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I loved my hometown. I’d missed the humidity that would damn near suffocate you while living out in the desert. I’d missed the familiarity of the country roads I’d spent my teen years tearing up. I missed my kid sister and her carefree spirit. And even though I wouldn’t admit it out loud, I missed my golden boy brother too.
What I didn’t miss was the constant reminder that I had no shot with the one girl I wanted.
I’d left this town to start my own life, and I’d done that.
“Your refrigerator is as boring as you are.” Hampton had followed me into the kitchen and wasted no time pulling open the fridge door to help himself.
I rolled my eyes and leaned around him to pull a bottle of water out. “Then get out of it. As a matter of fact, the front door’s over there.” I gestured with the bottle toward the living room.
He ignored me and jumped up on my counter, leaning his chest forward. “Not leaving till you agree to take Piper.”
It was obvious I wasn’t going to be getting rid of my kid brother anytime soon, so I stepped around him and leaned against the large island that was the focal point of my kitchen. “Not a chance, Hampton.”
“Come on!” he groaned. “She’s gotta move out. And she’s got nowhere to go. She’s at the end of a semester, and on ER rotation. It’s brutal.” He crossed his legs at the ankle and ran a hand through his hair, changing tactics. “She’s not any trouble to live with! You’ll hardly see her. She does her share of the chores. I bet you’ll love having her here,” he pleaded.
I eyed him, taking note of the slight twitch under his left eye. It was his tell, but he didn’t know I knew about it. “Then why are you so desperate to get rid of her?”
When he squeezed his eyes shut, I pushed away from the counter and rounded the island to stand in front of him. It had been a while since I’d seen my brother, but we’d kept in touch over the years. I didn’t begrudge him the fact he was the chosen one. He’d never set out to be better than me, to be favored over me. And even though he could more than take care of himself over the years, I still felt like it was my job to look out for him. That was the problem with being the oldest: it always felt like it was my job to look out for everyone, no matter if they knew I was taking care of them or not.
When Jack had died, I’d taken off, carrying the guilt of abandoning my brother with me. It was that guilt that had me even considering doing him this favor.
“We’ve lived together for eight years, dude. We are the modern-day Will and Grace. And I fucking love her, you know I do, but I’m not interested in growing old with a woman.” The sadness in his face told me the confession was not an easy one, but with one blink he quickly recovered and grinned. “Besides, I’m in loooooooove,” he sang out.
I squeezed the back of my neck, a headache beginning to form. “Jesus, please don’t tell me you’re into show tunes now.”
He threw his head back, laughing loudly. “Fuck no, dude.” He paused and shuddered. “Musicals make me want to stab myself.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’ve got to say, you might be the straightest gay man I’ve ever met. You hate musicals, make fun of show tunes, think Cher’s overrated. Explain to me again how you ended up married to an actor?”
Waggling his eyebrows, he lowered his voice. “Sometimes good dick trumps everything else. Know what I mean?”
With a groan, I squeezed my eyes shut. “No, actually, I don’t know what you mean.”
He barked a laugh and made a show of looking me up and down. “Maybe not, but you’ve always had a stick up your ass. At least dick is enjoyable.”
My mouth gaped open. I had no problem with my brother’s sexuality, and I never had since the moment he came out to the family the week after Jack’s death. But that didn’t mean I wanted to sit here and discuss my ass and what did or didn’t belong in there with him. “Dude, shut the fuck up.”
He grinned with pride. “I will when you say Piper can stay here.”
I wasn’t sure which was worse, but decided to resolve the immediate problem. “Fine. Jesus.”
Hampton jumped off the counter and threw his arms around me, squeezing me tight. I pushed against him, but eventually gave up and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him back.
“Dude, you’ve been working out,” he said, releasing his hold on me.
“Guys I work with spend their downtime in the gym. I joined them one day.”
He grinned. “Picked up more chicks at the gym than behind the computer screen too, huh?”
For the first time in two days, I laughed, throwing my head back. “Something like that.”
He gave my arm one final squeeze. “Good to have you back. Missed your dorky ass. Haven’t had anyone to pick on in ages.” He winked and I frowned at him.
“Pretty sure I could take your ass now.” I jabbed him in the stomach.
He held up his arms and flexed, showing off his large biceps, proving that while he may not be an athlete anymore, he hadn’t let himself go. “I’d like to see you try. Thanks for agreeing to take Pip.”
I tipped my chin up. “What’re we talking? Like a week or two?” I had no idea how much longer her rotation was, but it was nearly the summer, so I was assuming she was nearly done.
