“I . . . we were going to tell you this weekend.”
“Coury wanted to tell you before, but I talked him out of it.”
“You said you wouldn’t do this.”
“No, Beckett.” Coury’s voice found a bit of steel. “Youtold me not to, and I said I wouldn’t hurt him.”
“Same thing.”
“Wrong. Liam and I talked about this. He understands.”
“Bullshit.” He finally dropped his bag. “Squirt’s never had a boyfriend. He has no clue what’s going on.”
“Hey,” Liam waved a hand, but it might have been invisible to his brother. “I’m right here.”
“Give himandme a little credit. Liam’s an adult. I didn’t lead him on.”
“I pushed it, Becks, not him.”
Beckett shot Liam a glare. “So?” He turned his venomous scowl back to Coury. “All the dudes on campus, and you needed to fuck my little brother?”
“Fuck you, Beckett!” Liam stepped into his brother’s face. “You don’t know anything about me. You still act like I’m twelve and need protecting.”
“You do. If you could take care of yourself, you wouldn’t have run to Pop when someone hurt your whittle feelings.”
“Beckett!” Pop raised his voice. “That’s not how you talk to your brother, not in my house.”
“You knew about this, too.”
Coury’s phone rang and it took a second to recognize the tone. He turned it over and froze.
Everyone stopped talking; he made eye contact with Liam.
“Answer it, Coury.”
“Are you kidding me?” Beckett threw his arms out. “He’s going to take a callnow?”
“Be quiet, Beckett.” Pop rarely spoke like that, but when it happened, they listened.
“Hello?”
“Coury? Coach Brophy. Is this a bad time?”
He scanned the house and felt the hostile vibes coming from everyone. “It’s fine.”
“The scout liked what he saw. He wants you to throw for him.”
“Really?”
Coach Brophy laughed. “Don’t sound so surprised. He almost didn’t call Tom back because you were so strong.”
“Sorry.” He wasn’t really, except Tom was their best hitter. If the scout wasn’t sure about him that meant no one else would be there.
“Don’t be. He’s one of the pickiest scouts I know. Likes to know anyone he recommends really has a chance. Impressing him will go a long way to making it high enough to matter.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly. Can you be at the field at nine-thirty tomorrow morning?”