Analise sighed happily. “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.”
The thread of tension snapped, a clean break when Archer dropped his gaze from mine, and in the vacuum of silence when he did, my heart clanged around behind my ribs.
“Come on out, Gavin.”
His steps were tentative, but the excitement and nerves were stamped all over his precious little face. More than anything, I wantedto make this perfect for him. It was the curse of being a parent. There was nothing we could do to shield our kids from the things that worried them, and I just prayed there wouldn’t be much fallout to deal with.
The tears in his eyes the day he’d brought me the jersey were all I could think about as I watched him approach the man at my side. The man who was tall and big and strong and looked like one of the superheroes on the movies he loved to watch—the ones who could save cities and bring down a bad guy with a single punch.
Analise must have read the tension in my pose, because she stepped forward first. “You must be Gavin. I’m Analise Evans.”
At the sound of her last name, his eyes widened. “E-Evans?”
She nodded, giving him a conspiratorial nod. “He’s my brother.”
“Whoa,” Gavin breathed. “I didn’t know he”—his gaze darted behind her, at the man in question, like he wasn’t sure who to address—“had a sister.”
“I asked him to keep it on the DL,” Analise admitted. “I prefer to keep a low profile. Otherwise it’s hard to know if people like me for me or for my brother. His job is the best, but every once in a while it can be hard when you’re related to someone famous.”
Gavin nodded like he knew exactly what she was talking about. “Yeah, totally.”
“Is it okay if we hang out for a while tonight?”
His eyes darted between Analise and me, and he finally gave her a nod. “Sure.”
“Sweet. What do you normally do on a school night?”
Gavin shrugged. “Homework, if I have any. Or soccer practice. If I finish my stuff on time, Mom lets me play video games.”
“I love video games. What’s your favorite?”
His eyes lit up. “I’m kinda playing a lot ofMario Kartright now. I got bored withFortnite.”
She whistled. “I see a race in our future. I won’t let you win, though. I’m really good.”
“Do you know all the tricks?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. What kind of tricks?”
“Nothing,” he said innocently. “I’m sure you don’t need them.”
Analise laughed. “I guess we’ll see.”
Gavin finally got the courage to look over at Archer, and his chest puffed out on a deep inhale. “I’m ... I’m Gavin. Gavin Sinclair.”
Archer crouched, holding his hand out to Gavin.
“Nice to meet you, Gavin. I’m Archer.”
Gavin hesitated, and my lungs squeezed at the expression on his face. It was so serious. So direct.
“You ran into my mom’s shelter, didn’t you?”
His chin was notched high, his nerves completely gone. Tears coiled tight around the back of my throat at the sight of my protective boy.
Analise rolled her lips together and stared down at the ground, her cheeks reddening.
Finally, Archer nodded, his hand dropping back down when it became clear Gavin wasn’t going to reciprocate. “I won’t make excuses for what happened. But I promise, I regret a lot of things about that night, especially when I think about kids like you who lost respect for me.” He let out a slow breath. “I’m really sorry.” Then he looked up at me, the intensity making his eyes glow brighter than usual. “I’m trying to make amends.”