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Bradley

T oday marks five years since my dad passed away and we’re celebrating him as we did every year since. Only this year it’s with my special roommates —I fucked up and blurted it out to Mom like that on one of our chats this week.

Jogging down the stairs, I move past her and Amber with a smile while they chat and finish Mom’s to-do list. I’m responsible for the barbecue later so no snacking today, I’ll be feeding my “ special roommates” food until they explode.

I still want to gag a little over that ridiculous name. I bet if Piper heard it, she would’ve gagged herself but she’s too young to let in on it.

“After Drew had the fishing accident. He decided to stir clear of the ocean which is ridiculous considering we’re surrounded by it.”

I still remember it like it was yesterday. Dad went fishing with some friends and he came back with a fishhook caught in his palm, it tore his skin apart but it wasn’t a big deal, though he still refused to go to the hospital without Mom. She was pissed but drove him there quickly and then took him to eat ice cream.

He wanted to do everything with her, and being away from her always irked him. Plus, he was a giant baby when it came to hospitals.

“Pass the ball, c’mon!” Cole’s crisp voice snaps me out of the memory as he shouts outside.

I stroll to the backyard, finding Ronnie in the middle of an aggressive football game already getting along with my loud brothers.

Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits plays loudly from a speaker in the background. It was my Dad’s favorite band—I often listen to the song on my phone.

“Eat my flip-flop, Ryan.” Cole tackles him to the ground.

Classy.

My mouth goes upside-down and I nod, talking about first impressions.

Patches of grass stick out where their shoes hit the ground, other areas have longer blades of grass that Teddy seems to enjoy snacking on.

Next, Josh pushes Cole’s head with his open palm, putting distance between him and the ball but Ronnie comes right behind him, snatching the ball and running straight to the end zone between two bricks…

“Go, go, go!” I shout, completely enthralled by him.

“Touchdown fuckers.” He chucks the ball hard onto the ground.

Fuck yeah. Fire courses through my veins.

Ronnie can’t hold his laughter, his smile spreads from ear to ear pretty fast as he spins around to see the shock on my brothers’ faces that quickly turns to loud cheers as they snap out of it. Looking away, his eyes slide across the house until they lock with mine and a tiny smirk crawls to the right corner of his mouth.

“Look at him with the middle part hairstyle swaying from side to side, looking like a star from the nineties,” Amber says next to me. “Your mom said I should join the game maybe it’ll soften them.”

I whistle, entertained by her assignment. “She gave you a hard task because the Meiss brothers can be loving and caring but when it comes to sports, we’re hella competitive.”

“So all is fair in love and war.” She states yet it hangs in the air like a question as she steps forward and turns halfway to glance at me.

“Exactly.” I wink, and a tiny laugh escapes me as I flick my ball cap backward.

Skipping on her sneakers, she jumps on Ronnie and kisses his neck with a wide grin—I wait patiently for the little girl inside her to give her the freedom she deserves. “How about us three against the three younger and handsome Meiss brothers,” Amber suggests.

“When you put it like that how can we say no,” Ryan immediately stops the game and turns to look at her with his permanent, flirty smirk.

“Slow down boy,” I warm, making my way to the center of our middle-sized, square backyard.

Amber folds the sleeves of her sweatshirt up to her elbows, looking like a little chipmunk next to all of us. “Get ready to get your ass served, I tackle like a maniac.”

“I believe her,” Ronnie says next to me, squatting down.

I start laughing before I get the words out, “I’m dying to hear her say, ‘Say hello to my little friend’ as she pulls out Harley.”

A burst of laughter comes out of him and he almost stumbles backward but I shoot my arm around his back and catch him in time. When he turns his face toward mine the tip of our nose brushes and I inhale his minty breath.

“Omg, what if it turns into an actual firearm.” I hold him until he steadies himself.

He grins, “Chill,” and puts his hand on my shoulder, “We’re not living with The Terminator. But I’m glad you finally agree that she can be a serial killer in disguise.”

