AllFreeNovel
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I know him best.
Or I did.
He was good.
Creative. Generous.
Why is he different now?
“I love you,” I tell him.
He sucks in a short, shallow breath.
The shower spills over his shoulders, down his chest, and the steam wets his hair. His gaze doesn’t falter, though.
“There’s no one like you.” I smile a little as I soften my voice. “You’re always reading five books at a time. You buy Christmas presents for other people’s pets. You never eat bread crust. Like even if it’s a hamburger bun, you’ll invent a crust that isn’t there…”
Like, seriously. He leaves a crescent of bread. Even on a hot dog bun.
“You tell me everything I missed when I come back from the bathroom at a movie theater,” I point out.
My brother hates it when I do that.
“And you hate it as much as I do,” I add, “when people eat while talking on TikTok videos, and then they make you wait while they take more bites and chew. It’s soobnoxious, right?”
Amusement rises in his eyes.
“I can hear your smiles when you talk,” I say. “I love that all of my baseball caps were once yours, and I love that you look for me.” I pause. “Or you used to.”
Maybe I didn’t realize all of this when he was around—or realize how much I’d miss him—but I always knew I loved him. He and Kade were never one person. It wasn’t both or nothing. They were always distinguishable from each other. I need Hunter.
“It seems I’m always chasing something.” I shake my head, thinking about home and school. “Other cars on the track. My parents with their busy schedules. School…” I meet his eyes. “I used to wake up as a kid and you’d be asleep next to me. You’d just show up at some point through the night. I never felt unwanted. You looked for me when you walked into a room.” I lower my voice. “Me.”
My parents love me, but they don’t count. I’ve been homesick for him since he left.
I stare at his face, seeing the slight way his right eye zones in on me more than the left, because he doesn’t want to stay mad, but he’s trying hard to.
His stern jaw that looks more angular than it did when we were twelve.
His eyebrows and how they got a little darker. His bottom lip and how it’s fuller than I remember. I gaze at it.
I used to know everything about him. Now, it’s like I’ve missed so much.
He’s kissed girls. I know he has.
They look at him at school. A lot.
I should know about girlfriends, right? Those are things he should be telling me because we’re close. Or we used to be.
I should know who and when and how far he’s gone. I should know everything about him.
I clench my jaw. Girls at that roller skating restaurant looked at him like I wasn’t standing right there. I mean, it’s not like they need my permission or anything, but I just…
I…
It’s like…
It’s just…
