The Quiet Types

Chapter 20

"Dexter!" shouted my mom as we made our presence at the soccer field. She held her arms out as we joined her.

"Hi, Mrs. Blaise," laughed Dexter as he accepted her hug.

"I was shocked when Lauren brought up you were coming for a visit. How's everyone?" she asked.

He nodded assuringly. "They're all well. Mom's traveling currently with my grandma and my dad continues to work even after his dad's passing."

"And Naomi?" she asked.

"Enjoying an empty house," he joked.

"Billy's actually with his team. They're preparing by running some quick drills. He'll be thrilled to see you. Where are you staying?"

"Conveniently, while speaking to a few friends about my travel plans, one mentioned that their parents have a summer home in Stamford that I will be staying at."

"That's a whole hour away! That's nonsense!" my mom practically shouted.

"Mom," I commented, reminding her of her tone with the look my dad oh so graciously passed down to me.

She huffed. "If for any reason you are too exhausted to drive please do not hesitate to stay with us. I can always have Ken make up the office downstairs for you."

"I'll keep it in mind," assured Dexter as parents began to cheer.

Billy and his team were running onto the field. That's when Billy waved over at someone on the other side and that was super unusual of him. I peeked across the crowd to realize that Theo was sitting on the bleachers at the end.

What was he doing here?

"Mom?" I asked and she looked over at me.

"Yes?" she questioned back.

"Did you invite Theo to the game?"

"No, but Billy insisted he come. We ran into him a couple of days ago. Billy was super excited to be on the seven to ten year old team finally and he wanted to have everyone come watch him play. He's ecstatic that Dexter's here too," she explained.

"Lovely," I mumbled as I began to pull on my hair tie.

That was the first time in nearly three weeks I had felt the need to do so.

"Everything alright?" she asked curiously.

"Fine. It's just that we broke up over the break and I didn't think to mention it because we were never too involved to begin with," I admitted hoping she wouldn't drag out the conversation in front of Dexter.

She glanced over at him. "I suppose we'll discuss it at home."

"Great," I said, folding my arms across my chest uncomfortably.

"Are you hungry?" asked Dexter, trying to break the tension.

I shook my head no.

"Well I am, so let's go support Billy's team at the snack shack," he insisted as he took my hand and pulled me away from where we were standing with my mother.

"Dex, I'm fine," I insisted as he practically dragged me halfway across the park to the concession stand.

"You were not fine. Your mom looked like she was about to have an aneurysm so it was my turn to deescalate the situation. I used to be pretty good at that before and I'm sure I'm still pretty good about it now."

I rolled my eyes.

"Plus I got you away from the ex, which I think I deserve at least a thank you for," he added.