Bet on It (23)

“When you left twelve years ago, you told me you’d never come back, and here you are.”

“The only reason I’m here is because you need me and I love you,” he argued. “And because you refused to come down to Charleston while you recovered.”

She completely ignored the second portion of his statement. “Well, what if you—”

“Please don’t say it,” he cut her off.

She was obstinate. “What if you fell in love with her? Would that be enough to make you stay?”

“I’m not goin’ to fall in love with Aja, Gram, because we are not dating. I’m goin’ to bingo with her, not courtin’ her.”

“You never know,” she insisted. “It’s not like love is something you can plan. Maybe you and Aja will fall in love, and she’ll convince you to stay right here where you belong.”

His last nerve had officially been worked. He sighed, standing up from the couch, schooling his face as much as possible so that he didn’t show every bit of the fury he was feeling.

“I don’t belong here, Gram. I spent my entire childhood not being sure of anything other than that I did not belong here. I don’t care if Aja Owens turns out to be my one true love or the best woman to ever walk the face of the Earth. Nothing can convince me to stay in a place I hate as much as Greenbelt.”

Ignoring the sheer devastation on his grandmother’s face as he walked away was hard, but he managed. He’d done it before, after all.

He had FaceTime up on his phone before he even had the door to his old room shut. His first call went unanswered, making his jaw tighten in stress. His second call was picked up within seconds.

“What’s going on?” Adya’s light brown face was pressed close to the camera. There was music playing in the background and dishes clinking together.

“I called Corey and he didn’t pick up.…”

Adya rolled her eyes, her chin-length brown hair swishing back and forth. “Corey,” she yelled. “Our very tall white son is nervous because he can’t get ahold of you.”

“I’m not—” He stopped himself at the lie. He had been nervous when Corey hadn’t answered. There had been no logical reason for that nervousness. Corey was a grown man who obviously had his own life and shit to do. But Walker’s other emotions—namely anxiety—always got harder to control when he was agitated.

“What’s wrong, man?” Corey’s face appeared in the camera next to his longtime girlfriend’s. His shirt was off, he had on his favorite purple du-rag, and he was drying a plate with a printed cloth.

Walker knew that cloth. He’d used it countless times when the duo had forced him to clean up the kitchen on the heels of a dinner they’d invited him over for.

“I just…” he grumbled incoherently, squeezing himself into the hard wooden chair at the desk in front of the only window in the room. “I just miss bein’ home is all. I miss bein’ there with y’all.”

Adya’s bottom lip poked out. “Aww, we miss you too, buddy.”

“We had Jamie and Nate over earlier. I made sliders and we played Clue.” Corey’s back was to the camera, but his voice was clear.

The sound Walker released was downright pathetic.

“It was fun, but it wasn’t the same without you there playing as Professor Plum,” Adya said.

“You didn’t let Nate play him in my place, did you?”

Corey turned and the looks on his and his girlfriend’s faces were nearly identical and completely offended. “Of course not. We would never betray you like that.”

Walker rolled his eyes, but his body relaxed more into the chair. “I just want to make sure y’all aren’t chomping at the bit to replace me.”

His best friend screwed his face up. Corey’s first instinct would be to call him ridiculous, but Walker knew he would find a way to crush that impulse before it made an impact.

“I’ve been your best friend for over a decade, Walker,” Corey said. “There’s no replacing that shit.”

The words were a balm, instantly cooling the fast-burning irritation overtaking Walker’s body. There was security in Corey’s words that settled over him like a weighted blanket, letting something solid and calm settle into his bones.

“I’m fuckin’ countin’ down the days, man.” Walker closed his eyes. “In less than two months I’ll be back in my own bed and back to my real life.”

“Walker…” Adya’s voice made him open his eyes. “Fuck that town. This is a blip on your radar. A couple months out of your entire life. You’ll be back here with us soon, and none of them will matter.”

“I know it’s not easy, man, and being there sucks and makes it harder for you to stay on track, but I don’t care if you have to walk around telling everybody to go fuck themselves. You’re there to take care of your granny, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put your needs first too,” Corey added.

“Right. You’re right. You both are. I just need to remind myself that this is temporary, and I’ll be there to watch the Saints get their asses beat to hell and back by September.”

Corey’s face screwed up, arms folding across his bare chest as he stared Walker down. “A’ight, it’s time to go. For a second there you almost made me forget how much I can’t fucking stand you a good ninety percent of the time.”