the only one I owned. I hoped I wasn’t underdressed. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. All I wanted was a night where I could forget about everything.
I knocked on the door and smoothed back my hair again.
It opened to reveal a guy in a Big Trouble in Little China tank top and shorts that looked like swim trunks. He blinked. “Uh…what’s up? Did your car break down or something?”
“Erm, I…think I’m lost? I’m looking for a volunteer organization?—”
“That’s us. What’s up with the tie?”
I didn’t have a good answer, just a mumbled one, and when I walked inside, I was more confused. It was a basic snack night with a bunch of board games being ignored for glasses of wine. Eyes darted to me and the room fell silent.
I cleared my throat. “Hey, I’m—uh—Bear.”
Tepid laughter met the introduction and my face burned.
“Bear!” The shout came from the kitchen and Xavier emerged, beer in hand. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“I—uh—you said this was formal?—”
“Dude, no, that was for the next—oh, man.”
“I can—uh—go change?—”
“Don’t worry about it. You look great. Look at your hair, I could take a hammer to it.” He burst into real laughter that everyone joined in with. “Everybody, this is Bear. Do you want to introduce yourself? Don’t let me take the spotlight.”
“I, uh…I’m Xavier’s brother.”
“You have a brother?” someone asked.
Everybody was clearly surprised. Another girl shook her head. “You don’t look like Xavier…?”
“Stepbrothers. My dad married his mom,” I explained. “It’s great to meet you guys.”
“Oomf, you look so familiar. Like a lost face in a painting. Where…?”
“I’m on the hockey team.”
A guy snorted into his cup of beer. “We have a hockey team?”
“These aren’t hockey people,” Xavier chuckled. “No, you guys probably know him from the leaked nudes, but Bear doesn’t like to talk about it so no questions.”
I stared, flaming so fucking red I could feel it. Did people know? Here? My stomach clenched as faces of confusion melted into recognition.
“I need a beer,” I muttered, walking to the kitchen. There were only warm drinks, but I scored a cold soda in the fridge. The screen door called to me, and I headed outside which was still hot because it was Houston and known for being fucking warm and I was a goddamn idiot for wearing a suit.
Shrugging off the jacket, I pressed the soda to my forehead.
I felt sick.
A pretty redhead inched her way out of the house. “Hey?”
“I’m not interested in signing prints or screenshots or whatever.”
“No—um—I wanted to say…that was really crappy.”
“What?”
“What Xavier did, that was crappy.”
I glanced through the windows, where Xavier was talking to a dozen people. “No, he was making sure it didn’t come up. I get how you see it but he’s looking out for me.”
She hesitated. “Alright.”
“Hey, Sloane?” someone called from inside and she left with a soft goodbye. Then, it was just me. A dumbass in a suit jacket.
Back in North Dakota, I’d always been with the Kérouacs and my teammates.
Keggers, drinking contests, late-night movies, we stuck together.
It wasn’t like I missed them, because my team and Paisley could go fuck themselves, but I didn’t like this weird feeling of being out of place in a party full of people. Like a puzzle piece in the wrong box.
And I yelled at the one kid who actually liked me.
I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone, calling without a second thought. Only two rings followed before a happy voice joined in. “Hi, Bear!”
“Hey, Montoya,” I said. There were voices in the background. “Are you with the Gladiators?”
“Uh…no. June and King picked me up. We're getting frozen yogurt. Do you want us to?—?”
June’s voice carried through the call. “Bear’s not invited.”
“Oh—uh—sorry, the car’s full, Bear.”
“Hey, Montoya?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh.”
The line was quiet while I gazed into the party. Xavier threw some poker chips on a table and the group burst into laughter. I hunkered down into the call. “That was wrong to jump you like that. You were trying to be nice. I was an asshole. I’m sorry.”
There was some shuffling, and I could hear Montoya’s voice, muffled now. “June, can Bear come? Please?”
“ No. ”
“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “I'm at a party.”
“A party?”
“Yeah.” I kept my eyes trained on the wooden divots in the patio. “It’s fun. I’m having a good time. We’re having a great time.”
“Is it a drinking party?”
