Chapter 41 Zeke
forty-one
Zeke
Well, well,” Marcus says as I walk into the bar, “look what the cat dragged in. I thought you’d fallen off the face of the Earth.”
“Ha ha.” I take the seat next to him. “Nice to see you too, Marcus.”
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in years.”
“You saw me last week,” I reply, as he slides a beer toward me. “We were here for my birthday.”
“We used to hang out every weekend, dude.” He takes a swig of his beer. “Now I’m lucky if I see you once a month.”
I guess I do spend most of my time with Avalon. I rarely even go to parties anymore because I don’t have the desire to. Between my schedule and his, we’ve constantly missed each other.
“If it makes you feel any better, I rarely see the guys, and we live together.”
“Yeah, Jax and I were together the other night, and he said you basically don’t live there anymore.”
“I’m home… most nights.” I lie. I’m typically home after practice for a little while. Usually, it’s just to get a change of clothes and whatever I need to stay at Avalon’s.
“Is it your mom?” He turns fully toward me. “Is she doing okay?”
“Actually, she’s doing great.” I grin. “She gets to go home in a couple weeks. Just has to finish up her final rounds of treatment.”
“Zeke, man, that’s amazing!” He grabs my shoulder and gives it a gentle shake. “You must be so stoked, especially because it means sleeping in your own bed.”
“I’d sleep at the hospital every night if I had to. I’m just happy she can finally sleep in her bed.”
“Does that mean we can expect you at more parties from now on?” He raises an eyebrow, and I laugh.
“I don’t know, man. I think I’ve moved on from the whole party lifestyle. You might have to stick to partying with Jax.”
He tilts his head, studying me, as he takes another drink. “You seeing someone?”
“What?”
Am I that obvious? He’s not the first person to question my newfound attitude. Ember questions me almost once a week about it.
“I don’t know, man.” He shakes his head. “I never thought I’d see the day Zeke Harris settles down, but something’s been different about you recently.”
“Maybe I’m just actually happy for the first time in my life,” I reply. “Like fully happy.”
“And the only thing I can think of that would cause that happiness is a girl. You just found out your mom’s in remission, so it can’t be that.”
“Maybe it’s because our hockey team is absolutely killing it this year. Did you think about that?”
“Hmm,” he mumbles. “I don’t know if I’m buying it.”
“I don’t need you to buy it,” I argue. “I know the truth.”
“If you were seeing someone, you’d tell me, right? I told you about that guy I hooked up with last weekend. And—”
“And I didn’t ask for any information… especially that amount of detail.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I’d tell you if and when the time was right,” I respond. “Now it’s time for a change in conversation.”
My phone buzzes on the table. I pick it up quickly, in case it’s a message from Avalon, but once I do, I see Declan across the top of the screen.
“Hmm.” I stare at the message on my screen.
“What’s up?”
“I don’t know. Declan said his mom wants to take us all out to dinner.”
“Maybe she heard that your mom’s coming home.”
“He sent it in the group chat with the guys,” I continue, “so I think he means all of us.”
I start to tell Declan I can’t make it to dinner, but it’s almost like Marcus can read me.
“Go, man. We can get a drink another time.”
“Why don’t you come?” I ask. “I doubt they’d care. And I know Mrs. Sanderson would love to see you.”
“If they don’t mind, I’d love to tag along.” He jumps off the stool, poking my arm. “Why don’t you invite that lady friend of yours? I think we’d all love to meet her.”
I roll my eyes as I get off the stool and shove a chuckling Marcus out the door.
It’s about time.” My mom crosses her arms, “I never liked that, Thomas Sanderson.”
“I still feel bad for Declan. I understand why he’s been off since the summer. I think part of him was hoping this would’ve happened sooner.”
“I tried to get her to leave that asshat years ago,” my mom continues. “I always told Cheryl she was too good for him.”
“Mom!” I chuckle. “You did not say that to her.”
“I did.” She smiles like it’s the greatest thing she’s ever done. “She came to visit me after I just got out of the hospital and told me that she thought Thomas was sleeping with another woman, and I told her she should leave him.”
“Was he sleeping with another woman?” I rest my elbows on my knees, leaning forward.
I know that’s what led to the recent breakup. After dinner the other night, Declan told me and the guys he found his dad cheating on his mom before our first hockey game. That’s why he was late. And that he hoped it would be the push his mom needed to leave his dad.
