then pulled out his cell phone. “Fine, but I’m leaving the meter running.”
I paused on the sidewalk and stared up at Isaac’s house. Suddenly I wished I’d given more credence to Paige’s advice. She’d told me I should have called first, but in the end, I’d opted not to. Maybe there was a tiny smidgen of avoidance in my reasoning, but mostly, I just knew my brother. He’d have a harder time refusing me if I was literally stranded on his doorstep.
A light, drizzly rain started to fall so I hurried across the sidewalk, pausing outside the hospitality door that led onto Isaac’s front porch. As a kid, I’d taken numerous walking tours through downtown Charleston, mostly with classes from school, to study the architecture and history of the city. I’d loved the crazy huge porches of the single houses. The porches didn’t face the street but sat perpendicular to the sidewalk. So the home’s front door—the hospitality door—actually just led onto the porch. When people felt like company, they could open up the door and welcome people onto their porch. When they didn’t, the door stayed closed and locked.
I braced myself, fully expecting the hospitality door to be locked, but to my relief, the door swung open. I ducked onto the porch—the rain was falling heavier—and crossed to the main entrance.
It wasn’t hard to remember what the internet had told me Isaac’s house was worth. With less than twenty bucks to my name, even just standing outside the front door was a burn to my ego.
I glanced back down the driveway to the cab still idling on the street. It was maybe a better option than going inside. Isaac was inside. Even worse, Alex was probably inside too. Frustratingly enough, he’d taken up more than his fair share of my thoughts over the past twelve hours. Nothing like powering through the biggest failure of your work life by facing down rejection in your personal life.
Paige’s voice echoed in my head. Buck up, she would tell me. I squared my shoulders and before I could lose my nerve, pounded my fist on the front door. Before I’d even sounded a third knock, the door swung open.
Alex.
Alex in jeans and a t-shirt. Hair all mussed and loose. Face unshaven.
The man was gorgeous. He froze when he saw me. “Dani.”
I smiled weakly. “Hi.”
“What are you doing here?”
Inwardly, I groaned. Could he sound any less excited? “Is Isaac home?”
“Alex, dude. Close the door. It’s cold.” I heard Isaac’s voice before I saw him appear over Alex’s shoulder. “Dandi? What are you doing here?”
Great. Warm welcome all around. “It’s a long story. And I’d love to tell you, but I’m sort of . . .” I looked back at the street. “Can I borrow twenty bucks?”
Isaac followed my gaze. “Are you seriously asking me to pay your cab fare?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to. Please? I’ll explain everything, I promise, but he’s still running the meter and—” Before I could even finish my sentence, Isaac turned and stalked back into the house. “Seriously? Isaac!”
“Maybe he’s getting you the cash?” Alex said, his voice more hopeful than I felt.
“Probably not.”
Alex drew his eyebrows together in question. “Did you guys fight about something?”
“No,” I quickly answered. “Or, I don’t know. I might have offended him the last time we texted.”
“Right. When you asked him about his little charity thing. I remember.”
My cheeks flamed red. Were they that close? That I should start worrying about Alex reading all of my texts to my brother?
“That’s not what I meant. I really did want to know how things were going. It just came out wrong.” A few weeks before everything had gone down with Sasha, I’d made a genuine attempt to reach out to Isaac and see how things were. But the tension between us. The sarcasm and the snark and the constant needling. It was hard to undo all that history. Even when I tried, I still wasn’t great at filtering it all out.
I pressed my forehead into my palm. “This has been a very long day.”
Alex touched my elbow. “Hey. Go find your brother. I’ll take care of the cab.”
The tenderness took me by surprise and sent all kinds of feelings sparking through my chest. But no. This was Alex. The last thing I needed was charity from him. I shook my head no. “No, no. Don’t do that. I’ll go after Isaac and—”
“And if he gives you the money, you can pay me back.