by Ciz, Alley
Then my brother showing up. My heart tripped over itself when I realized he did come, but then he had to go and lay out an ultimatum like he’s the boss of me.
Sorry to tell you this, big brother, but you are not.
“Can you get out so I can change for the cast party?” I gesture to the door behind Nate.
“What about our picture?”
Is he for real right now? I’m standing here crying, because of him, and he thinks I want to take a picture? Men!
“This isn’t really a Kodak moment.” My voice is flat, emotionless despite the sarcastic comment.
“But it’s tradition, Care Bear.”
Nice try, buddy.
“Well…seeing as you just broke my heart, I think it’s okay for me to break our tradition.” I move around him and pull the door open. “Get. Out.”
I can’t even look at him when he finally does as I ask. He was supposed to be the man in my life to protect me—because let’s be honest, our dad certainly doesn’t care enough to fill the role—and instead he hurt me the most.
Jase may love me enough to walk away from us to protect the relationship I have with my brother, but if he thinks I’m letting him go without a fight, he has another thing coming.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
BROADWAY BABY: HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!
THE BIG HAMMER: What’s wrong? Are you okay?
BROADWAY BABY: I’M NOMINATED FOR A TONY!!!!!!!!
THE BIG HAMMER: Holy shit that’s amazing!
BROADWAY BABY: I can’t believe it.
THE BIG HAMMER: I can. You were AH-MAY-ZING
BROADWAY BABY: Lol, I can’t believe you just said ah-may-zing.
THE BIG HAMMER: *GIF of Rebel Wilson in Pitch Perfect saying, “Aca-believe it!”*
BROADWAY BABY: You know what this means?
THE BIG HAMMER: ??
BROADWAY BABY: I’m going to need a date.
THE BIG HAMMER: …
* * *
BROADWAY BABY: Woooo!!!! Look who’s going to the Conference Finals!!! I hope Jake and Ryan aren’t too sad you guys beat them.
THE BIG HAMMER: Yeah, that was pretty nice.
BROADWAY BABY: Pretty nice? Um…I’m pretty sure Cali’s picture of you two gloating over the two of them went viral.
THE BIG HAMMER: It did. Still not sure if JD and Skye are happy or mad about it.
BROADWAY BABY: It was hilarious. They should be happy.
THE BIG HAMMER: You know what this means though?
BROADWAY BABY: What?
THE BIG HAMMER: We have to play your team to make it to the Cup.
BROADWAY BABY: *GIF of Will Smith shrugging*
* * *
BROADWAY BABY: I miss you.
THE BIG HAMMER: I miss you too, baby.
BROADWAY BABY: Then why the FUCK aren’t we together?
THE BIG HAMMER: Because I refuse to be the reason you lose your brother.
BROADWAY BABY: That’s stupid.
THE BIG HAMMER: I know, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
BROADWAY BABY: No, it doesn’t. If anyone is the reason for it, it’s Nate himself.
THE BIG HAMMER: Whoa, you called him Nate.
BROADWAY BABY: Yeah, well, when you start tossing out ultimatums like you’re a petulant child and not a 25-year-old man, you lose the right to your childhood nickname.
THE BIG HAMMER: Harsh.
BROADWAY BABY: And don’t you forget it.
THE BIG HAMMER: Maddey would totally approve of your use of the word petulant.
BROADWAY BABY: Oh I know. She already praised me for it.
THE BIG HAMMER: You still talk to The Coven?
BROADWAY BABY: *GIF of Michelle Tanner rolling her eyes saying, “Duh.”*
THE BIG HAMMER: Yup, you are def still talking to my sister. I can’t believe she’s still watching Full House. I would have thought she’d be done all these weeks later.
BROADWAY BABY: Oh she is. She’s on to Saved By The Bell now, thanks to my recommendation.
THE BIG HAMMER: I’m surprised you’re still talking to them.
BROADWAY BABY: Why?
THE BIG HAMMER: Because…
BROADWAY BABY: Listen…
THE BIG HAMMER: I thought I couldn’t “listen” to a text.
BROADWAY BABY: God you’re lucky you’re cute. But just because you have some misguided notion that we need to be broken up, that doesn’t mean I accept it.
THE BIG HAMMER: …
* * *
BROADWAY BABY: That’s one hell of a right hook you have.
THE BIG HAMMER: Yeah…well…I gotta protect my boys. I’m not gonna let a dirty hit slide, even if the refs miss it.
THE BIG HAMMER: What about the goal or the assist I had tonight?
BROADWAY BABY: Oh those were nice too, but the right hook was the highlight of Game 4 for me.
THE BIG HAMMER: You do realize I used that right hook on your brother, right?
