Page 61 of The Cheerleader is Off Limits

“Language.”

“You can let it slide.” I rub the back of my neck, feeling the weight of this conversation pressing down on me. “Look, I'm not trying to get in your business, and you don’t have to tell me what’s going on… but we are here. You always told us we’refamily and family looks out for each other. So… don’t shut us out. If you need us, we’re there.”

“I appreciate that. And…I guess I can ease up a little. You guys did just beat the hell out of Ridgewood.”

“Forty-five to seven.” He whistles. “Honestly, I don’t even know how they got seven.”

“You guys beat the shit out of them, Uncle Riv,” SJ says as soon as I walk through the door. It wasn’t unheard of for SJ to come to one of my football games with his dad and sometimes even Isla.

“Ummm hello!” I hear Ellie call from the kitchen, and I shoot a knowing look at SJ because he should know that she hears everything.

“Sorry!” he calls out to her. “Well, you did,” he murmurs as he pounds his fist against mine.

“Sorry I couldn’t make your soccer game earlier, but your dad said you scored. You’re a beast, Kincaid.”

“Thank you, thank you.” He bows, and it’s crazy how much he’s grown in a year. Not that he was short by any means, but he shot up just before he went to sixth grade and I swear it’s like he’s been growing an inch a month since.

I walk into the kitchen to find Ellie cooking dinner and Margot and Rowan sitting at the table with college brochures spread out between them.

“You don’t need to visit Yale,again,Margot.” My brother gives her a look as if to saydo not try it.

“Yeah, it’s not like you’re getting in.” SJ snorts, earning a glare from Rowan and a nudge from me.

“Shut up, dork,” Margot snaps before turning her eyes back to her computer. I know why Margot has gone to visit Yale,and why she keeps going,and it has nothing to do with academics and everything to do with staying with Ellie’s youngest sister Eden, who is currently a sophomore there and has introduced Margot to college party life.

Margot is a senior and has started applying to colleges over the summer, and although SJ shouldn’t have said it, he’s not entirely wrong about the likelihood of Margot getting into Yale or going Ivy.

Isla comes skipping in a few moments later. She makes a beeline for me, and I scoop her up in my arms immediately. “You look better. Are you still distressed?” It seems she’s trying to whisper, but her voice comes out loud anyway.

Rowan’s eyes snap to me with a confused expression, and I can practically hear him askingwhat did you tell her?

“Uh-oh sounds like girl trouble. Distressed over what?” Margot asks while not looking up from her computer.

“Nothing.” I set Isla in a chair before sitting next to her. “I’m doing better, Isles.”

“What happened to that girl you went out with last week? The one from the plane.”Margot asks. I knew she knew a vague story about Sloane. Mainly, how I met her and that we had dinner in the city, but I never went into any more detail after that.

“Nothing. We went out, and… that was it.”

Margot’s brown eyes, which remind me so much of Rowan’s, briefly meet Isla's before finding mine. She raises an eyebrow at me before turning back to her computer, and I can practically hear hermm-hmm.

Thirty minutes later, we’re all sitting around their dining room table, something that they now do often. It’s actually pretty impressive how much Ellie changed all of them because there was a time that they didn’t even all have the same dinner, letalone at the same time and at a table. “So how’s the wedding planning going?” I ask. Ellie and Rowan are getting married next May, and as I expected, Ellie is overly organized and on top of everything. I’m pretty sure they’d be ready to get married tomorrow if they had to.

“Great! Did you see the email I sent you about your tux? I have it narrowed down to four, but I just want to see if you have a preference before I schedule a fitting.” I pause mid-chew because I was not expecting a follow-up question directed at me. I turn my head to Rowan, and he shakes his head without looking up from his food.

“You started that,” he murmurs.

“Ummm, I may have seen an email?”I have not,but I also avoid my email inbox unless something looks code red.“I’ll double-check.”

“Hey, Daddy?” Isla chirps up from where she’s sitting next to me, and I’m grateful that she’s going to change the subject. “When Margot goes to college, can we finally get a dog?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve been campaigning for a dog since I was seven years old, and now you plan to get one the second I leave for college? And now I won’t even be here?” Margot turns to Ellie and laughs. “Good luck taking care of it by yourself.” Ellie lets out a sigh that practically screams,“Believe me, I know.”

“I did not say we were getting a dog,” Rowan speaks up. “I already said when you and your brother were a little older, and I could trust you to be responsible.”

“But I will be older!” Isla whines before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

“Yeah, come on, Dad,please. I will be responsible!” SJ adds.