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“Breakfast is ready!” Khloe squealed. She followed Chase out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
“Wow, babe.” I plopped in the chair next to Khloe. “This is impressive.”
“Guess you have to be screwing Chase to get a meal outta him.” Tanner smirked.
“Tanner!” both Tim and Chase shouted.
My eyes widened, and my cheeks burned. “No. We’re not… I didn’t…”
“What does screwing mean?” Khloe asked.
“I swear, I wish you were little so I could still put you into time out!” Beverly ran her fingers through her hair, the same way Chase does when he is stressed. “Don’t listen to him, Merritt.”
“Calm down. I’m just joking. Merritt gets it,” Tanner mumbled.
“It doesn’t matter if she gets it or not. It’s inappropriate.” Chase’s jaw was clenched, and his hands were balled into fists under the table. Chase definitely had a temper, and Tanner seemed to be one of the only few people who could turn it on like the flick of a switch.
“What is your deal lately? You have a girlfriend, now. Shouldn’t you be in a better mood instead of worrying about what I say and do all the time?”
“Boys,” Beverly warned.
“I wouldn’t have to worry about the things you say and do if you got your act together and stopped acting like a douchebag!” Chase fired back.
“Boys!” Tim slammed his fist on the table. “Enough of this crap! You’re in the presence of women. You don’t conduct yourselves like this!”
“You shouldn’t act like this even if you’re not in the presence of women!” Beverly added. “You two have been at each other’s throats, and I’ve had enough of it.”
Khloe and I chewed silently, waiting for the brothers’ reprimanding to be over. I felt bad that Tanner was getting yelled at when he thought he was joking around with me. I could handle his banter, but bringing up sex in front of his parents, especially after just having spent the night in Chase’s room, made me want to crawl under a rock and disappear.
Both of the Brooks brothers had their heads down after being scolded by their parents. It was painfully awkward.
“Well, that was fun,” I began. “Humiliation with a side of awkwardness always goes great with pancakes and bacon in the morning, don’t you think?”
Tim was the first one to break a smile. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. We’re not reading into what Tanner said.”
Chase rubbed my knee under the table. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that response whenever I apologize.”
I shrugged. “You’re gonna have to.”
Tanner’s eyes lifted. “What response?”
“I hate apologies. They mean nothing. They’re just words. Don’t try to take back something you did. Own it. You did what you did, or said what you said, for a reason. Why bother being sorry about it?”
Tanner nodded, and I could see the wheels spinning in his mind.
“But what if someone’s really sorry for what they did, Merry?”
I laughed. “You and your brother are so alike, it’s scary.”
Chase puffed out his chest proudly. “You’re one lucky kid.”
Tanner and I made eye contact and exchanged overdramatic eye rolls.
After breakfast was cleaned up, I packed my things to head back to my apartment.