BROADWAY BABY: That was my favorite part *smiley face emoji*
THE BIG HAMMER: …
BROADWAY BABY: What? *shrugging emoji* Maybe you’ll knock some sense into him and he’ll butt out of our relationship.
THE BIG HAMMER: …
* * *
BROADWAY BABY: *picture of Mr. Potato Head with Jase Donnelly and Chris Callahan bobbleheads*
BROADWAY BABY: Kick butt tonight. You bring this series back home for Game 7.
THE BIG HAMMER: Where did you get those?
THE BIG HAMMER: And I thought you were a Bruisers fan?
BROADWAY BABY: Ebay.
BROADWAY BABY: And seeing as the reason I am a Bruisers fan is the reason you refuse to be my boyfriend anymore and will only text me (at least you text me back this time around), a part of me can root for you.
THE BIG HAMMER: Why?
BROADWAY BABY: Because Mr. PH was getting lonely. He wanted to hang with his daddy.
BROADWAY BABY: Wait…
BROADWAY BABY: If he’s supposed to represent you, does that make you his daddy? Doesn’t it make him you? Did I just create a doppelgänger situation?
THE BIG HAMMER: There is so much wrong with your last text I feel like we need to stop texting.
THE BIG HAMMER: Actually…we should probably stop anyway.
BROADWAY BABY: Why the hell would we do something like that?
THE BIG HAMMER: I’m sure Nate would flip if he knew you were texting me.
BROADWAY BABY: *angry face emoji* *cursing emoji*
BROADWAY BABY: NATE
BROADWAY BABY: DOES
BROADWAY BABY: NOT
BROADWAY BABY: TELL
BROADWAY BABY: ME
BROADWAY BABY: WHO
BROADWAY BABY: TO
BROADWAY BABY: DATE
THE BIG HAMMER: Chill. Stop channeling your inner Becky. But for reals—I told you I cannot come between you.
BROADWAY BABY: You’re gonna make me throw my phone.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
End of May
The last month has been filled with so many ups and downs I feel like I’m on a damn rollercoaster.
The show opened to rave reviews, culminating in twelve Tony nominations, including one for yours truly for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and one for Zoey for Best Choreography.
I think I might have permanent hearing loss from how loud Zoey, Ella, and I screamed the morning they were announced. Unlike how I always imagined, the first person I reached out to wasn’t Nate; it was Jase.
I still can’t believe after one of the most romantic gestures ever, he gave us up so I wouldn’t lose my close connection to Nate. Well, that backfired in spectacular fashion. I’m so fucking angry with my big brother over his Romeo-and-Juliet-esque decree I can barely manage a civil conversation with him.
How dare he try to dictate who I date.
At least this time around Jase isn’t ignoring my texts. Sure, our conversations are more one-sided and any time I try to broach the s
ubject of us he either deflects or stops answering altogether, but I refuse to give up.
He loved me enough to walk away. Well, I love him enough to not let him. No more games.
My usual stipulation of being off for when the Bruisers are in town doesn’t kick in until the show is a few months old. I had to practically offer up my firstborn, but I was able to work out missing both of today’s performances to handle my business.
Striding through the lobby of the Huntington Hotel not far from Madison Square Garden, I head straight for the elevator bank. I got Nate’s room information from one of his teammates earlier and don’t care if I cut into his nap time. This conversation has been put off long enough.
Knock-knock.
The door swings open and I meet a pair of startled dark eyes. Yup, I am interrupting nap time if the rumpled hair, bare chest, and athletic shorts are anything to go by.
“Care Bear?”
“Nate.” He winces at my use of his real name. Yeah, well, you lost that right, buddy.
Not waiting for an invitation, I push past him and into the room.
“Don’t you have a show right now?” He runs a hand over his hair, shooting a look at his roommate and dropping into one of the armchairs in the room.
Stokes already knew I was coming—he was the one who gave up their room number—and he heads out to give us some privacy.
“I took the day off.” I pace the space in front of the beds, too keyed up to sit. “You and I need to talk.”
“About?”
Massaging the ridge of my brow, I wonder if he’s always been this dense or if he’s purposely being obtuse.
“About Jase.” I hold up a hand when he goes to cut in. “Specifically me and Jase.”
“I thought there wasn’t a you and Jase?”
Don’t smack him, Mels. He’s your brother.
“Yeah,” I huff. “That’s the problem.”
He looks at me like I just broke out into song. Well, no, that’s not the best description, because I do have a tendency to do that.
“I love him, you big idiot.” I slap my thighs in frustration. “I love him and he loves me so much he refuses to be with me because he’s afraid it will affect our”—I wave a hand between us—“relationship.”
“Oh, Mels,” he says so patronizingly I really do almost punch him. “Don’t be so naive.”
