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Chapter One
“Get the hell out!” Drake pinched the bridge of his nose, finally at his wit’s end. “I don’t care if we’re family. Go find someone else to mooch off of!”
“Yell at me again and I’ll forget you’re my cousin.”
Brody charged off the couch, his fists clenched, looking ready for a fight. If his cousin crossed that line, Brody would have more than the dilemma of where to stay to worry about. His cousin might be bigger than him, but Drake knew how to dial the cops.
“I told you I lost my job, and you immediately want to kick me out?”
It wasn’t the first time Brody had lost his job or the fifth. Drake’s cousin couldn’t hold down a job if his life depended on it. He always had a ready excuse why he couldn’t pay his half of the bills, and he had a smart mouth. The mouthiness was what worked Drake’s nerves the most.
No one liked a smartass who lived with them for free.
But the worst part was that Brody constantly borrowed money Drake couldn’t afford to give, promising to pay it back, but he never did. Family could be a huge pain in the ass at times.
Brody had to owe him a good six or seven hundred dollars, and Drake knew he would never get it back. He might as well have flushed the money down the toilet. Had Brody used any of that borrowed money to get his own place? Had he used it for anything useful? Not that Drake could tell. His cousin had probably blown through it as soon as the cash hit his hand, because Brody sure as fuck hadn’t paid any bills with it or bought groceries.
Drake took a long and deep breath, though it did him no good. He knew he shouldn’t have let Brody move in, but no one else in their family would take him. Now he saw why. His parents had tried to warn him, but Drake had felt guilty and believed that, as family, he should help Brody out. But now, he wished he had never made that decision.
Even though it had been the hard way, lesson learned. Drake wasn’t ever letting anyone move in with him again. Not a damn chance in hell. Roommates sucked.
Drake knew he needed to calm down. Getting angry wasn’t going to make Brody suddenly find a job or pay back the money he owed. Arms crossed, Drake leaned back against the wall. He wasn’t budging on this, no matter what Brody said.
“You’ve been living here for two months, Brody. Two months of going through jobs like changing your underwear. Do you know how much money I’ve had to spend on groceries and bills?” Drake asked, not mentioning all the money his cousin had borrowed as well. “I can’t keep doing this. I have my own bills to worry about.”
If Drake was going to pay for everything, he might as well live alone.
Brody’s face fell. He collapsed back onto the couch and looked at Drake with pleading eyes. “Please, Drake. Where am I supposed to go?”
Drake hesitated. He didn’t want to leave Brody homeless. Of course he felt for his cousin, but he couldn’t let Brody stay with him anymore. “I don’t know, man. Maybe try finding a shelter or something.”
Brody’s face twisted in anger. “You’re kicking me out on the street? After all we’ve been through?”
Drake shook his head. “You’ve got to understand, Brody. I can’t keep paying for everything for you. It’s not fair to me.”
He’d always been proud of how much he’d saved, but his pride, along with his savings, was dwindling fast. If this kept up, Brody wouldn’t be the only one forced to move out. Drake wouldn’t have enough money to live.
Brody stood up from the couch and glared at Drake. “Fine. I’ll leave. But just remember, Drake. Family is supposed to help each other out. You’re not living up to that.”
And with that, Brody stormed to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Drake slumped onto the couch, feeling guilty but relieved that he’d finally stood up for himself, something he hardly ever did.
Truthfully, they’d never been close. He wasn’t sure what Brody meant by “all they’d been through.” They’d never hung out as kids. It was only at family gatherings that the two of them interacted. Drake barely knew Brody, but now that his cousin had lived with him for eight weeks, there were things about Brody that Drake wished he hadn’t learned.
Like how Brody drank straight from the carton or how he washed out his underwear in the bathroom sink and hung them on the tub to dry. Gross. Drake didn’t own a washer and dryer that worked. He could have fixed them or bought new ones if he hadn’t loaned Brody so much money. Drake’s washer and dryer were old, and the set had finally given out.
Now Drake had to do his laundry at his friend Tido’s house. Maybe he should have taken his friend up on his offer to be roommates, but Drake liked living by himself.
Until he’d stupidly allowed Brody to move in. A person sometimes made decisions in life that they wished they could take back or kick their own ass about. Letting Brody move in was at the top of the dumbest shit Drake had ever done.
Disgusted, Drake headed out, getting into his car and driving away. What he needed right now was some barbeque to settle his nerves. No, actually Drake needed to stop eating so much of that delicious food. He had extra weight, which he didn’t think looked too bad on him but not too many men wanted to date him because of the extra pounds.
He’d joked with his friend Tido not too long ago that he’d found Mr. Horny. That had been a complete lie, but Drake hadn’t wanted his friends to know the dry spell he was going through. So dry he might as well rename himself from Drake to Desert.
A salad. That was what he needed, but Drake hated salads.
He drove through town, not paying attention to where he was going until he saw the sign for Bluebird Café. Drake had never been there. He wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but maybe they had something healthy to eat.
Once he was parked, he walked inside and was amazed by the place. As soon as he stepped inside the café, his troubles seemed to melt away like snow under the hot sun. There was a chalkboard behind the counter where the day’s specials were listed in neatly scrolled handwriting. Strands of soft white lights hung from the back wall and cast a gentle glow in the corner where there was a glass cake stand with a strawberry cake under its dome.