“You never know.” I quote him from the other day. Bending down a little, I lower my voice to a whisper, “What are you hiding, Bear?”

Crouching down to tie her shoelaces, she peers up at me through thick lashes, “Victory in my pocket but don’t worry I’ll let them think they’re going to win, and then I’ll knock them down.”

I brush her lavender locks, “Not what I meant but I’ll take it.”

As Cole claps his hand to get our attention the song Maniac by Stray Kids starts next as if we summoned it. Divine intervention? “You ready?”

“Born ready.”

We all respond like a choir as we stand in two parallel lines.

“Guests first,” Ryan tosses me the ball.

Holding the ball in front of my body, I bend down and press it to the ground. “Hike!” I toss it backward to Ronnie and run forward.

Cole and Ryan sprint to tackle me while Josh stays glued to Ronnie, but they forget our Little Bear who runs faster to the end zone when she notices no one is near her.

Ronnie swings his arm and the ball lands right in her hands before she happily shouts, “Touchdown.”

“We’re just warming up,” Ryan spreads his hands to the side and arches his brows, “We don’t want you to have zero points. Who said chivalry is dead.”

“Keep telling that to yourself,” Amber sasses back and gets a loud round of whistles from everyone. “Let’s play football, boys, everything goes.”

Wide smiles are stretching on our faces and my body comes to life with each minute that slips by.

“That’s what we like to hear,” Cole grabs the ball and comes to the center. “Hike!”

As the game progresses our girl is fucking relentless. Round upon round, she jumps on them, unwavering and bringing them down like sacks of potatoes.

“I think I’m in love,” Cole says as he gets left behind, sprawled on the grass but smitten like a sixteen-year-old.

“You’ll get over it,” she flips her hand dismissively and saunters away.

“Ready? Last round before I start feeding you giant babies and you Little Bear.”

Teddy immediately barks, sitting on a fluffy blanket Josh put for him near the backdoor.

Pointing at him, I declare, “You too, Teddy.” And he barks in approval.

With the next move, Ronnie tosses the ball to Amber and my three brothers run straight to her. Instead of running forward I haul her across my shoulder and run with her.

“What are you doing we are on the same team,” Amber squirms in my hold and whimpers which sends a jolt of pleasure straight to my hardening cock. This entire game has been so fucking hard. Watching them making all those sexy, fearless maneuverings turned me on so much that now I need someone to throw a bucket full of ice-cold water over my body.

Panting, I reply, “I know right? Look at our team effort.”

With a sweet little side grin, she delivers her words sharply. “I. Can. Run.”

“But we can run faster.”

“Hey! That’s cheating.” Someone claims in the back but it’s too late.

“Touchdown!” She shouts and I seize the moment to smack her plumped ass that still hangs over my shoulder. “Maybe, secretly, you wanted a moment with me and it was an excuse.”

“Definitely,” I say it like it’s obvious because it is.

“Smack me again,” her voice is soft yet demanding and I submit like the good boy I am.

The invisible, razor-sharp, edge of a knife pressing their necks every day told me they should come here. I needed to be with my family around this time of year, and they needed a break.

Ronnie and Amber pretend to be okay when they are not. They keep moving so they won’t face their pain, even when it overflows.

I observed Amber for three weeks, waking up every morning, and making herself coffee in the same mug. Not to mention she barely leaves the apartment: she got addicted to writing. She orders food or makes it herself. She reads or does yoga when she’s not working on the laptop.

Her need to find her calling denies her presence. She is so focused on finding it that she misses out on everything else, all the little adventures happening around her. The one moment that she is truly present is when she rides on her bike, spreading her arms to the sides, and surrendering.

I got another glimpse of it the day Piper came. They were over the moon, sharing their clothes and eating desserts I picked up from Dylan’s shop, especially for them.

I intend to change that.

Both of them need to live more in the present and put the past and the future aside.