“Montoya?” June’s voice cut in. “Can I have the phone?” I steeled myself for whatever June wanted to say until I could hear her draw a slow breath over the line. “We’re going to a toga party for Montoya’s birthday.”
“Toga party?” I repeated, confused.
“He wants to get drunk, so we’ll keep an eye on him, and feed him pancakes. That’s the plan in its entirety. I told Montoya that you and I could be civil for the night.”
I paused. “Is that our gift?”
“Better not be yours. Cheap ass.”
A snort burst out of me and a couple of people on the patio glanced over. I chuckled. “No fighting, got it.” It was silent again. I could hear the crickets and my own thoughts. “June, I shouldn’t have yelled at Montoya.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I told him I’m sorry.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I…what do you want me to say?”
“I don’t want you to say anything, Bear. The apology is for Montoya to consider, but I’m not going to pretend like everything’s okay. Just saying you’re sorry doesn’t mean anything. What good is an apology when you’ll shout at him next week?”
“It won’t happen again—” I insisted but Montoya’s voice broke through.
“It’s me, June gave me the phone. We’re at the frozen yogurt place.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “What flavor are you getting?”
“Cookies and cream. June, what flavor are you—?” He paused. “You don’t want any?”
A muffled voice answered him.
“Bear? I think I have to let you go, it’s pretty loud here.”
We said our goodbyes, and it was only the crickets again. The silence ended when Xavier broke away from the party with two beers. I didn’t realize he was coming to see me until he motioned to the phone. “Were you calling for a refund on the jacket rental? Kidding, kidding.”
“Nah, a kid on my team. An actual kid. He’s seventeen.”
“Holy shit.”
“Right?”
Xavier handed me an open beer before clinking his with mine. “Sorry about the mix-up.”
“It happens.”
“We’re playing some trivia games if you want to join.”
“That sounds?—”
“Bear?” Xavier took a seat. “You’re living with June.”
“Yeah.”
“I need a favor.”
“Uh-huh?”
“June used to work with me. Under me. I was her boss, and she stole some receipts, folders, and stuff that she’s refusing to give back.”
I peeled off part of the beer’s sticker. “June didn’t smash your Clemenza.”
He didn’t say anything.
Slowly, I worked at the sticker, bringing it cleanly off the glass. “We went to a rage room and I’m positive June’s never broken a window before. I know she’s doing crazy shit, but every time she acts out, it’s like she goes through this shock that?—”
“Bear, I know she didn’t do it.”
The sticker ripped down the middle. “What?”
“June had one of her friends fuck up my car and she won’t tell me who. She’s holding it over me. It’s basically like she did it.”
“That could be anybody. Everyone’s friends with June?—”
“I need you to get those receipts, Bear. They’re on her laptop.”
I didn’t know what to say. Maybe it was a joke, but seconds passed, and Xavier’s tight smile never wavered. He wasn’t kidding.
“Her password’s esperanza,” he added. “It’s her favorite flower, she used to grow them at her house. Her birth year’s at the end, the second E is capitalized, she never changes her password. The receipts will be on a folder, copy it?—”
“Xavier—”
“Pull a fire alarm in the lobby bathroom, she’ll leave?—”
“I can’t do that.”
He gazed at me, then slowly nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m fucked but I bet I could go to the businesses. It’d take forever but I could do it.”
Maybe June and I were at each other’s throats but doing that was an invasion of her privacy. I couldn’t do that to her. Even if she did steal them.
“Hey?” He took a swig of the beer. “You know your nudes situation?”
“Uh…yeah.”
“What was your ex’s name?” He sucked on his teeth. “Started with a P, ended with an ee sound…man, what was it?” He clicked his tongue. “I can’t think of it. Polly? Penny? No…”
“Paisley,” I said quietly.
He snapped his fingers. “Paisley, right. Yeah. That was fucked-up.”
I shifted away. “It’s fine. I’m over it.”
“See, if I was around, and I knew there was anything I could’ve done to stop Paisley, I would’ve done it. I would’ve broken into her phone.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Because we’re brothers,” he continued. “We look out for each other.”