Where Promises Must Glide

13 - Theo

"Do you want dinner?" Juliette asks. We moved to the kitchen while Ophelia was busy watching her show. Juliette still had that cream on her shins, all the way up to her knees. She was suddenly stiff the second I walked in—and I don't blame her.

This afternoon, right after I came home from work, Ophelia was playing in the front yard with some girl that was much older than her—assuming it was her babysitter. She ran over to me, barely giving me any time to react before hugging me and asking me a million and one questions.

The babysitter was immediately confused, questioning who I was. Ophelia was the type to explain something to someone before anyone else could—which she most definitely did to the babysitter.

She invited me over, telling me to come to movie night. I immediately refused, but she began to pout and give me these puppy dog eyes that made me hate myself for caving.

"I already ate," I say, standing awkwardly in the corner. I wasn't sure what to do, maybe I could just slither my way out of here without Ophelia noticing.

She nodded her head, walking out of the kitchen. "Why you got that all over your leg?" I ask, realizing I probably interrupted whatever she was doing. But seeing her, with the cream on her shin brought the dirtiest thoughts to my mind that I wanted to internally die.

"Shin splints, which is why I used the icey hot. I have a massage gun to roll out of calf's and thighs. I'm also icing the shin splints. Then before I go to sleep I put a little icey hot on my shoulder and back," she explained—grabbing a water bottle from the fridge.

I nod, already knowing most of this. When you have excessive training, you get injured like crazy. I've had so many shin splits I stopped counting. I've twisted, broken, fractured as many things as possible.

When I was younger, I was in sports, along with also doing basic military and martial arts training. My father expected to drill all that stuff into my impressionable brain—hoping by the time I turned eighteen I'd be a cadet like he was.

"Sounds painful," I simply reply, seemingly unamused. After last week, I don't want to talk to her, or be in the same room as her for that matter. But I can't stop myself when Ophelia comes over and begs me to hang out with them. I can't stop thinking about the beautiful brunette next door.

She doesn't acknowledge my words, just walking back to the couch where the movie was playing. Ophelia was pillowed around snacks and stuffed animals. Anything you could think of was next to her. Popcorn, chips, chocolate milk, gummy bears, twizzlers.

"Want some," Ophelia asked with a mouthful of popcorn. I shook my head no, which caused a small shrug from her small frame. I sat uncomfortable between the two, but to any pair of outside eyes; we looked like a happy family.

Family.

The word even made me cringe. I never had a close amount of people to call family. My father was either deployed or drunk off his mind at some bar in the middle of who knows where, to remember his wife and kid at home. My mom tried making up for this, but when she came home from work—some days—the last thing she wanted to do was be with me.

I'm not saying I resent them. I just wish they were there more often. "I need to get something," Ophelia abruptly states, smirking at me in a not so sly way, before getting up. I looked between her and Juliette, confused.

Juliette just shrugged to me, turning her attention back to the kids movie. I did the same, trying not to make it as awkward as it already is. "I'm sorry," I finally speak, trying to thin the tension between us.

"About?" She says, barely lifting her gaze from the tv to look at me. She knew exactly what it was about, but she just wanted to test me. It was making my blood boil slightly, but when she turned and the beauty that was her eyes and stern face made me forget why I was even mad.