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He steps up on it, and plops down on his ass, crossing his legs, mirroring my position.
“Did you hear about the Wolverine movie coming out?”
He mutters something under his breath and glances away, picking at the black nail polish that’s already chipped on his thumbnail.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.” He huffs, then looks up at me and says, “You know you don’t have to…” He waves a hand.
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t have to what?”
“Pretend…you’re still into this stuff,” he says slowly, quietly.
I scowl, and chuck the pillow at his head.
“Hey!” he says, batting it away.
“Hey yourself. Where the hell did that come from?”
He shrugs, slouching, like he’s trying to make himself smaller. “I don’t know. I just…we’re older now. I get it if you’re over it. If you’re just…pretending for me.”
I blink hard. Pushing my lips out, I nod. “Wow. Okay.”
He sighs, and buries his fingers in his light hair, bending forward. “Forget it. I don’t know what I’m saying.”
“Jeremy.”
“What?”
When I say nothing, he finally peeks up at me through his fluffy bangs.
I arch a brow. “I could say the same for you.”
He curls his lip, and waves a hand at the shelves on his wall, full of collector editions and action figures “Obviously I’m not over it.” He pauses. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Stoop to my level to make me feel better about myself.”
I spread my hands. “How do I know you don’t just do that for me?”
This time, he chucks a pillow at my head.
“Newsflash, Mason. The world doesn’t revolve around you.”
I gasp, throwing the pillow back. “Rude. Also, right back at you.”
He tries to stay firm, but his shoulders give him away first. His pursed, twitching mouth second.
“Why are we fighting?” I ask, not bothering to hide my chuckle.
He shakes his head, and slaps his hands to his face, groaning into his palms. “Because I’m a mess.”
I snort and tip my head. “Yeah, well, if it makes you feel any better… the real reason I came upstairs was to get my backpack so I could do homework, because torturing myself with geometry seemed like a lesser evil compared to continuing to watch your sister and Waylon skip their merry way miles ahead of where I should be at.”
Jeremy’s face creases with a wince. “Right.”
“I didn’t know you were home,” I’m quick to add, seeing right through him.
