my brother to the nearest department store. Seemed like Adrian was going to like making me follow his every order under the guise of helping me out, but I had no other choice. And maybe it wasn’t so often my youngest brother got to be the bossy one. I could let him have this one small victory.
Except as soon as we entered the store, it was like he became possessed. He was a blur in the latest fashion trends running from pants to jeans to shirts and back again to pants as he touched fabric, checked coordination and held items against me to check my ‘season.’
“Shit, Adrian, what are you doing?” I pushed away an offensive-looking brown knit sweater. “That literally looks like shit.”
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Do you want my help or not? Just because we share some of the same features—”
It was my turn to sigh. “We could have emerged from the same test tube in some lab somewhere.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t mean we can wear the same colors and get away with it. I’m just being thorough.” He hesitated, his face calculating as he studied the item in his hands. “But if you think you’ve got this now, I can just head home.” Then he glanced at me, a mischievous smile on his lips.
I grabbed the clothing in his arms. “You know what? This is good. We’re good now. Let’s just pay and we’re done.” Little brothers. Mine were definitely sent to try me. In fact, all my brothers, not just the little ones. Bastard Saint, revoking his rule when I had nothing to wear.
“Not even nearly done, Jay. We have other shit to get done before Nico can see you later.” He checked his watch. “Oh, and look at that. We only have four short hours to accomplish this miracle.”
“What?” I grabbed his wrist to double check. “Shoot me now.”
He loaded the clothes onto the counter in front of an amused cashier. “I was going to start with a haircut. A bit more simple, and I don’t have to dispose of your body.”
He marched past storefronts filled with candles and greetings cards, hats and shoes, and teenage girls’ clothes. Then he stopped, and I nearly ran into the back of him.
“Hey, man. You need brake lights.”
But he ignored me. “I just had the best idea.”
I raised an eyebrow. Adrian’s best ideas were usually not that great.
“We need to get you a wax.”
Case in point—not the best idea. I could count on the fingers of one hand how many times his best ideas turned out to be… Whoa. Wait, back the truck up.
I took a small step backwards. “A what, now?”
“You know.” He gestured at himself then at me. Disturbingly, he gestured at our cocks. In public. “A wax. Back, crack, sack. Dude, you can’t ignore intimate grooming.”
“I’ve managed so far without needing to have some chick or guy rip hairs from sensitive parts of my body. But thanks for thinking of me. Hair salon, right?” I started past him, although he didn’t move.
“Jamie?”
I turned back and looked at him.
“You’d better hope Nico likes sucking on fuzzy balls.”
A woman walking past slowed for a moment before shaking her head and speeding up, and I marched back to Adrian, grabbed his elbow and dragged him along with me.
“So, which hair salon do you think?” I muttered the words through clenched teeth.
But he was kind of right. I definitely needed to blow the dust off my razor when I got home. Because, although I couldn’t guarantee something would happen later, I couldn’t guarantee nothing would, either.
A delicious shiver ran through me. Tension had been high in our office, and Nico had spent a lot of time standing by the open window.
Adrian zoomed around the last curve of our parents' driveway and I admired the house, as I did every time I arrived home. Dad had commissioned an architect friend to design it and manage the build, and it really was an act of worship to glass and light. Tucked in the hills, we didn’t need to worry about nosy neighbors, and the house didn’t seem to end at the walls, bringing the whole world right inside.
I sighed. I’d miss it when I moved out. Everything was changing—interning in the real world, taking the bar, moving out.
Adrian laughed as he drew the car to a stop. “Good of Mom and Dad to make themselves scarce this weekend.”
“That’s a coincidence.” Mom and Dad’s weekend away had been planned for