He turns his head, raising a brow. “Why do you sound surprised?”
I shrug. “In my head, you’re all grumbles, grunts, and snarls atpeople. Do they force you to talk or you just do?”
One indifferent shrug. “They ask questions and I answer.”
“More than five words with multiple syllables?”
Dean sighs, a smile tickling his cheeks. “Yes.”
“Impressive,” I finish the drink. “You keep surprising me, Dean.”
He freezes, his shoulders going stiff, his face going blank. Then all at once, a thousand emotions, each contoured differently from his eyes to his jaw, to the tick in his throat, mesh together.
“What?” I slowly ask.
“You said my name,” he says shockingly. He’s replaying it in his mind. The exact moment I decided to say it.
“Do you not want me to?”
“I do,” he quickly says.
I try not to think too hard about that.
“Oh! Before I forget,” I take out the folded paper from my jeans and hand it to him. “This is for you.”
Dean takes it from me, unfolds it and reads:I’m impressed with your UNO skills.
His eyes line over it repeatedly before saying, “Thank you.”
“I didn’t think you were competitive,” I change the direction of our conversation to something easier. Playful.
There’s a hard lump digging into my chest and it has nothing to do with nerves. But something different, exotic, and permanent.
“I never used to be until I started playing with my brothers. My competitiveness is nothing compared to Cal and Azar’s.”
“Are you close with them?” Azar talks about Dean from time to time. But it’s in soft tones like his older brother’s gone before actually being gone. Yet, I’m starting to think that’s because of the time they spent apart.
“Sometimes,” his tone falls flat.
“You have to give me more than that,” our arms brush. Causing an electric tingle. “Azar mentioned once that Cal stepped up at one point in their lives, is that when you were in prison?”
Dean shuts his eyes like the very thought of reliving those days scares him. They must. I can’t imagine what he’s been through. Every second of being away from his brother—his mom. Then coming back to a life that belongs to him yet isn’t his.
He doesn’t answer.
“It’s not my place to say this,” I continue talking when I know I need to stop. “But for what it’s worth, I know Azar loves having you back. He talks about you when we’re alone. And your mom admires you. Not sure about Callahan, but I know that even he?—”
“Stop.” It comes out thick and sharp. Not like a knife, but the edge of a paper.
My back goes rigid. “I didn’t mean to push, but I’m curious about you. I want to know what your life has been like?—”
His eyes burn green. “It’s none of your business, Nova.”
The atmosphere changes. Gone is the teasing and the flirtatiousness. Instead, it’s full of cobwebs and neither of us want to clean it up.
“Hey,” Austin slides the door open. “We’re announcing today’s match in five minutes.”
My eyes are on Dean when I say, “We’ll be right there.”
