On the Fence

Chapter 21

The next day, and the day after that, Braden didn’t come by the house. It was the longest he’d ever stayed away. Quite obviously he was avoiding me. It was fine with me because I was avoiding him, too. I felt like the biggest idiot. I thought that feeling might go away after a few days. But if anything, the more time passed, the stupider I felt. What had he wanted to tell me that night anyway? Why hadn’t I forced him to talk about it? Maybe because I didn’t want to know. It seemed serious. What if he had talked his mom into leaving his dad and now he was leaving with her? I didn’t like that thought. I didn’t want Braden leaving. No. That was selfish. If it meant he’d be happier, then of course he needed to go. The thought made my heart twist.

I tried to solve the tension by running more, sometimes even twice a day. It felt good to open my lungs and let my legs work out the energy bouncing through my body. On the fourth day after The Talk of Shame, I walked into the kitchen after a long run and saw Braden and Gage sitting at the bar.

“Hey, losers.” I could pretend nothing happened. It had been a fence chat, after all. I grabbed a cold water bottle from the fridge and took several large gulps.

“Braden and I were just discussing the fact that Amendola was picked up by the Patriots. I think it means they are the strongest team in the league because of the quarterback–wide receiver duo. It will be like Montana and Rice all over again. But Braden thinks the Rodgers–Cobb duo is still the strongest. Break the tie.”

“Neither. Broncos have Manning. End of story.”

“One person does not make a team.”

“It does if it’s Manning.”

“Manning is overrated,” Gage said.

I splashed some of my water at Gage. “You’re overrated.” Braden smiled and relief rushed through me. I just wanted things to be normal again. None of this awkward I-jumped-to-stupid-conclusions business. No more thinking about what else he might’ve wanted to tell me.

“What’s wrong?” Gage asked.

“Nothing.”

“Didn’t you already run once today?” He tilted his head as if he were confused about that, when my cell phone, which was charging on the counter, jumped with an incoming call. Before I could grab it, Gage swiped it up and answered.

“Hello?” A small pause. “What do you mean ‘Who’s this?’”

I took a sip of water and rolled my eyes. Anybody calling on my cell phone had dealt with my brother before. They’d know he was a jokester.

“Who are you?” Gage asked.

I lifted my toe to stretch my calf when Gage said, “Evan who?” I stopped suddenly, my heart giving an unexpected flip. Oh. Except Evan. He wouldn’t know. I held out my hand for the phone.

“I guess that depends,” Gage said into the phone, not making even the slightest motion that he intended to give it to me.

“I’m going to murder you, Gage. Give me my phone.”

He listened, then stood when he saw me coming around the island to retrieve the phone from him by force. As I passed Braden, about to catch Gage, Braden grabbed me around the waist and held me tight. Because he was sitting down, his face was level with my neck.

“Traitor,” I said, smacking him on the head a few times and then struggling to get free. “I hope my stink from running is burning your nostrils right now.”

He pressed his nose to my neck and took a big whiff. “Smells like sunshine and rainbows.”

I stopped moving as a chill went down my entire body, and forced myself not to shiver with it. Once in control, I grabbed a handful of his hair to pull him away from me, but froze when Gage started talking again.

“And how do you know Charlie?” He gave me a weird look. “A café? Are you sure you have the right Charlie?”

“Gage Joseph Reynolds. I am going to call every girl in your contacts tonight and tell them you are gay.” I shoved Braden away from me and he finally let go.

Gage laughed. “Oh, you know what, Charlie just walked in. Here she is.”

I punched Gage in the stomach and took two deep breaths. “Hello.”

“Hi, Charlie. It’s Evan.”

A smile took over my face. “Oh. Hi, Evan. How are you?”

“Who was that?”

“My brother. He’s a little slow but we love him anyway.”

“Hey,” Gage yelled. “I’m the smartest one in this house.”

I could hear the smile in Evan’s voice when he said, “He was obviously trying to irritate you.”

“Isn’t that what big brothers do?”

“I wouldn’t know, I only have one sister and she’s five years older than me.”

“Ah, well, take my word for it.”

He laughed. “So, I was just wondering if you still wanted to go to a baseball game with me, because my dad said we could use his tickets for this Saturday.”

“This Saturday!” I realized I had yelled in my excitement, so I cleared my throat and tried to calm my voice. “For sure. I’m in.”

“Great. Um . . . there are four tickets, so I thought we could take Dustin with us too. Do you think you can get one of the other girls to come? Amber maybe?”

“Sure. I’ll ask her. Where should we meet?”

“I could pick you up. Five, maybe? It takes about an hour and a half to drive up there depending on traffic.”

“Sounds good. I’ll text you directions. And just a warning: that was only one of my brothers. I have four.” Yes, I included Braden in that count, since apparently that’s exactly how he saw himself. “And my dad is a cop.”

“Wow. Way to make a guy feel at ease.”

“You’ll be fine. See you Saturday.” I hung up the phone, the smile still on my face. There was nothing that made a girl feel better about a guy humiliating her than a different cute guy asking her out.

Behind me, Gage said in a low voice, “He will not be fine.” Then he laughed maniacally.

I whirled around. “If you ever do that again, something really bad is going to happen to you.”

“As in you are going to do something bad to me, or Fate is going to even the score? I really need to know, because it will make a difference in my decision.”

I shook my head.

“Who’s Evan?” Braden asked, his hazel eyes on me.

“Someone who is taking me to the A’s game this Saturday. And I know you both know who the A’s are playing. That’s right—the Giants.” I sang out a high-pitched note of taunting. “Who’s jealous?” I knew Braden was. I knew beyond anything that he would love to go to that game, and I felt terrible. But rubbing it in his face seemed the correct way to deal with those feelings.

Gage went to the kitchen drawer beneath the phone and pulled out a paper and pen. “Okay, you’ll need to write his full name here so Dad can run a background check.”

I sighed. “No.”

“How did you meet him? Where does he go to school? How old is he? Is he even an A’s fan?”

“Pretty sure he’s an A’s fan, since he has season tickets.”

“Call him back and ask if he has any extra,” Gage said.

“He does, but those are for my other friends. So tough luck.”

“Isn’t What’s-his-name’s wedding on Saturday anyway?” Braden asked.

“Who’s What’s-his-name?” I asked. “Wait, did I forget about some lame wedding I’m supposed to be at?”

Gage waved me off. “No. It’s this guy we know from years and years of soccer camp. He’s a couple of years older than Jerom.”

I pointed at Braden. “But obviously you don’t know him or you’d actually know What’s-his-name’s name.”

“I never went to soccer camp, Charlie.”

“I know.” Hadn’t we established I knew his life pretty well? “Soccer camp people do actually leave soccer camp at some point, though.”

Gage interrupted any comeback Braden might’ve come up with by saying, “His name is Ryan, and you’re right, his wedding is Saturday. Crap. How are we supposed to humiliate Charlie’s date?” He patted Braden on the shoulder. “Looks like it’s all on you, my brother. Make us proud.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Gage got up to leave, Braden trailing after him.

“Please don’t do anything to Evan,” I said to Braden as he reached the door.

He turned back. “No worries. I’ll steer clear.”

“Thanks.” If only I believed him.