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thirty-nine

Chase

Nervously, I sit in the booth. Casual noise buzzes around us, clinking glasses, hums of different conversations, and the occasional cheers from the far side of the pizza joint where the arcade lies.

Skylar chose this place, hoping its casual vibe and vintage appeal would help Ethan feel more comfortable with our relationship now that he’s aware of it, and serve as a cozy setting for a double date.

Ethan sits across from me, arms folded, looking disdainfully at the slice of pizza in front of him as if it insulted him.

To his right sits Danni, the woman that he’s been seeing.

I was surprised by Skylar’s double-date announcement; I felt it was a strange way to meet the new girlfriend.

But I’m glad for it. She’s the buffer that we didn’t know we needed.

Danni offers a polite smile and occasionally nudges him with her elbow, as if prompting him to conversation. We’ve talked here and there, but it’s been stunted. There’s been a lack of flow, which has never been there before.

I reach for the beer in front of me, something hoppy and fruity, and take a sip, with my eyes never straying from my best friend.

“So, uh, Chase,” Danni begins, “Ethan tells me you are investing in youth programs. Is that right?”

My eyebrows raised. I’m an anonymous donor. Ethan’s shoulders shrug.

“Yeah, but it’s not really public knowledge.” I look over at Skylar, who squeezes my knee under the table.“I’ll make an appearance here and there, but not everyone knows I am behind the funding of the programs, or anything.”

Danni flushes, looks down, embarrassed, and then looks over to Ethan for help.

“It’s okay, I just don’t want it to be a big deal that I was the one who donated the money. I would rather fly under the radar, though, if you don’t mind.” I continue, quietly.

“It’ll be our little secret.” She leans forward and winks. “But I think that’s super cool.”

“How do you plan to stay low key when you’re hosting an event and also a special guest?” Skylar turns and asks.

“That’s easy. They need me at the event because I’m a baseball celebrity.”

A pause. A long one. The kind that makes you suddenly hyper-aware of chewing sounds and people who aggressively clear their throats.

Danni jumps in. “The pizzas here are really good. It wasn’t what I was expecting for a place next to a laundromat.”

“I know, right?” Skylar says quickly. “I believe that before this was an actual restaurant, they were a food truck. Chase and I found it after…” She stops herself mid-sentence.

“After what?” Ethan asks. His tone is low, but sharp.

“After a photoshoot that you set up for me,” I reply evenly.

“How convenient.”

I lean forward slightly, look at my best friend, and lock eyes with him.

“Look, man. We didn’t plan this relationship to hurt you.

It just… happened. There were so many moments where we were pushed together that eventually, we sought one another out.

Feelings were caught, and we didn’t expect to fall for one another. ”

“Are you saying that you guys getting together is my fault? For asking you to step in for me as my best friend to help my sister, who is also, and may I remind you, like a sister to you? Is that it?”Ethan’s voice rises.

“Ethan,” Skylar interjects in a warning.

“No, Sky. There’s a bro code. You don’t hook up with your best friend’s sister. Or, you don’t hook up with your brother’s best friend. It’s that simple.”

“Who wrote the code? Huh? Who wrote it, so I can go talk to them, and tell them how insanely archaic that is.” Skylar crosses her arms over her chest and pierces her brother with a gaze that could kill.

“Sky. This is between Chase and me,” Ethan says.

“You made it about me, too. Fuck you, Ethan.”

Ethan looked at me, not just looked, but stared, as if he was trying to make sense of me, like I was a stranger. “So what, you just kept it quiet? The guy who I grew up with, who is like my brother. Who is supposed to have my back? When you were sneaking around.”

“I do have your back,” I said. “I still do. This relationship is about her and I. It has nothing to do with my friendship with you.”

Ethan pushes his chair back abruptly. The legs screeched across the tile, alerting the entire restaurant to our presence. “I need some fucking air.”

Danni calls after him, but doesn’t follow. She looks between Skylar and me.

“This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go.” She whispers.

Skylar reaches across the table and places her hand atop Danni’s.

“Listen, there’s a lot here that has been boiling up. It’s okay.” Skylar’s eye flicker to mine. I give Skylar’s hand a squeeze under the table, then stand.

Outside is loud and bright. Cars with their speakers turned up drive past, lights from businesses flicker and shine brightly as I look up and down the street. At the curb, near a tree, Ethan stood, hands on hips, breathing hard, staring up at the darkening sky.

I stop behind him, a few feet away. “If you want me out of your life, say it. If you’re looking for a new best friend, if I have to find a new agent, if that’s the bottom line.

.. just tell me. I get it. I know you’re pissed off at me, at us.

But I’m going to do right by her. I need you to trust me. ”

Ethan turns to face me, fire burning in his eyes.

“But I’m telling you this,” I continue. “I’m not willing to walk away from her.

That’s not something that I plan to do, and you need to understand that.

That’s a good thing. This thing between Sky and me isn’t a fling.

It’s not some reckless thing that either of us plans to regret.

She means something to me. She is something to me. ”

Ethan opened his mouth like he had a retort, but he stayed silent. He looks away down the street, his expression softening, just slightly.

“I don’t know, man. You don’t know what she’s been through.” He shakes his head.

“I do. I know all about her. I know about her highs and her lows. I know about her work and her everyday life. I know about her past, and I hope to remain so in the future. I know about her fears and her strengths. Our relationship is more than what you think it is. Like I told you. I’m not walking away from her.

This relationship is the real deal. With or without your approval, she and I are going to be in a relationship.

And if that also means that I need to find someone else to trust with my business, then so be it.

But I don’t want that. I want what we’ve built together to continue.

Your family, and so is she, just in a new way. ”

The silence stretches between us. Finally, he let out a long breath.

“I feel like you betrayed me.” Ethan turns to me.

“That’s nowhere near the truth. I know it feels that way, but we didn’t get together out of spite.

I value your friendship. All these years that we’ve been friends, that we’ve been brothers.

There was nothing malicious about any of it.

Out of everyone, every single person in this world, I should be someone that you want to be with your sister.

You’re my best friend. You’re my family. You know me.”

“That’s partially the problem. I know you. I know your record with women. Why would I be okay with you dating my sister?” he asks.

“Because you have easy access to kick my ass if I ever do her wrong.” I reply, then rush out, “which I will never do, not intentionally, at least. And you know, deep down, that I would treat her with the utmost amount of respect. I’ve spent a lot of my life living by rules, rules that kept me safe, rules that helped me succeed.

But there’s one rule that I’ve broken, and I’ll break it every time if that means I get to be with the woman that I’m falling for.

I don’t want to hide my feelings for her from you, and I don’t want to live by rules that will keep her and me apart. I just can’t, man.”

“I don’t know if I’m okay with this, yet,” he shrugs. “But, if you are going to be with my sister, and if I’ve started to learn anything from listening to my sister, I guess I don’t get to decide who she dates.”

“You don’t,” I say, quietly. “But I just want you to know that I will do right by her.”

Ethan nods. “Don’t screw this up.”

“I promise, I won’t.”

I glance back toward the restaurant. “Let’s get back in there. The ladies are left alone. Let’s hope the scare tactics don’t run in the family. Danni seems great.”

Walking side by side, we’re not quite friends again, yet not completely estranged.