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Murray
Iwoke up fighting my blankets, gritty-eyed and foggy-brained. I knew for a damn fact I shouldn’t have been awake. Last night, I’dfinallygotten to sleep at a normal hour and stayed asleep for the first time in forever.
My dad was feeling better and in a lot less pain. I’d gotten him to go to a skate park with me yesterday, and even though it always killed him to only be able to watch, it fortified him to be surrounded by the thing he’d loved since he was a kid at the same time.
As for me, getting both cheered and ragged on by my dad filled me with child-like pride. I’d always be the kid yelling at him to watch my next trick, even if it was just an ollie.
Rolling out of bed, I scrubbed my face with both hands and plodded to my front door. Only a couple people could get up to my apartment without the doorman calling first, so I figured I should probably answer and see which one it was.
When I swung the door open, Mo pushed past me, his head swinging right and left as he searched my living room.
“What’s up?” Closing the door behind me, I shoved my hair off my face and behind my ears. “I’m always glad to see you, but, dude, it’s like eight in the morning.”
He clasped his hands behind his neck and tipped his head back, heaving a great sigh. “She’s not here, is she?”
Circling around him so I could get a read on what the hell was going on, I frowned at the worry etched in his expression. “Who?”
He dropped his hands to his sides. “My sister.”
I pointed to the door. “Her place is across the hall.”
He waved me off, then took a seat on my couch. “I heard the shit you two are into.”
Taking it slow, I sat down too, my elbows on my knees. “What shit? You might have to be more specific.”
“You taking her to a wedding, pretending to date?”
“Ahhh, that shit.”
His eyes narrowed and jaw hardened. “Yeah. I had an interesting conversation with Santi after I saw some seriously disturbing pictures of you and Yael together. He informed me it was a show for the sake of a really fucking unwise situation the two of you are in, and I came over here because I couldn’t quite believe it was true.”
I opened my hands. “It’s true. You’re pissed?”
Mo sucked in a breath, shaking his head. “Not pissed.” He kinda looked pissed, whether he admitted it or not. “I’m wary. Disapproving. Disbelieving. Why the hell would either of you agree to this?”
“She needed help, man. She asked, I said yes. I’m never going to turn down your sister asking for help.”
He sighed and leaned forward, mirroring my position. “I feel that, and I appreciate it. You’re basically my brother and I love you like one. But the two of you, off somewhere, alone? Chances are, one of you won’t make it back, and I’m not sure who I should be more worried about.”
“Neither. We’re good. We’ve been hanging out some over the last couple weeks and I’ve been wearing her down to my charms.” I waggled my eyebrows, then rethought the move. “Not like, dick-charms. Just my winning personality.”
Mo shuddered. “Yeah, I don’t ever wanna hear about your dick-charms wearing on my sister. Jesus.” He took his phone from his pocket. “You, I trust. Yael, not so much.”
He tapped out a text, then got up and opened my front door. Less than a minute later, a grumpy, disheveled Yael came padding in, wearing a loose Blue is the Color T-shirt and yoga pants. Hair piled on top of her head, loose pieces sprouting out like twigs, she yawned big and wide and rubbed her eyes while Mo and I watched and waited.
“What, Moses?” Her eyes were still heavy-lidded, her rosy lips pouty and sleep-swollen.
Why did I find cranky, early-morning Yael to be a ray of sunshine? Seeing her like this, too tired to raise her shields and put herself together into an immaculate package, sent shots of warmth through my system.
Mo chuckled and curled an arm around her. “Good morning.”
She shoved him away, then grabbed his T-shirt and pulled him back in so she could rest her head on his shoulder. “You know, I don’t have an infant who wakes me up at this ungodly hour. I still have the luxury of sleeping in, and I’d like to be enjoying it. Is there a fire I need to put out or are you simply torturing me because you can?”
“Torture is always on the table, but I woke your lazy ass up so I can share my adamant disapproval of this hairbrained scheme you roped my boy into.”
I raised my hand. “I wasn’t roped.”
He shook his head. “Nah, that’s semantics. I know my sister. Nothing good’s gonna come from this.”
