“I didn’t know there was such a thing.”
“Yeah. It started when I was five and it’s gotten progressively worse. Even at twenty-two, I can’t seem to shake it. I’ve tried everything but….” I stop myself when I realize I sound like a babbling idiot. Because that’s just something I don’t do. He crosses his arms over his chest and my body heats from the conviction in his stare. I brush the feeling off. “Anyway, thanks for bringing the pan but if there isn’t anything else, I really need to get back to work.”
“What?” He blinks twice and strokes his thumb over his lower lip as if he’s having difficulty comprehending my words. “Are you dismissing me?”
“Pretty much,” I retort, glancing down at my notes then back to him.
“Well, shit.” He places the pan down on the bench and scratches his head. Covertly, I watch him walk down the steps, quickly moving my eyes back to the paper when he stops on the sidewalk. “By the way, the answer is my brother.”
“The answer?” I drop the card on my lap, racking my brain for whatever question I might have asked. “The answer to what?”
The sarcasm when he speaks is unmistakable. “Who put me up to this.” Then he walks away with too much swagger for his own good.
I really don’t like him.
“SHE FUCKING DISMISSED me. Can you believe that shit?” I collapse onto the couch, tossing my keys on the coffee table.
Julian rifles through a cardboard box but pauses to meet my annoyed stare. “What do you mean, she dismissed you?”
“I mean exactly that. She dismissed me. Told me she was busy.” And that’s a first. I’ve never been let go by a girl. If anything, it’s always the other way around. Who the fuck does she think she is anyway? “Plus, that whole Mickey Mouse thing. She’s twenty-two for fuck’s sake.” My lips curl into a sneer. “Anyway, she’s weird.”
“I happen to think she’s cute,” Julian remarks with a gleam in his eye, and I glare at him. “Actually, they’re both cute.”
“Whatever.”
“She bruise your ego a bit, little brother? Not falling at your feet fast enough?” He chuckles and I lob a pillow at his smug face but he blocks it with his elbow.
“That’s rich coming from the Pied Piper of chicks.”
He nods his head and smirks as his eyes roll upward in thought. “Pied Piper. I like it.”
I grab another pillow and bunch it under my chin. “So… I’m going to head over to see Mom tomorrow after I make those changes to my resume you recommended and apply to a fuckload of jobs. You gonna come with me?”
He drops some pictures in the box, tugging on his lip a few times. “I don’t think so. I’ve only got a few days off from work and I want to make a dent in the unpacking and get my room together. I’ll go… another time.”
I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “Julian, she wants to see you.”
He blows out a weighted breath, frowning. “She doesn’t even know who I am, Vance.”
“So what does that mean? That’s it. You won’t even go on the off chance that something might trigger her memory?” I flop back against the couch, tossing the pillow to the side. “Sounds to me like you’re running away.”
“You’re talking to me about running away? There are a lot of different ways to run, Vance.”
My spine stiffens as tension rolls through my shoulders. “Oh yeah, and what does that mean?”
“It means….” He rises from the floor, brushing dust off his knees. “Sticking your head in books and refusing to engage, that’s not exactly meeting life head on.”
The anger brewing inside of me dictates that I’m done with this conversation, and I push up from the couch. “I need a cigarette.”
“You don’t smoke.”
I push open the screen door with more force than I intended and let it bang shut behind me. “Why not start? There’s no time like the present,” I mumble under my breath.
It’s the only thing I have anyway.
MY LEGS FEEL sluggish today, uncertain. Or maybe I’m the uncertain one. So much change is happening in the next few months; our move to Manhattan, a job, grad school—a whole new life. I’m excited, but also apprehensive, unsure what this next chapter will bring. Knowing that Avery will be by my side, though, gives me that extra boost. It certainly won’t be boring. That’s for sure.