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I sigh. “Maybe. We’ll see.”
“It’ll be fine,” he says through a mouthful of yogurt. “Man, this is good. I should have taken two.” He scrapes the bottom of the container with his spoon.
“I’ve got those almond muffins in my bag, if you’re still hungry.” I thumb over my shoulder.
“Really? I didn’t even know Rix made those.”
That’s because I asked her to, and because I hid them so Flip wouldn’t eat them all before I could. “Save me at least one.”
He pulls the plastic container out of my bag. “Damn, you’ve been holding out!” He pops the lid. “You want one?”
“Sure. Yeah.” He passes me a muffin.
He eats the first one in two bites, crumbs falling into the container in his lap. “You and Rix seem to get along better these days.”
He doesn’t know the half of it. I accidentally inhale a crumb and start coughing. Thankfully, we hit a red light, so I set the muffin on the dash and cough into my elbow. When I’ve got myself under control, I wash it down with coffee. “She’s helpful around the condo,” I offer.
“Yeah, it’s been nice having meals prepped, and not having to do the groceries and stuff. I know it’s been a lot having her in the loft, and she’s looking for an apartment, but I don’t want her to end up in the same position again. She was looking at some place a few blocks from her work, but the neighborhood wasn’t the best, so I told her to skip it.”
“It’s fine if she stays a while longer. We’re traveling soon anyway, so we won’t be there half the time.” My stomach tightens. I don’t want her to move, but the guilt is eating at me.
“I appreciate you being cool about it. I know you two rub each other the wrong way.”
I grip the wheel tighter and fight with myself not to confess. If I do, this thing with Bea ends, and I want that less than I want to unload my conscience. “I don’t mind her.”
He snorts a laugh. “You don’t mind having someone picking up after us.”
“Nah, man. I mean, that part is nice, but she’s cool to hang out with. She’s got good taste in movies, and she’s smart as hell. I just didn’t want someone else to look after.”
“She’s too proud sometimes. I wish she’d let me help her with rent. Then she could get a decent place.”
“She doesn’t want to mooch off you.”
His expression reflects surprise. “She say something to you about it?”
I scramble for something plausible. “I overheard her talking to Essie. You paid for her university, right? Maybe she thinks that’s enough. Plus, she’s living with us rent free.”
“Yeah, but she’s taken over as our personal chef and housekeeper. And she’s managing my finances, and the change has made me like twelve grand in interest since she’s been living with us, so it’s not like she’s loafing around, playing video games. And I only paid for what her scholarship didn’t cover. She worked a part-time job throughout university to cover her rent and stuff. I think I gave her twenty grand,” he says.
“Twenty thousand is a big deal to her, no?” I reply. “This new job she has. What does it pay? Like sixty grand a year or something?” I don’t even know the answer to that. And I feel like I should. We spend most of our time together naked, but sometimes we talk after, before she falls asleep.
He frowns. “I don’t know. I never asked.”
“Renting an apartment in Toronto is expensive.” I tap the steering wheel. “A nice studio is around two thousand a month. If she’s making between sixty and eighty thousand a year, twenty-five to thirty of that goes to rent. She’s pretty careful with her money. She price matches groceries every week.”
He glances at me. “How do you know that?”
“The flyers are always covered in Sharpie, and she makes a spreadsheet. She leaves them on the counter.” I’ve also tried to entice her into sex when she’s been in the middle of price matching more than once. She gets really fucking annoyed.
“Huh. I didn’t realize that.”
I bite my tongue. If he hung out with her more he might have a goddamn clue about his sister. Then again, he might also realize what’s going on. It’s getting harder to keep this secret for a lot of reasons. I pull into the arena parking lot, which thankfully ends the conversation.
My brother is already dressed in his gear, so we get changed and meet him on the ice.
“Damn, Brody.” Flip claps him on the shoulder. “You’re filling out, eh?”
He grins. “Been spending a lot of time at the gym lately.”
“Yeah, you are. Bet the girls are all over you,” Flip says.
“Sorta, yeah.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Can we take a couple of pics for my socials?”
