bros (a bxb story)

Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen: Construction

I sat with Stella and Cody at the kitchen table, alongside her parents. Denny made the best pie known to man. Today it was strawberry rhubarb, from his own garden, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Even Cody had two slices. No diet could withstand Denny's baking skills.

Rosalie passed out cups of coffee to tame the sweetness and we sat there, savoring  the last few bites when the front door opened and Sammy walked into the kitchen, freezing when he saw me.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

His step mom flicked him hard on the forehead, as she passed, bringing her plate to the sink. "Sorry, Jimmy. He has the manners of a starving badger."

I smiled and kept eating, taking sips of coffee. He looked like such an idiot standing there.

"I invited Jimmy to Easter dinner, dumbass." Stella announced. "You'd think you'd know when your best friend is home for the holidays and ask him yourself, but noooooooo..... you had to go to some stupid film festival instead of eating a home cooked meal with your family. Sucks for you if there's only a little pie left." She took a huge bite and smirked at him.

He sat woodenly down at the table. "Sorry," to me. "I didn't know you were home. Kenny said you were probably going to spend the break with Mike. Meet his family, take the next step, kind of thing."

Is that what he thought? 

 "No. Nope." I decided to leave it at that. Everything with Mike and Jeremy was still too fresh to just talk about casually with so many people around.

Sammy nodded, eyebrows raised. I'd known him since we were almost eight years old. I knew he wanted to ask what I meant, but he didn't. He knew I would have explained if I wanted to, so he respected me enough not to pry. He was like that.

"You can share my slice," I said, passing the plate to him. "I'm done."

"Thanks," he said, taking my fork and eating the last few bites. I slid my cup of coffee towards him and he took a sip. "Good."

It was directed to me but his dad grinned, pleased as punch with the compliment from his sometimes surly son.

"You went to a film festival?" I asked, as Stella and Cody giggled for some bizarre reason and left us at the table alone.

"We're off!" Denny exclaimed. And Rosalie nodded, rinsing of the last of the dishes, and leaving them to soak in the sink. "I know you must be crushed, but we're out for a nice after dinner drive. It was good seeing you again, Jimmy."

And with a strange flourish, they too left the kitchen.

We talked for a while. He seemed strangely uncomfortable, but I pushed through. We'd only spoken to each other when Kenny was around, so maybe when confronted with the new me, he didn't know what to say.

Later we rode our bikes around his neighborhood, and then over to my house. It was a good distance away, but it was a warm night for this time of year, and still light out. The sun didn't set until around seven so it was plenty light.

Sammy was an expert rider. He could do all kinds of tricks, like bunny hops, nose bonks, spins, jumps. It was really fun to watch. He always seemed so reserved that it was refreshing to see him show off. I stopped for awhile, and he put on a show for me. I clapped and cheered him on, before he shrugged and we kept riding towards my house.

"You're so awesome," I said sincerely in front of my house. "Marine biologist by day, bmx trick rider by night."

He shrugged. "What can I say? Excellence in everything, that's my goal." And laughed.