friend like that. He seems to need them more than I do.
“How long are you in town for?” he asks after a while.
I scratch my head. I’m not sure this is the right moment to bring it up, but on the other hand, if there’s anything that’ll take Gray’s mind off the disaster that is his personal life, this might just be the ticket, so I go for it.
“About that… I was actually thinking about sticking around for a while.”
For a fraction of a moment, I’m afraid he’s disappointed, but then he lets out a big breath. Tension leaves his body in a rush. It almost looks like he’s deflating, but all the while, he’s smiling like this one sentence has made his whole life better.
“You’re moving back?”
“An actual home base would be nice for a change,” I say with a shrug that I hope to God looks nonchalant and doesn’t expose that in reality I’m more than a little nervous about Gray’s reaction. It’s not that I expect him to be unhappy about the news, but I’ve been away for so long that there’s always a chance me moving back will somehow mess up our dynamic.
But Gray’s wide smile stays in place.
“Man,” he says, huffing out a big breath. “That might be the best news I’ve received in… I don’t know. Years.”
My shoulders relax and all the stupid nervousness is swept away.
“Do you have a place to stay?” Gray asks. He has his organizing face on.
“I’ll find something.”
He cocks his head to the side and immediately says, “Move in with me?”
It’s probably not a good idea. Considering my weakness for all things Gray, I should not risk it. A smart person would say no and find his own place.
I’m not a smart person, though, so I nod and say, “Sure.”
3
Gray
Genetics is a strange thing. Take my grandmother. She’s always comfortable in her own skin, always confident, and I have yet to see her stumped by a social situation. By all accounts, my parents were the same.
And then there’s Con and me.
The social gene skipped our generation altogether, and it’s especially dire in Con’s case, which is why he often comes off as uptight, standoffish and way too brusque to be likable right off the bat. He’s an acquired taste.
I don’t mind, though.
What I do mind is him pounding on my door the first thing on Sunday morning.
I pull the front door open and stare at him.
“Why? Just… why?” My voice is all scratchy from sleep. It’s barely five in the morning, and I only arrived home about four hours ago, after dropping Kai off at his sister’s house. He’s going to stay there for a few days before moving in with me.
Con frowns. “Why what? I haven’t even said anything yet.”
I let it go and motion him inside. He follows me to the kitchen and takes a seat at the table.
“Coffee?” I ask.
“No, thank you. I can’t stay long.”
“Why? Do you have more people to wake at the crack of dawn?” I ask as I stare at the coffee machine, willing it to speed up.
Con frowns. “It’s morning.”
“It’s not even five o’clock.”
“Yes, well, I have a busy day ahead.”
I sigh and grab the cup as soon as the machine is done. I down a healthy swig of the piping hot liquid. Who needs taste buds anyway?
“What’s up?” I ask as I take my seat on the opposite side of the table, trying to ignore the throbbing numbness on my tongue.
“I thought we should discuss last night,” he says.
Oh. Fun.
“What about last night?” I ask carefully.
“I assumed you’d want some advice on how to fix this thing,” Con says, and I’ve gotta say, my suit-clad, non-smiling, straitlaced older brother is not exactly Cupid.
I’m also not awake enough for his level of efficiency.
“I don’t think there’s anything to fix,” I say.
Meaning, I don’t think I want to fix anything. I don’t say it out loud, though. It’s always been difficult for me to stand my ground when it comes to Con. The fact that he’s raised me from when I was twelve means that he considers himself more of a father figure to me than a big brother, so I rarely contradict him. Partly from habit, and partly because I feel guilty that he had to transfer colleges and change his whole life to come back home to take care of me after our parents died, which means I have the dutiful, well-behaved son act together.
“That’s just stupid. You’ve been together