Page 84 of Carson

“Why did you let him drink?” I ask my brother.

“He was this way when I found him.”

I hurry in front of him to open doors, looking for his room. The first bedroom I come to is messy. There are clothes on the floor and posters of half-naked women hanging on the walls. Something tells me this isn’t his room.

The next one I find is clean and organized. There’s a telescope pointing out the window toward the sky, and bookshelves filled with books, and wooden 3D puzzles.

I quickly turn down the bed so my brother can get him settled.

“Did Carver find Cole?” I ask.

“Yeah, he’s not in much better shape, but he managed to get him back to the warehouse.”

“That’s good,” I say, setting a trash can beside the bed.

Carson tries to grab me and pull me onto the bed with him, but Chance pushes him back with a finger to his forehead, and he falls against the pillows.

“Not happening, buddy. No sister of mine is getting into bed with a drunk asshole.”

Part of me wants to object. Carson isn’t just any drunk asshole, but I understand my brother’s concern.

“Hey, I’m not an ash … an ash … hole,” he slurs. “Cole is the ash … hole.”

Chance rolls his eyes. “You’re both assholes. Now go to fucking sleep.”

He takes me by my arm and gently urges me out of the room.

“But …”

“But nothing. He needs to sleep it off.”

I sigh, giving Carson one last look before my brother firmly shuts the door behind us.

When we get back out to the living room, I take my first real look around. It’s nice and cozy. I smile, knowing that Lily must have had a hand in the decorating.

Chance lowers himself to the couch, running his hand down his face. I plop down beside him.

“CC has a long road ahead of them,” he says with a frown.

“CC?”

He chuckles lightly. “Yeah, carbon copy. That was my nickname for them back in Cheyenne.”

I lay my head back against the cushions, studying the pictures on the mantel above the fireplace. “They don’t look that much alike.”

“Yeah, but close enough. They can finish each other’s sentences.”

I stand up and grab a photo of the two of them together. “I wouldn’t know. They’ve hardly been together since they picked me up back in Cheyenne.”

He’s quiet when I sit back down beside him.

“It’s all my fault,” I say, rubbing my thumb over the glass.

“They’re still on the same path, they’re just each looking at it a bit differently.”

“I don’t know.”

Chance takes the photo from me, setting it on the coffee table. “Carson sees the path as suddenly blooming with new flowers. He only sees how much brighter it’s become. But Cole, he’s focused on how much water all this new vegetation is going to take. He’s worried about there not being enough resources.”