“Sorry. Too soon.” She covered her mouth, trying to muffle her laugh.

“Fine. You’re…” I paused.

“Right?”

“No. Not right,” I said sarcastically, “but not completely wrong either.”

“Good. I win.” She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek quickly before hopping out of the car and running to hers.

We put the girls in bed that night and it was hard to walk away. I just wanted to hang out in their room with them and watch as they fell asleep.

The closer we got to my parents’ house, the stronger my urge became to turn my truck around and go the other direction.

I didn’t want to go there.

I didn’t want to talk to them.

I didn’t want to see them.

“You nervous?” Kacie’s sweet voice pulled me back to reality.

“No,” I answered flatly.

“Well, you’re something. You’ve been sighing over and over out of your nose like a dragon for the last thirty miles.”

I glanced her way quickly and lifted her hand to my lips, kissing the top of it. “I just don’t know what to say to them. I think they’re stupid.”

She chuckled. “Don’t say that.”

Ten minutes later, we were walking up the steps of my parents’ front porch.

“Deep breath. I love you.” Kacie smiled at me as I knocked on the door.

The door cracked open and my mom took an instinctive step back, clutching the collar of her robe. “Brody?” Her voice was shaky as she looked from me to Kacie and back again. “What are you doing here? Is everything all right?”

“Not really, Mom.” I sighed.

“Here. Come in,” she ordered, opening the door all the way.

I walked past and turned around as she pulled Kacie in for a quick hug. “Hi, honey. How are you?”

“I’m okay. Brody told me the news.” She rubbed my mom’s arm gently. “How are you?”

Mom pulled her robe closed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Divorce sucks, but we’re dealing with it the best we can. I know this is new to you guys, but we’ve had a year to get used to the idea.”

I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. Every time they mentioned that they’ve known about this separation for a year and didn’t bother telling us, it just pissed me off more. It wasn’t fair to me and it wasn’t fair to Shae.

“Can we go sit?” I asked gruffly.

Mom’s eyes widened and she swallowed hard. “Sure. Of course. Come on.”

She walked past me to the family room and flipped the light on. Kacie grabbed my hand and tugged on it gently, trying to get my attention.

“Relax,” she whispered, smiling at me.

We walked into the family room and Kacie and I sat together on the couch while my mom disappeared into the kitchen.

“Can we just go?” I begged Kacie. “This is dumb. I don’t want to talk to my parents about my feelings.”

“You’ll feel better when this is over. Shhh.”

I pulled my brows in and looked down at her. “Did you just shush me?”

“Yes. I love you. Shhh,” she whispered again. I couldn’t help but smile at her. She was adorable.

Mom came back in the room carrying four water bottles and set them on the coffee table. “I brought these, unless you’d rather I made coffee or tea?”

“No, no. Don’t go to any trouble.” Kacie waved her off. “This is great. Thank you.”

“I called your dad down. He’ll be here in a second.” Her neck was red and splotchy and her voice shook when she spoke. Normally, my mom was calm and cool and in charge of every situation. I felt bad that I was making her so nervous; I needed to find a way to relax the room.

“So I got arrested last night,” I blurted out as my mom eased into her chair.

Her mouth fell open as Kacie dropped her head in her hands and sighed.

“You what?” my mom exclaimed.

“What?” I shrugged. “It’s true. Figured you’d want to hear it from me before you read it in the paper.”

“Read about what in the paper?” my dad asked as he walked into the room.

Mom pursed her lips and looked from me to Dad as he sat down in the chair next to her. “Your son got arrested.”

His head whipped over to me. “Again? For what now?”

I rolled my eyes. “You say that like I’ve been arrested a million times.”

“You want to know how many times I’ve been arrested in my life?” Dad pulled his glasses down his nose and looked over them at me, raising his eyebrows. “Zero. What was this one for?”

“I got in a fight.”

“We saw that. They can’t arrest you for fighting on the ice, though, can they?” asked my mom.

“No. I got into another one after that one.”

Mom sat up straight in her chair. “You got into two fights in one night?”

I nodded.

Maybe this wasn’t the best icebreaker.

Mom reached out and grabbed a water bottle off the coffee table. “Well, what happened? Fill us in.”

“I had a rough game and wasn’t in the mood to go home, so me and Viper went to the bar. We were drinking a couple beers and talking about the game. Everything was fine. He had to take a leak and as soon as he left, some prick started in on me about being a shitty goalie and how I was a goalie because I didn’t know how to fight.” I shrugged. “I ignored him for awhile and then… he poked me in the back with his pool cue.”

“Uh oh,” my dad said under his breath.

“Exactly!” I pointed at him. “Needless to say, that was all I needed. Next thing I know, I’m rolling around on the ground with a bunch of guys, and then I’m being handcuffed.”

“What happens now?” Mom asked.

“Nothing. They’ll plea it down. I’ll probably end up on probation, if it even goes that far.”

My mom let out a heavy breath. “Oh, Brody. What brought all this on?”

“My life has been a little stressful, Mom. I’ve been wound pretty tight.” I glared at her, sounding more sarcastic than I meant to.

She recoiled like a scorned child, slumping her shoulders and looking down at her hands as she sat back in her chair.

“Listen.” I sighed. “That’s why I came up here, or was forced here, or whatever.” I looked down at Kacie who nodded proudly at me. “Things with us haven’t been great the last week and I just wanted to get it all out I guess. I don’t know.”

“I’m so sorry this is rattling you like it is.” My mom sniffled. “I wish there were something I could do to take this pain away for you. I just don’t know how to make it better.”

“I’m just pissed, Mom. I don’t understand why you guys are giving up.”

“Brody, here’s the thing… It’s not your relationship to understand,” she said softly. “Your father and I didn’t wake up and just decide this last week. We’ve been growing apart for awhile. We’re different people now. He still loves me and I still love him, just not it the same way.”

“There’s really nothing that can be done? That’s just it?” I sounded desperate, looking back and forth between the two of them.