Teddy tosses his keys in the air and catches them before turning to my brother, who still hasn’t moved. ‘See you later?’ he signs.
Easton grins and shoots him a thumbs-up.
As I follow Teddy to his car, I take a moment to recenter myself. Tonight felt kind of awful, but I had a few bites of good food, and pretty soon, I can get home, sleep, and start the day over again tomorrow.
And then the day after.
Ad nauseam…
Until I die.
FOUR
NORTH
Hello,foot, I’d like you to meet your new friend, Mr. Mouth. You’re going to be living in there for a while because apparently, I don’t know when to shut my fucking trap.
There’s nothing like the guilt of making fun of a guy who literally can’t help himself. And I don’t know who the fuck I think I’m judging, considering I eat like a slob, and I don’t have a TBI.
But there’s something about the way Leo looks at me, like I’m pond scum floating in the shallow bed of cattails, that just…fuck. I don’t know. It makes me feel some type of way, and I don’t like it.
It’s been happening since the day I walked into his house and saw him naked.
I know it’s not the fact that I’m a guy because he was married to a man, so he totally swings my way. But maybe I’m the opposite of his type, and the idea of me looking at him like I wanted to pin him to the wall and kiss the shock off his face disgusted him so badly he’s decided to hate me forever.
I’d ask Easton about it, but every time I bring his brother up, he waves me off and tells me that Leo’s always been a little weird.
Easton is also wildly protective over his little brother, and I can understand why. They have disinterested parents, and though I don’t know all the details, I do know that Leo was in a bad accident and lost his husband because of it. So Easton tends to take everything about his brother personally.
Which is why I know I’m in for it when he storms upstairs and gives me a furious look from underneath his soft curls.
“Bro…”
“I know. I’m sorry. I was trying to make a joke, and it came out badly, and…shit. Did I hurt his feelings?”
Easton’s shoulders sag, and he walks over to the couch, sinking down in the spot Leo abandoned. Covering his face, he takes a few breaths, then peeks at me. “He said he was fine, but he always says he’s fine, and I don’t know if I should believe him. He hasn’t been taking care of himself, and…I don’t know. I feel like a failure.”
I walk over, glancing at the food that was supposed to be for Rune, and push away my irritation. I can make him more. It’s not like I don’t have a mountain of ingredients here.
And I know for a fact that Leo doesn’t feed himself. The proof is in his too-thin, gaunt face, though he’s gotten better about taking care of himself in the last year and a half.
Not that I’ve been watching.
Except, well, I’ve been watching.
He might hate me, and I sometimes really want to smack him in the mouth when he’s being a jackass, but I’ve had a raging crush since the day I saw him in all his glory.
“How bad is it?” I sit beside him and lean back against the corner of the couch. “Like, call someone bad?”
He grimaces but shakes his head. “No. I don’t think it’s like that. I think he’s just…I don’t know…willing to accept things as they are. It’s like he’s settled into the idea that he’s going to live the rest of his life all sad and alone with his horrible little fish.”
“Are they horrible?”
Easton rolls his eyes. “They’re guppies. Anyway, I know he’s trying. Teddy’s taking him to the store tonight so he has more than moldy bread and sour milk, but I don’t think he’s eaten today.”
I sit up straight and glance at the half-eaten food. “Fuck. He should have finished that.” Easton gives me a look, and I throw up my hands in surrender. “I know, I know. It’s my fault. But in my defense, today kind of sucked, and I was in my head when I saw him. I’ll make him some stuff you can take to his place. I have time, and we both know I’m not going to sleep tonight.” I always sleep like shit here, but it’s worse after a complicated call.
“He does love your chicken and dumplings,” Easton says, his voice slow in thought. “I haven’t stocked his freezer in a while, and all he ever makes for himself is peanut butter and jam sandwiches.”