After talking with Declan, I realized that a lot of his attitude since the beginning of the school year made more sense now that we were aware of what was happening.
“I don’t know. Cheryl never brought it up to me again.
And she never left him, so.” She shrugs.
“I think part of her was scared of what would happen to Brinley and Declan if she tried to leave him. He was never the kindest dad, and they were still in high school. She didn’t want to lose them to him. ”
“It sucks that she didn’t have another out.”
“Yeah, but now that Declan’s a witness to the cheating, her out is going to lead to a lot of money.”
“What do you mean?”
“They have a prenup. I think Thomas wanted it to protect his assets when he thought he was going to the NHL, but there’s a cheating clause. If she has proof of cheating, she can pretty much take him for all that he’s worth.”
“Well, I hope she does.”
There’s a knock on the door, and I turn expecting to see Avalon, who borrowed my car to pick up our dinner, but I don’t. Instead, I see Ember.
“Hi.” She rests against the door frame with a smile. “I was just on shift and thought I’d swing by.”
“On-shift?” I lean back, crossing my arms.
“Oh, Ember’s been volunteering at the hospital,” my mom replies. “Ever since you brought her here, she’s been here most weekends.”
“I usually come on weekends that you guys are out of town for a game, so your mom has someone to hang out with. But I decided to pick up a few more volunteering days. It’s nice to visit people who don’t have family to come visit them.”
“Oh,” I begin, “I had no idea you’ve been coming here.”
“Well, your mom’s a fun person to hang out with,” she adds. “I hear you’re getting out of here, Elise.”
“I am. So, if you want to visit, you’ll have to drive to my house instead of the hospital.”
“And I will. Our canasta nights are too fun to stop just because you’re out of the hospital.”
“Come, sit.” My mom motions toward the chair next to her bed.
“Oh, I can’t stay long—”
“Ember Bowman, you better come sit your but down in this chair.” My mom points at Ember and then back to the chair.
“Okay.” She laughs. “I can sit for a minute, but then I have to see Sylvie before heading out. She’s hoping things don’t work out with Declan so she can set me up with her grandson.”
“Sounds like Sylvie,” my mom says as Ember sits down. “But things must be going well. Zeke told me you live with them now.”
“Temporarily. Cam and I aren’t on speaking terms, so being home isn’t a good idea right now.”
“He’ll get over it.”
“I hope so.” She sighs. “But until then, I get to live with a bunch of horny hockey players.”
“I’m pretty sure you’ve never walked in on me having sex, Ember. And since you’ve been staying with us, I’ve caught you twice.”
“You have to be home for me to catch you,” she responds. “And most nights, you’re not. Don’t think that I don’t hear you leaving the house at random hours. Seriously, where are you going?”
“I’m—”
“Baby.” Avalon’s voice makes its way into the room before she does. I turn toward the door and watch as the smile on her face slowly fades when she sees Ember. “Oh, um—” her eyes land on me for a quick second before returning to Ember, “—wrong room.”
I feel Ember’s eyes burning into me, and I don’t need to look at her to know there’s a smile growing on her face. She hops out of her chair, “I knew it!”
My head falls back as Ember walks over to Avalon.
“You’re the girl,” she says. “The one he’s been hiding.”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Avalon argues.
Ember tugs at the receipt on the Chinese bag, reading over it before looking back at Avalon. “So, you just happen to have his favorite food from his favorite Chinese restaurant by the hospital.”
I forgot I told Ember about this place when she drove me here last month. We drove by it, and I told her she’d have to try it sometime. There’s no other Chinese restaurant like it.
“Stewart,” I begin, “there’s no use denying it.”
“Wait a second,” Ember pauses. “Avalon Stewart? The girl you slept with at the party after the first hockey game?”
“Why do you know that?”
“Because the guys talk. You’re in a class with Jaxon.”
“I am,” Avalon replies.
“You guys have been hiding your relationship since October?” Ember asks. “Damn, and I thought hiding my relationship from my brother was hard, but you’ve been hiding it from everyone.”
“It’s complicated,” we say in unison.
“Well,” Ember grabs Avalon, pulling her to the chair next to me and forcing her to sit down, “I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“What about Sylvie?”
“Sylvie can wait a few extra minutes. I need to hear all about the girl that got Zeke Malakai Harris to settle down.”