Leo didn’t bother me during practice. Neither did Asher. I appreciated him giving me space, however, I couldn’t avoid him forever, not did I want to. So when he waited for me at the edge of the ice after practice, I met him with a shy smile.
“Can I see you later? Outside?” he asked.
I nodded, then hurried to get out of there before I launched myself at him.
At him, Mom was up to her elbows in bows and asked me to put a casserole in the oven. I took a quick shower while it heated up and still had time to make a salad before Dad got home. He’d been taking Payton to school himself and picking him up from hockey practice.
“Where’s your mom?” Dad asked, swiping a cucumber slice from the pile of chopped veggies I’d cut for the salad.
“Down in her workroom. She said she had a big order and it has to be shipped tomorrow.”
Dad nodded. “Thanks for making dinner. I’ll go down and see how things are coming along.” His footsteps thumped on the stairs down to the basement to Mom’s craft room.
“So, what’s going on with you and that guy?”
“Oh, my gosh! Payton, you scared me. I’m holding a knife.”
Payton grinned and swiped a pepper.
Sometimes, I had to wonder why I loved my brother.
He pumped his eyebrows. “Is he your boyfriend?”
“No,” I replied, my cheeks burning.
“Yeah, right. You want him to be. I can tell by how red your face is.” He pointed a finger at my cheek and I batted it away.
“Shut up. You don’t know anything.”
Payton took a handful of baby carrots. “I know he’s on your team,” he said, tossing one in his mouth. “Do Dad and Joe know you’re hanging out with him?”
“No. And why would they care? He’s our neighbor and we go to school together.” And we kissed earlier today, but who’s keeping track? “We’re just friends.” Former enemies.
Payton popped another carrot into his mouth. “Uh-huh. Then how come I’ve seen you sneak into the back yard to hang out with him?”
“I wasn’t sneaking, you little punk.”
Payton just grinned. I opened my mouth to tell him just how off base he was when we heard Mom and Dad coming up the stairs.
I narrowed my eyes at my little brother, threatening him with a little non-verbal communication. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a plate.
For once, dinner didn’t feel tense. I had no idea why, but I wouldn’t complain. We were almost finished eating when Payton mentioned something that had my ears perking up.
“Hey, so I was going to talk to you guys about something that happened at school today,” he said.
Both Mom and Dad froze, waiting to hear the bad news, but this time they didn’t need to worry.
“What is it, Pay?” Mom asked.
“The school counselor called me down to her office and told me I’d been selected to be in this program to help some high schoolers get their service hours for graduation.”
Dad frowned. “Doing what? I don’t want you to miss hockey, Payton.”
Dad’s reticence worried me, but I knew Payton working with Asher wouldn’t interfere with hockey at all, so I kept my mouth shut.
Payton rolled his eyes. “I won’t have to miss anything, Dad. It’s during school. Instead of going to art, I’m going to learn how to play the guitar from one of the guys over at the high school. I brought home a permission form for you to sign since I’m switching my schedule to do it.”
I could hardly contain my excitement. We’d only just talked about this last night and Asher already had plans in motion. If he’d been beside me I would have planted a big, fat kiss right on his lips.
“Play the guitar? Do you even want to learn the guitar,” Dad asked, still frowning, appearing confused.
“Dad, seriously. Who doesn’t want to learn how to play the guitar?” And then, he stared straight at me when he said, “Chicks dig guys with guitars, don’t they, Jord?”
Heat creeped up my neck, but I shrugged, trying to keep it cool. “I don’t know. I guess.”
Payton smirked and I kicked him under the table which only made him laugh.
“Well, I think it’s wonderful,” Mom said. “Do you know who it is? The high school student, I mean.”