I couldn’t breathe. Someone had sucked all the air out of the Buckeye Bar, and any second I expected oxygen masks to pop out of the lighting fixtures like they did on planes when there was a loss of cabin pressure.
Dad’s eyes clouded. He recognized the name and which school was attached to it. “Yeah, why?”
He looked like he was wondering where Cooper was going with this, but he needed to get in line behind me. How the hell had Cooper figured this out? If he outed me right now, my parents were going to be wishing for oxygen masks too.
My brother shrugged. “Looks like he had a helluva day today.”
Mom crossed her arms over her scarlet Ohio State t-shirt as she uttered her favorite phrase for Michigan players. “No one at this table cares what the convicts up North are doing.”
I chose the worst possible moment to make eye contact with Cooper. Oh, he definitely knew, and his expression said he owned me.
“Enough of that garbage,” my mom continued. “Kayla, can you please tell us something about this guy you’re seeing? Like, his name?”
In my panic, my mind was blank. “Jay . . . son. Jason. And we’re just friends.” Although my tone was anything but convincing. I wanted to sink beneath the table and disappear, or choke myself with the ribbon attached to my hair bow.
My father brightened at my answer. “Does Jason like football?”
Cooper giggled like a little girl. Visions of throat-punching him flashed in my head. I didn’t get to linger on it too long, because the defensive coordinator materialized at the side of our table.
“Bob, you got a second?”
My dad nodded and rose from his chair, then followed behind as he was led to the coaches’ table.
“I hope he’s telling him they need to blitz more,” my mom said when he was gone. Her gaze turned back to me, and I knew more questions about Jay were imminent.
“Hey, you’ve got something in your teeth.” I gestured to a spot on my teeth, and my mom followed suit. “Yeah, right there. You should go to the bathroom and check it out. It’s in there good, you might not see it at first.”
It was another lie, but who was counting? Desperate times and all. I needed to put the fear of God into my brother before he blurted out the truth. Our mother excused herself, and as soon as she was out of earshot, I turned to unload.
“How the hell do you know?” I hissed.
“One of my friends has an older sister who was at Marcy’s wedding. She posted a pic of him on Facebook. Please tell me you’re dating a guy who plays for Michigan.” Cooper’s expression was pure joy. “Shit, Kayla, this is gonna make me look so good.”
I shot him a death glare. “You need to shut your face.”
“C’mon, I’m just playing. They’re not going to disown you.” He picked up his phone and went back to scrolling. “Well, probably not.”
“You can’t tell them.” Panic filled my voice. “Swear to me.”
He looked up from the phone, and his serious expression made my blood turn to slush. “No way, this is too good.”
“Coop, come on.” My plea had no effect. “Do your favorite sister a solid.”
He gave me a plain look. “You’re my only sister, and no. Mom and Dad are breathing down my neck because this is their last year. Mom’s not ready to have an empty nest.” His attention returned to his phone screen. “You dating a Wolverine? They’re going to lose their shit, and that buys me at least a month of being the better child. A month of total freedom.”
I loved my brother, but he was being an asshole. I wanted to argue I wasn’t dating Jay, but given what we’d done— My phone chimed.
Jay: Current mood.
It was followed by a GIF of Carlton from the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” dancing. I smiled, and then immediately had to cut it out.
“I didn’t want to have to do this,” I said to Cooper, “but remember that time I came downstairs and said I didn’t see anything?”
He sobered and the smile faded from his face.
Good. He knew exactly what I was talking about. “I lied,” I announced. “I. Saw. Everything.”
Cooper’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. Color drained from his skin, and the phone in his hand was ignored.
Dad returned, dropped down into his seat, and seemed to sense the strange tension between us in an instant. “What’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing.” My tone was overly-chipper.
My brother looked shell-shocked. “How about that fumble recovery by Tariq Crawford?” he sputtered out. “Wasn’t it great?”
My father’s shoulders pulled back, and he looked at Cooper with an expression that said what the heck? There was no response, so Dad’s gaze shifted to me.
I shrugged, but inside I gave a sigh of relief.