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“Fucking awesome,” I breathed.
He lifted his face and grinned down at me. “Yeah.” Then he blinked, and his brow furrowed. “Do I have to take you home today?”
I shook my head, gladly willing to let him keep me forever. But then I frowned and nodded, realizing reality still awaited us, no matter how long we stayed holed up in his room.
He groaned. “That’s what I was afraid of.” Then he rolled off me and sat up. I wasn’t ready for the absence of his warmth yet, but I hugged myself and sat up too.
We dressed quietly. Oren glanced at me with a wrinkle of concern between his eyes as I slid on my shoes and he grabbed his wallet off his dresser. “You okay?”
I knew he was asking about last night and what I’d learned at the doctor’s office, but I rolled my eyes. “After what just happened, I’m fabulous.”
He chuckled, but not for long. “I’m serious, baby.” Slipping his arms around my waist when I straightened, he pressed his forehead to mine. “I know what the doctor told you wasn’t what you wanted to hear, but...” He sighed. I don’t think he knew what to say next, so he just shrugged. “Fuck, you got me, and I’m probably more to handle than any kid you could have.”
His attempt to cheer me up made me smile. I was so tempted to tell him I loved him, that I’d loved him for months, before I’d ever snuck into his bedroom posing as someone else. But I settled for setting my mouth against his and murmuring, “I’ll take it. Thank you.”
He kissed me back just as lightly before drawing away. “Let’s get you home.”
I followed him from the bedroom, only to smell something really, really good coming from the kitchen. “Oh my God.” I squeezed his arm. “What is that smell?”
He winked back at me. “Saturday mornings with Zwinn. Come and see.”
After drawing me to the opening of the kitchen, he paused beside me and looped an arm around my shoulder. “They cook pancakes and bacon together every week. It’s kind of cute.”
Cute? It was freaking adorable. Quinn and Zoey had their backs to us as they stood at the griddle, one pouring batter in, one flipping pancakes. They talked in hushed tones, and their heads were intimately close. Every couple of seconds, one would touch the other.
I could see them in fifty years still doing this very thing, cooking together and just...reveling in ordinary things, as long as they did them with one another.
“It’s like greeting card precious,” I whispered up to Oren. “I think I’m going to cry.” He snickered and passed me an imaginary tissue. I pretended to accept and wipe my face. “Thank you.”
Zoey turned then. “Oh.” She jumped, and Quinn glanced over. “Caroline! You’re still here.”
“We slept in,” I confessed, though neither of us had once mentioned taking me home last night. I think we both knew I wasn’t going anywhere until morning.
“Since you’re already this late, why don’t you stay for breakfast? We always make plenty.”
I glanced up at Oren, and he answered for me as he stepped into the kitchen. “Sure. She needs to understand why I’m not willing to let either of you move out of this apartment.”
Zoey crinkled him
a confused look. “O...kay.”
So we ate breakfast with Zwinn, and it was nice. Oren cracked his usual off-color jokes, and Zoey updated me on her life since I hadn’t seen much of her lately.
“My biological father keeps asking me to visit him in California where he’s staying this summer. But…I don’t know.”
“I say fuck him,” Oren spoke through a mouthful. “The asshole did nothing while he knew you were being raised by an abusive douchebag. You don’t owe that dick shit.”
I glanced at Quinn, who remained quiet. I had a feeling he probably agreed with Oren, but he would loyally back any decision Zoey made.
“I don’t know,” I murmured thoughtfully. “If I ever had the opportunity to meet my sperm donor, I’d want to, if nothing but for curiosity’s sake. Find out where my chin and eyes and stubborn personality came from.”
“I’ll tell you where your stubborn personality came from.” Oren stood and not only gathered his cleaned plate, but mine too. “That’s all from your brother.”
I watched him load the dishwasher. Not only did his sweetness in taking care of my dish impress me, but I liked how he reminded me that I didn’t need to know how far back my roots went; I knew where I’d come from and who my real family was. Noel. No matter how much his thoughtless words had hurt me yesterday, I loved my big brother and he loved me.
I needed to go home and talk to him.
Once Oren was finished, he dusted his hands on his thighs and turned to me. “Ready to get back?”
