The Final Score (22 page)

My dad rummages through the refrigerator, looking for something to whip up. He comes across some fresh spinach, cheese and eggs, and decides to make a frittata. Luke follows me to my room, carrying our bags. He stands back while I examine my room.

“How does it feel to be home?” he asks.

“It feels good,” I say, walking towards him to give him a hug. “Everything is perfect,” I whisper.

“It just feels right, doesn’t it?” He squeezes me tight.

***

(Luke)

I rejoin David in the kitchen, giving JJ time to herself.

“I did miss your cooking,” I say, smiling as I step into the room.

“Yeah, you look like you can stand to gain a few pounds,” David teases as he removes a loaf of toasted Italian bread from the oven.

“Really? I thought I did,” I answer, looking down at myself.

“Nah, I’m teasin’. You look good.
She looks good.
” David nods in the direction of JJ’s room.

“She’s great. She’s different, ya know?”

“I see that.”

“Not in a bad way. She scares me a little now.” I laugh as David looks at me inquisitively. “She’s more independent… strong. I mean, she loves me more than ever, I know that, but she doesn’t need me in the way she did before.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, for both of you. You both matured. Maybe the time apart made your relationship stronger,” he says, placing the stack of plates on the table.

“I know. I know. It’s not a bad thing at all, it’s just different. I think it was a good thing that I got sent to Arizona right away. There was only one thing for us to do… and that was talk. It forced us to talk about everything and really come to terms with it. You’re right. It made our relationship stronger. ” I spread the plates around the table then grab some napkins and forks out of the drawer.

JJ walks into the room, interrupting our conversation. “What are you two talking about?” she asks cheerily.

“You,” I answer.

“Don’t be talking about me behind my back. I don’t need the two of you analyzing me,” She jokes. We laugh, she knows us well.

David opens a bottle of wine and we toast to being home. We sit around the table and catch up with each other. JJ has a couple of tough weeks of class, preparing for finals once we get back. I’m on break, and don’t have to be back until spring training. Deanna’s moving to Florida over the break, Mikey is typical Mikey, enjoying his time off and partying with his new celebrity girlfriend.

“That’s cool. Is he bringing her to dinner on Thursday?” David asks, caught up in the fact that he’s actually dating someone famous.

“No. I asked him last week, he said he isn’t bringing her. Besides, De would have a fit,” JJ says.

“Why, what would that matter?” I ask, wondering why she would care.

“Actually, I was planning on inviting Mya to eat with us, but believe it or not, she is eating with Dan’s family. They live outside of Miami and they invited her to eat with them. She’ll be meeting them for the first time.” She ignores my question.

“Uh. What color is her hair this week?” David asks while I laugh.

“Actually, she’s toned down her look lately. You’d hardly recognize her these days,” she says, laughing and I nod in agreement.

We head across the street to see my mom and dad for a little while after we finish eating and catching up with David. They’re equally surprised to see us and my mom’s eyes fill with tears as soon as she sees us together.

“All of my kids will be together for Thanksgiving,” she says joyfully as she hugs us. “You’ve made me a very happy mom.”

We only talk a few minutes because we’re anxious to head back to JJ’s house so that she can spend time with David. She missed being home and knows her dad is happy to finally have her there. There will be plenty of time for us to catch up with everyone over the next few days.

We rejoin David in the living room, laughing, watching re-runs of King of Queens on cable. Before the eleven o’clock news begins, JJ leaves David and me alone while she showers before bed.

I fidget uneasily on the sofa. I was hoping to catch him alone without having to worry about JJ interrupting. I want to talk with him about something important. It’s something I’ve thought about every second since the night I returned from Arizona to find JJ waiting for me. It’s a feeling I never want to be without, knowing she’ll always be waiting for me.

“David, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” I say nervously.

“What’s up?”

“You know what she means to me.” I pause. “I don’t want to wait. I’m planning on asking her to marry me on Thanksgiving. I’m hoping you’ll say it’s okay.” My voice cracks.

“Luke, you know how I feel about you, but you just got back together. Why rush? Give yourself some time to get to know each other again.”

“David, I know her better than myself. I’m not rushin’ anything. I’ve always loved her. This was always our plan. It would have happened a lot sooner i
f—
”

“I knew what you were planning. You didn’t have me fooled, even though the two of you always thought you did.” He gives me a sarcastic look.

“David, it doesn’t make a difference if it’s now, or ten years from now. I’ll never stop loving her. It’ll always be her and I know she feels the same way. If we would have gone our separate ways after all of that mess and met other people during the time we were apart, it wouldn’t have been good if we ever ran into each other again over the years because the people in our lives would have been hurt. The first time I saw her after I got back, that night at the game, there was no denying how we felt. It didn’t matter that two years had passed. It could have been ten or twenty. Loving someone like that never leaves you, those feelings never go away.” I pause, staring at David, knowing he understands. “You know what I’m talking about.”

David doesn’t say a word. There’s nothing he can say, he knows exactly what I’m talking about.

I enforce my point. “David, you have a nice life now. You love Cheryl, right?” David nods, knowing where I’m going with this. “If you didn’t lose Olivia the way you did, if something drove the two of you apart that neither one of you had control over… If Olivia walked in this room right now, would you drop everything to be with her? Even though you are happy and care about Cheryl deeply, wouldn’t you do anything to have that one huge love back in your life, no matter who got hurt in the crossfire?” I look him in the eyes, hoping I didn’t go too far.

He pauses before answering and lets out a deep breath. “What can I say? You win. I had to try… you’re young.” He shrugs his shoulders. He knew it was pointless to delay the inevitable. After all, he had been with Olivia since they were almost the same age and I know David will never love anyone again the way he loved Olivia. He loves her just as much now as he did when he was nineteen.

