Dad sighed, and a wide smile covered his face. “Those were some damn good fights. Didn’t like them or him that much while they were happening, but I miss those times.”
“You two looked like a couple of chicks fighting over the last pair of shoes at a store.”
Dad barked out a laugh and looked over to me. “Have I ever told you about the first time I met Chase?”
“At McGowan’s? McGowan set you both up in the ring to show everyone the new fighter he’d found in you.”
Dad’s eyes got a faraway look, and his smile softened. “Good fucking day.”
Looking down at a tattoo on my right inner forearm, I stared at it for a second before saying, “Why don’t you tell me again? It’s been awhile since I’ve heard that one.”
Uncle Konrad knocked into my side, and I turned my head for a moment to see him offer me a grateful smile just as Dad started in on the story. Looking back at the tattoo on my right arm, I didn’t once take my eyes off it as I listened to a story I’d heard hundreds of times, and had no doubt I would hear hundreds more. A story about a guy I knew as well as I knew myself, and a guy I would never get the opportunity to meet.
July 17
Kennedy
I STEPPED THROUGH the door of Kira’s and my condo and immediately knew something was wrong. Not with our place, everything still looked exactly how it had when I’d left earlier . . . but there was definitely something. I’d only been out for a walk for forty-five minutes, and I couldn’t begin to figure out what could have changed in that time. I started walking in the direction of my room to get ready for work, but turned and headed toward Kira’s instead.
Kira’s mood hadn’t changed at all—or if it had, it was only getting worse. I only saw her for a split second after we got home from work yesterday afternoon, and once again, she wouldn’t talk to me. I didn’t know if she was eating, I didn’t know if Zane had called her last weekend, I didn’t know anything because she refused to talk to me unless it was to ask me to leave her alone.
With a knock on her shut door, I let myself in and my face fell when I found Kira curled up in a ball on her bed—again.
“I don’t want to go to work,” she responded automatically.
“Uh . . . okay? Did you call Brandon, or do you need me to?”
When she didn’t respond in any way, I walked over and sat on her bed so we were facing each other.
“What’s going on with you, sis?”
Her eyes filled with unshed tears as she shook her head.
“Is it Zane?” When there was no confirmation or denial, I suggested, “If it’s so hard for you, why doesn’t he just come here to visit you at least?”
Seconds after my last question, a hard sob tore through Kira’s throat and she buried her face in her hands as she cried.
I wasn’t sure how to react or what to say. Kira had cried over him so many times that I’d stopped being surprised. But she hadn’t once offered up any piece of information for me to know what exactly it was she was crying about this time. Kicking off my shoes, I curled onto the bed so I was again facing her and put one of my hands on her arm until the crying eventually stopped and she was looking at me again. Well, looking in my direction—I wasn’t positive she was actually seeing me, though.
“You ready to tell me now?” I asked a couple minutes later. “We tell each other everything, Kira, and it has been at least a week of you walking around like there’s no more life in you. You just got past something like this a month ago, you can’t go through it again and expect me not to do something about it this time.”
Again, no response from her.
“I’m not sure if I should call Mom, or Zane, or . . . I don’t know.”
“Don’t call Zane,” she whispered hoarsely.
Her sudden demand startled me enough that it took me a few moments to figure out what to say. “Okay, I won’t. Do I need to call Mom?”
“He probably wouldn’t answer anyway,” she mumbled before clearing her throat. “No, don’t call Mom . . . and don’t call Dad either. The three of you would probably have a celebration over it, and I don’t need to hear how happy you all are.”
“Happy?” I laughed hesitantly. “Is this because of Liam? Because I’ve been spending time with him?”
Kira exhaled heavily and shook her head again, but this time I waited because there was nothing else I could think of that might be wrong. “Zane is cheating on me.”
My head jerked back. “What? Kira, no, he’s not. It’s just hard because of the—”