Page 141 of For the Fans

He laughs, and I smother the grin that wants to slip through. “Just admit it… You love having Baldwin there to pump you up.”

I scoff, shaking my head. “Dude, I wasn’t lying when I said you’re a distraction.”

“Mhm… I think I know how distracting I can be.” He purses his lips over a smirk. And then his fingers brush mine.

I come to a fast stop, my pulse suddenly pinging inside me. Avi stares at me while my eyes fling left and right, making sure no one saw that.

There isn’t anyone around to see it, and I’m obviously freaking out over nothing, but I can’t help it. My skin is growing hot and itchy beneath my clothes.

“Sorry…” Avi whispers. “It was an accident.”

I clear my throat. “It’s fine… whatever.” Distracting myself from the way I can still feel his fingers on mine, I pull out my phone to check the app. “Says he’ll be here in two minutes.”

“Okay…”

I can feel him staring at me, but I’m too jittery to look up, so I busy myself with bullshit on my phone until the car pulls up along the road.

We both get into the backseat, our bags resting at our feet as the driver pulls away, taking us home. The radio is on, playing some Rihanna song at low volume while we cruise up 93. Looking out the window, I watch the buildings pass, listening to the grungy voice croon about love on the brain.

My chin slants left, slowly inching my face in Avi’s direction, where he’s gazing out the window himself. Then he peeks at me, and I quickly look away.

Weirdo. You’re being a total weirdo.

My mind is moving as fast as the car through the rest of the drive. And when we pull into the driveway of my home, the nerves are really churning my stomach something fierce.

The holidays have been terrible for as long as I can remember. When Hannah and Avi showed up, they actually became slightly more tolerable, pulling some of the focus from how little my father cared to celebrate with me. If I don’t make a point to stop by my mother’s house, we don’t see each other. And I haven’t seen my sister in years at this point. She opts not to come home, for obvious reasons… But I expect a phone call from her tomorrow. And despite everything, I’m looking forward to it.

I can’t help resenting Bridget a little for leaving me alone with Dad. She disappeared when I needed her, and it’s hard not to feel hurt and abandoned over it.

Of course, I understandwhyshe left… I just wish she hadn’t.

The house is quiet, but there’s music coming from the den, so Avi and I walk that way, following the sounds of a crackling fire and hushed voices.

“My boys!” Hannah cheers the second we set foot into the room, jumping up to greet us both. She clings to Avi for way too long, kissing his face all over while whining, “Oh, I missed you so,somuch, my precious tatala.”

“Mom…” he grumbles, scrunching his face as he tries to pull away from her affections.

It has me chuckling, because honestly, it’s really sweet, and embarrassing for him, which is fun.

“Kyran, I’m so happy to see you.” Hannah hugs me tight.

I’m still always surprised by the affection, so it takes me a moment to return it. But I do, because it’s nice. It feels good to be welcomed by family.I really wouldn’t know what that’s like…

When I pull back from Hannah’s warm embrace, my eyes flit to my father, who’s standing there, a perfectly indifferent smile on his lips as he steps over to us.

“Good to see you, son,” he says firmly—as usual—giving me a two-second hug with a stern pat on the back. “Great game the other day.” Then he turns and mumbles, “Avi.”

He goes to squeeze Avi’s shoulder, which is the most sentiment he can expect from my father. But Avi lunges at him, hugging onto him hard enough that my father is almost knocked backwards. I’m pretty sure Avi’s doing it on purpose, to mess with him, which has me stifling a laugh.

“Boys, I’m making a roast for dinner tomorrow,” Hannah says as she curls up on the couch. My father takes a seat at the other end. “So we figured we’d just order takeout tonight.”

“Chinese??” Avi gasps excitedly, to which Hannah grins and nods. “Sweet.” My brows furrow at him, and he explains, “It’s our Chrismakkah tradition.”

“Right…” I chuckle. “I forgot aboutChrismakkah.”

I learned about that during the first Christmas Avi and Hannah spent with Dad and me. It’s a Vega family tradition to celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah, since Avi is half-Jewish.

“How could you ever forget about Chrismakkah??” He feigns outrage. “It’s the epic battle between Jesus and Moses!” He cackles at the look of horror on my father’s face. “Just kidding. It’s not abattle. It’s just seven fun days, leading up to the eighthsuperfun day. Which this year, just so happens to also fall on Christmas Day.”