“Really? You’re saying you’re okay with this?”

“Does it matter?” he asks sarcastically, smirking.

“You know it does,” I answer sincerely.

“I appreciate that.” David smiles, “Nobody can make her laugh and be happy the way you can. It’s been that way since you met.”

“I thought Thanksgiving was the perfect day since having her back in my life is what I am most thankful for. I promise David, I will never screw up with her again.”

“I know that.”

***

(Mikey)

I arrive home Wednesday afternoon and am disappointed to find the house empty. I like walking in to everyone sitting around the table. I head over to JJ’s, figuring I have a chance of catching her and Luke there. I bump into David on his way out as I’m about to go inside.

“Hey, bud, how are ya?” he asks, patting me on the back. “Just get in?”

“I got in early this morning. I stopped by my dad’s before he heads out to spend the holiday with his girlfriend and her family.”

“So where’s this new girl of yours I’ve been hearing about?” David teases. “I hear you’ve been enjoying your time in LA.”

“She’s there. It’s been cool, but I was ready to come home.” I laugh.

“Man, I thought I was goin’ to get to meet someone famous.”

“You already did…
me
,” I say, slapping him on the back.

“Nice to see you haven’t changed, buddy,” he calls back, hurrying off to his car.

“Where you headin’, work?”

“Yeah, busy night, I’m runnin’ late. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow. They’re inside.”

I walk into the family room to find the happy, little couple cuddled up on the couch watching TV. “Ah, look at this; all is right in the world again.” I tease. It’s nice to see them together like old times.

“Oh, wow! Look, Luke… Mr. Hollywood decides to grace us with his presence,” JJ jokes, jumping from the couch to give me a hug.

“Yeah, I figured I’d throw ya’s a bone and stop by,” I tease.

Luke punches my arm, and I lay back on the recliner, filling them in on my time in LA. “All joking aside, I’m tired of it. I’m ready to get back to my normal life. The party scene is crazy out there and she’s got a wild side to her, which I found kinda cool in the beginning, but its gettin’ old quick,” I say, talking about Lora Rae.

“Yeah, man, you need to stay away from that shit. You don’t want to get into trouble,” Luke tells me.

“Yeah, I know. It’s easy gettin’ swept up into all that shit and I can see how a lot of young people do, but, to be honest, it’s not for me. I like to talk a good game, but when it comes down to it, I like my simple daily routine. It’s really not my scene.”

“I know, Mikey. You’re not the partier you like to make everyone believe,” JJ accuses.

“What? What the hell are you talkin’ about? Who do I make believe that I’m a partier?” I laugh, arguing with her.

“De.”

“I just bust on her ‘cause I know it pisses her off. Like I give a shit what she thinks.” I lay back on the recliner. The truth of the matter is, I care a hell of a lot about what she thinks. Luke is totally out of the loop and doesn’t get where we are going with this. I quickly change the subject. “Speaking of which, where is everyone?”

“They’re picking De up at the airport. Let’s head over so we’re there when she gets in,” JJ says excitedly.

“She’s not bringing that jerk off, is she?” I ask.

“Jeffrey? No. They’re kind of off and on lately. He’s not thrilled with her moving to Florida,” JJ answers.

“Good. I don’t like him anyway.” I catch JJ rolling her eyes.

“I wasn’t nuts about him either,” Luke adds while JJ shakes her head

Maria has a freshly baked cake sitting on the counter, and JJ warns us not to touch it, but it’s too hard for Luke and I to resist. As we’re halfway through, Maria, Lucca and Deanna enter the house. My stomach does this weird thing when I see her. I’ve been looking forward to the next few days.

“Hey, DeDe’s home!” I say excitedly, greeting her at the door as I pick her off the floor and squeeze her. My heart is rapidly pumping.

“Did you two eat my cake?” Maria asks sternly, spotting our empty plates.

“I told them it was for Thanksgiving,” JJ chimes in.

“It was two little pieces,” I add.

“It’s half the cake,” Maria answers.

“Yeah, Mom, we’ll have this gone by tomorrow. I hope you made more,” Luke says, laughing and piling the last forkful into his mouth.

Maria playfully hits us in the back of the head. “I have plenty. You don’t think I know you two by now… I hid the rest.”

After catching up for a while, Luke and JJ decide to go for a walk while Deanna and I hang out and watch TV. Both of our phones are being blown up with texts’ from our friends making plans for the evening. After all, it’s the night before Thanksgiving, the biggest night of the year to go out. Most of our friends are home from college, making plans to get together.

Everyone is meeting up at CJ’s later tonight. De and I are up for it, but we’re wondering how Luke and JJ are gonna feel about it. The last time they were there wasn’t a happy memory. If they’d rather do something else, I’m fine with that. It’s been a while since the four of us hung out together and I honestly don’t care what it is we’re doing, as long as we’re together.

***

(Luke)

It’s an unusually warm day for November so JJ and I decide to take advantage of it and walk down to the inlet. The waves crash along the beach, spraying water into the cool ocean air. We follow the long stretch of beach till it wraps around the brush of thick trees, sand and water, leading us to our secluded little section of beach that only we know. I spread out a blanket and throw another around us as we sit side-by-side, enjoying the quietness and view. It’s been too long since we’ve been here together.

I’ve been fidgeting around in my pocket for the last hour. I know I said I’d wait till Thanksgiving, but the timing feels right now.

“I’ve missed this place,” JJ says, breaking the silence.

“I’ve missed being with you in this place.”

“When was the last time you were here?”

“When I got out, I came here a lot by myself,” I answer quietly. She looks sad and that’s not what I want. I scoop her up in my arms, placing her on my lap. “But, it feels awesome being here with you now, more than ever.” I squeeze her tight and give her a kiss.