“Excuse me?” I squeak.
“That guy has more bunnies than the entire Bruisers roster.”
I slip my hands into my pockets, because with each word out of his mouth, the urge to punch him increases.
“I don’t trust him. I told you how when he would visit Ryan, he would come with his girlfriend and hit on the bunnies when she wasn’t around. You think that’s the type of guy I want dating my baby sister?”
I never actually understood why he told me that. Back then, I figured he needed to vent and I was his sounding board, but the Jase Donnelly I’ve come to know, the man I love…would never do that.
Something prickles at the back of my memory. “Was his girlfriend a strawberry blonde?”
Nate’s brow scrunches in confusion.
“Red hair,” I clarify, and he nods. “That wasn’t his girlfriend.”
He scoffs. “Donnelly is pictured with more women on his Insta in a week than most people are in a year.”
“God! I thought Jase exaggerated,” I say, more to myself than him, but I do see a flare of hurt in my brother’s eyes. “Nine times out of ten, those women”—I use air quotes—“are his friends.”
“Friends,” Nate scoffs. “More like fuck buddies.”
Oh my god, who is this person in front of me? I thread my fingers into my hair, resting my hands on my head to keep from ripping it out.
“Look…I have no idea what your issue is with the Covenettes—”
“Covenettes?”
I wave him off. “It’s their nickname—regardless, that’s not what’s important.” I pull in a calming breath. “I’ve met them all and they are amazing. From the moment they met Zoey, Ella, and me, they treated us like one of their own. Do you have any idea how rare that is to find with girls, especially a group as large as them?”
“Bunnies stick together I guess.”
“OH MY GOD!” Great, now I’m yelling at my brother. I didn’t expect this to go over like we were having a tea party, but damn, this so wasn’t the subject I thought would have us fighting. “They aren’t bunnies. For Christ’s sake, one is his sister, who’s married. One is his best friend, also married. Another is his other best friend’s girlfriend, and another almost married his brother. There’s also his personal chef and friends from college rounding out the group.” I tick off each person on my fingers. “They might not all technically be related, but they are family.”
Nate’s dark eyes soften at the mention of family, and I finally drop into the chair across from his and take one of his hands in mine.
“Do you know when I met his mom, she asked me more about my acting in one hour than Mom has in my entire life?”
“Mels…”
“By asking me to give him up, you’re not just breaking my heart—which you are, by the way—you’re asking me to give up the type of support system you and I dreamed about growing up.” I squeeze his hand in both of mine.
“Care Bear—”
I continue like he didn’t speak. “All our lives we’ve been each other’s greatest champions. I was the only person in the cast who had an entire hockey team cheering them on from the front rows, and there are very few theater geeks who can recite hockey stats like lines from a script.”
I reach so I’m grasping both his hands and dip my head to meet his eyes.
“You and I have always been an island unto ourselves when Mom and Dad couldn’t be bothered to care longer than it took to sign the checks. We’re Care Bear and Teddy Bear.” This earns me a chuckle, and my spirits lift. “Why let some stupid grudge keep us from finding a family?”
Nate collapses against the back of the chair. “Fuck.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “He didn’t tell you about our”—he pauses, tilting his head side to side as if trying to find the right word—“rivalry?”
“Not really.” Sure, most of the details are a bit fuzzy, but this makes me think I’m missing a few pieces of the puzzle.
“Shit. He might be a better guy than I’ve given him credit for.”
Finally!
“Of course he is. I don’t like people who don’t deserve it—current company and their recent behavior excluded.” I give him a look that dares him to test me on this. He’s smart enough not to.
I’m confident things will get back to normal with us and that he and Jase will be able to work their shit out. Plus, if they don’t, I’ll just enlist my fellow Covenettes to help knock some sense into them.
“Still.” He shakes his head. “I can’t trust him.”
“You’re not the one who is dating him—I am. So guess what, big brother? It doesn’t matter if you don’t, because I do.”
“Well you shouldn’t,” he snaps. “Because usually when a guy is okay with hooking up with a girl who has a boyfriend, they tend not to care if they themselves have one.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I tilt my head. He’s not making any sense.
“After we lost to BTU in the Frozen Four…” Nate swallows and rubs at his ear. It’s his tell when he’s angry, so I wait him out. “I caught him hooking up with Dana.”
“Dana?” I sit up straight. “As in your ex-girlfriend?”
“Yeah. I caught them looking very cozy by the bathrooms.”
Math may not have been my favorite subject, but even I can tell something doesn’t add up.
“So you’re saying Jase knew Dana was your girlfriend and targeted her to get back at you from your beef from Lake Placid?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Nate rests his elbows on his knees, threading his fingers in his hair and massaging his temples.