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“Text Melissa and make sure.”
“Since when did you and Melissa become best friends?” I asked, my jealous bone tingling.
“Stop being a baby. She’s helpful. And it’s not my fault you can’t seal the deal with her,” he said before socking me in the arm.
Was he right? Was it my fault that we weren’t dating? I certainly didn’t think so. Melissa had been running hot and cold ever since Jack and Cassie had gotten together. I wanted to believe that she flirted with me because she was interested, but I honestly couldn’t tell.
At least she wasn’t dating anyone else. I wasn’t sure I could handle that.
“Where’d you two run off to?” Gramps asked when we walked through the front door.
“Jack bought Cassie a camera,” I announced before remembering that they didn’t know hers had been stolen.
“That was awful nice of you, Jack. What’s wrong with Cassie’s other camera?” Gramps asked, and I mouthed sorry to my brother as he glared at me.
“Nothing. This one’s just better, and I wanted her to have the best,” he answered easily with a smile.
Gran emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “That’s really sweet of you. She’ll love it. When are you going to give it to her?”
“I think I’ll give it to her the morning of the draft. That way we’ll both be one step closer to our dream careers.”
Gramps let out a little whoop. “This is so exciting. I get to see Kitten in action.”
I chuckled. Hearing Gramps call Cassie “Kitten” made me laugh every time.
• • •
By the time draft day rolled around, the excitement level in our house had reached a fever pitch.
Early that morning, I woke up to the sound of Jack’s alarm blaring from his room, which was pretty damn loud in my room too since we shared a wall. Glancing at my nightstand, I noted my alarm clock read 6:42 a.m. Why the hell was Jack waking up so early?
I had rolled over and covered my head, tossing and turning, willing my brain to shut off so I could go back to sleep, when Jack walked into my room.
“Morning, little brother.” The mattress dipped deeply as he sat down on my bed, making me roll toward him.
“Ugh.” I opened one bleary eye. “Why are you awake already?”
“Big day,” he said, running his hand through his hair.
“Are you nervous?”
He smirked. “Nah. Not really. I’m more excited than anything else.”
“You gonna give Cassie her present today?”
The smirk widened into a full-on smile. “Yeah. I can’t wait for that either.”
“Great,” I grumbled. “Now, go away so I can sleep.”
• • •
Later that morning at a more decent hour, Gran walked into my room, looking more dressed up than I’d seen her in a long time. The last time I remembered seeing her in a dress like this one was at my high school graduation.
“You look really pretty, Gran.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I wanted to make sure you put on something nice as well.”
“What’s Gramps wearing?” I asked, assuming that he’d be in his typical ratty blue jeans and bowling shirt, which wasn’t exactly dressy.
