Page 63 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

I could say hot.

But the truth is more complicated than that, and these two, especially Cyrus, don’t let me slide out of truth when they can smell it.

So I sigh and lean my hip against a wooden post, letting the market move around us.

“It was…” I search for the word, and the word I land on is honest. “Weird.”

Casper’s face tilts. “Weird how?”

I glance down at my coffee, waiting for better answers. “You ever go somewhere that used to be home and realize you don’t fit in anymore?”

Cyrus’s expression goes still. “Yeah.”

Casper’s smile fades. “Yeah.”

That’s the thing about the Britts. They know how it feels to be between places.

“My dad’s the same as always,” I continue lightly, because if I don’t make it light, it’ll get heavy fast. “Wants to know where I’m headed, what I’m hauling, why I don’t get a job that keeps me closer. Same conversation we've been having since I was twenty.”

Casper nods slowly. “And your brother?”

I huff a laugh. “My brother’s got a baby on the way.”

Casper’s eyes widen. “For real?”

“Yup,” I say. “And he’s excited as hell. Scared too, but excited. He kept tryin’ to hand me pamphlets like pregnancy is contagious, and I’m gonna catch it by proximity.”

Cyrus’s mouth twitches. “Maybe he’s hoping you will.”

I side-eye him. “That’s not funny.”

Cyrus’s eyes sharpen. “Wasn’t joking.”

Casper makes a low oh, as if he just watched someone step too close to a sensitive spot. We make our way down the line of stalls again, slow and aimless. Casper buys a little toy plane for a kid he doesn’t know because the kid’s eyes got big, and Casper is incapable of resisting it. Cyrus buys a rusted metal bracket he swears he “might need,” even though he has approximately fifty brackets already.

And the whole time I’m aware of the way this week in town feels… different.

Maybe it’s because I told myself I was staying a whole week, and part of me didn’t hate the sound of it.

We pass the café booth where Lorna’s selling to-go pastries and Ellie’s working the register, hair pulled up, smile bright. Ellie waves at Casper and Cyrus.

And then her gaze catches on me.

“Rex!” she calls. “You’re back!”

I lift a hand. “Mornin’, darlin’.”

Ellie grins. “You staying this time or just blowing through?”

Casper’s mouth quirks, waiting for the answer too.

I shrug. “A week.”

Ellie’s eyes widen. “A whole week?”

I point at Cyrus. “See? That’s the exact face he made.”

Ellie laughs. “Well, you better come in for coffee sometime. Lorna’s been complaining you don’t eat enough.”