Aaron mumbled something. Luke tried to turn the doorknob, but it had been locked. “We’re missing most of the bowls and neither Mom nor I leave dishes in our rooms.”
Grumbling came from the other side of the door, then the turn of a knob, and a rumpled Aaron opened the door.
“A wild Aaron appears!” Luke tried a joke to break the tension between them.
His brother glared at him. “I was in the middle of something.”
“So am I. It’s called cleaning.” He looked around the disaster that was Aaron’s room. “You should try it sometime.”
If looks could kill, Luke would be worried. “I’ll bring them down. You’re not coming in here.”
“Fine. But put a clean shirt on.” He pointed at some yellow stain of unknown origin on Aaron’s chest. Honestly, it was probably mustard. “We have company.”
“Company?”
“Maggie came over to help clean. And she’s doing the kitchen so be nice when you bring the dishes down.”
“Ugh,fine.” Aaron slammed the door again.
Luke snickered and teased him some more. “Luke used Logic! It’s super-effective!”
“No one plays that baby game anymore!”
Laughing all the way downstairs, Luke started with the powder room on the first floor.
He heard the stomping of a thousand elephants as Aaron left his room, the clatter of a dozen spoons chiming in with every step. When he was done scrubbing, he gathered his cleaning supplies in a bucket and headed for the upstairs bathroom, passing the kitchen on his way.
Maggie and Aaron were locked in conversation as Aaron showed Maggie where the clean dishes lived. Luke bit his fist to keep from laughing. His baby brother was leaning in too close to Maggie, who was just an inch shorter than Aaron, his fingers brushing her arm as he helped put the dishes away. If it had been an older adult doing this, Luke would have told them to back off, but Maggie was oblivious and Aaron had no idea why. It was fucking hilarious watching him flirt.
“And did you see the part when they went to Fushiguru’s old school?”
Maggie was shaking her head. “No, I haven’t gotten that far yet. Honestly it made me nostalgic forBleachso I ended up going back and rewatching that.”
Aaron made a face. “Jujutsu Kaisenis way better thanBleach.”
She caught Luke watching and winked. “Kids these days. They don’t know good anime anymore.”
He tilted his head in confusion as Aaron lost his mind. He’d never been big on anime.
“Wait! How old are you?” His little brother sputtered.
“Old enough to say it’s rude to ask a lady her age.”
“Oh. Uh…”
Luke slapped a hand over his mouth to keep the laughs at bay. “Are you macking on my girl?”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “No one says macking anymore, old man.”
Maggie patted Aaron’s shoulder. “I’m thirty-three, Aaron.”
His little brother’s face turned beet red, and he fled from the room. Maggie pressed her lips together in silent laughter until Aaron was safely upstairs. Then the giggles erupted as she wrapped her arms around her middle and shook.
Luke couldn’t hold it anymore either, and they leaned against each other as they fell apart. Mom even wheeled into the kitchen to see what was going on.
“What’s so funny?”
Maggie wiped the tears from her eyes. “Aaron thought I was his age.”
