10. Colt

Colt

W hen I walk through the front door of my mom's house, I'm not at all surprised to not see her anywhere. That's typical. I'm also not surprised to see my little sister looking totally exhausted, sitting on the couch with a crying baby on her lap.

"Hey there, little man," I say as I sit next to Chloe and scoop up my nephew, thankful when he stops crying and looks at me with a grin. Chloe doesn't even seem to have it in her to be mad at me for being able to make him stop crying.

She just sinks back into the couch with an exhausted, "Humph."

"You okay?"

She laughs tiredly at that, scrubbing a hand over her face. "Oh yeah. Totally fine. He's teething or something. And pissed off most of the time unless his favorite person is here."

I cringe at that because there's bitterness in her tone, but I can't blame her. She's a fantastic mother, and whether she knows it or not, she definitely is Christian's favorite. She's just plain exhausted.

"You work tonight?"

She shakes her head. "No. I worked the day shift today." She reaches out and grabs Christian's little hand, which automatically wraps around her finger as he tries to bring it to his mouth. I chuckle and listen as she continues to speak. "Adam and Zach watched him today."

"That's nice of them."

"They're really great guys," she says fondly. I'm glad she has them. My mind goes straight to where it has nearly every minute of this damn week, and that's to Dallas. Does he have anyone besides Benny?

He looked so lost during our conversation on Saturday, and I shouldn't have gotten so upset with him those couple of times when we were talking. It's apparent he's had absolutely no experience with anything his parents deem inappropriate, and I'm guessing that's a pretty long list.

"We should go to the game tonight."

"The game?" Chloe looks at me like I'm insane, her dark eyebrows pulled up as she stares at me. "As in the football game?"

Yeah, that's definitely something I've never ever suggested. I shrug, trying to play it off. "Not like there's a lot to do around here on a Friday night. Could be fun."

It absolutely doesn't sound like fun, but we're in this now, and I see Chloe's interest perk up. She used to love going to football games. She was a cheerleader for a while and loved it before everything else ate away at her spirit. "What about Christian?"

"We'll take him. He's going to have to get his first Panthers game out of the way someday."

She's beaming now as she sits up excitedly on the couch. "Really? You really want to go to a football game with your barely five-month-old nephew and your little sister?"

I grin at that because I despise football, but yeah, there's nothing else I want to be doing right now more than that.

Christian's blue eyes meet mine, and they suddenly remind me so clearly of Dallas that I'm brought back to Saturday night in my living room with him. I didn't mean to blurt out that I'm bisexual like I did, but it had been driving me crazy that I didn't tell him when I first had the chance.

I don't hide it. Not ever. But I did that night because I was afraid of his reaction, and I couldn't let that go another day without telling him. His eyes were adorably wide, but then, I swear I saw something else in them as our conversation continued. I'm not speculating about his sexuality. It's not my place.

But I swear there was a spark of interest there. One that has had me thinking all damn week about what it would have been like to lean forward and kiss him hard, to take total control of his lush mouth.

"You're backing out of this already, aren't you?" Chloe's amused tone pulls me to the present, and I cringe, thinking about the fact that I've been fantasizing about Christian's father all damn week.

What the hell is wrong with me?

This was so not my intention when I went looking for Dallas Boone. Not even close. And now, he's all I think about for all the wrong reasons.

"No, let's go," I say to her, and she stands up, her hands going to the messy bun on top of her head.

"No way. Not like this! What if I see my old friends? I look like a hag."

I laugh at that as I roll my eyes. "You do not."

"Give me five minutes," she says, running off to her bedroom, and I know for a fact it will not be five minutes.

"Your mother is crazy," I say to my nephew as I hold him up in front of me, and he coos as he plays with the fabric of my t-shirt with his chubby little hand, but I'm pretty sure he agrees.

Almost an hour later, my sister comes out of the room, freshly showered in her Kensley Panthers t-shirt and jeans, and her hair and makeup done. But she's wearing the first real smile I've seen on her in a while, and I know going to this game will be well worth it.

I've already dressed Christian in the only red t-shirt he has, and we load him up in the truck and head down to the stadium. I'm hoping it's a home game, and by the time we reach Elm Street to head down to where the Panthers play football, it's damn apparent it is because the street is crowded. Once we find a spot to park, I'm certain the entire town is here tonight.

Not surprising in the least. I carry Christian and his diaper bag through the stands, and we finally find somewhere to sit, just in time for the Panthers to take the field. Christian seems entranced by the marching band, which is good news for us because I don't think the surrounding fans will be too pleased if he decides to throw one of his epic fits.

But honestly, fuck them. He has just as much right to be here as any of them, so if he does, he does.

I'm having fun clapping along with the band and Christian when the opposing team trots onto the field, and I instantly freeze when I see the navy and white uniforms.

Shit.

"Big Bend?" Chloe asks from next to me, and I don't miss her accusatory tone.

"Chlo." I turn to look at her, Christian still on my lap. "I swear I had no idea that's who they were playing tonight. You know I don't pay attention to that shit." She looks horrified, but I think she believes me.

"Maybe we should go." She looks worriedly at the field, and I hate that for her.

"No," I say firmly, getting her attention. "You have every right to be here. It's okay. It doesn't matter." I nudge her with my shoulder. "Besides, we know Kensley is going to win anyway. Can't miss that."

I feel bad that I haven't told her about getting to know Dallas yet. Truthfully, I'm not sure why I'm holding back. I don't want her to be upset with me, and I don't want to push her before she's ready. But I think it's more too. Selfish, awful reasons she may never actually forgive me for if she found out about them.

But she won't.

Because it's nothing, and it will be nothing. It doesn't matter that Dallas is exactly my damn type and that the guy makes my heart do strange things when he actually smiles. It doesn't matter that I seem to be just a bit obsessed with him after two meetings at my house.

This is totally fine. I'm a big boy. A big boy with a stupid-ass crush. But still, I can handle this.

"Why don't you go get some snacks. I'll stay here with him," I say, reaching for my wallet and handing it to her.

She smiles sweetly at that and stands. "Okay. Thank you, Colt." She kisses my cheek. "You're a really good big brother."

My gut clenches, and I hug my nephew to my chest a little as she heads down the stands because as soon as she's gone, my eyes are searching out the guy with Boone on the back of his jersey. And when I find him, I'm locked in a trance, watching him.

He doesn't look particularly happy tonight, but I know it's because the game hasn't started. Once it does, he'll be in his happy place, whether he knows it or not. The game starts, and sure enough, Dallas starts to warm up. Benny and he might as well be the only ones on the team.

So far, they're the only ones to do a damn thing besides a couple of Big Bend Bears that seem to go out of their way to shoulder-check Dallas. I find myself getting more and more pissed as I watch the way his team treats him, and I'm so lost in it, I didn't hear Chloe come back.

When she speaks, I flail a little in surprise and damn near knock the popcorn out of her hand. "Jesus. You okay?"

Get it together, Colt. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Chloe gets settled, and then Christian wants to go to her, so I hand him off and start munching on popcorn, trying really damn hard not to focus too hard on number twenty-two out there, but it's impossible.

And when the Big Bend Bears wind up squeaking out a last-minute win against the Kensley Panthers, I can't help but smile because I see the smile on Dallas's gorgeous face.

Yeah, I am a fantastic brother, Chlo. Just great.