AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sucked in a breath. “Oh.”
I approached her slowly, pushing her stray hairs behind her ears and cupping her face. My heart pounded against my ribcage, and I was desperate to be nearer to her. She was intoxicating. Her skin was so warm and soft, and I trailed my thumbs over her cheeks, loving how she leaned into me. Like she, too, wanted me closer.
“Theo!”
I jumped. Penny’s voice intruded on the moment, causing my pulse to spike in worry. She had nightmares and sometimes wandered out of bed five, six, seven times. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I want?—”
“I know.” She cupped my hands and smiled at me. It was pure understanding and a hint of flirty, and she could’ve asked me for anything, and I’d agree. I loved this smile. It was my favorite one I’d ever seen.
“Take care of your sister.”
I kissed her forehead, lingering a beat before leaving her in my room. Maybe things happened for a reason. There was no time to explore this whatever between us. Throw in the Quentin angle, and it’d sober me up fast. Yet she wore my clothes, made my siblings laugh, and that shit mattered.
“Should I just go downstairs?”
“Yeah. Penny could be a while.” I intertwined our fingers, wishing like hell my life wasn’t what it was, and shoved it all down. Penny needed me. “Em can get the movie started. I’ll join you when I can.”
She nodded. “You are an amazing brother.”
Her compliment ballooned inside me, filling me with pride and validation that yeah, I was doing the right thing. No one thanked me. My dad didn’t even thank me for taking on the role of parent. He expected it because we put family first and made me feel like shit if I didn’t.
My mom was the gentle parent, with words of affirmations for all of us all the time. When we lost that, my dad became a ghost, and we wandered around without someone fulfilling our innate need. I tried for my siblings.
And Audrey had just done that for me.
I added it to my mental list of all the reasons I needed to thank her. Maybe a nice dinner would work? It could be a date, but that meant I had to find time. As I grabbed Penny and cradled her to my chest, I made the plan.
Maybe my dad could stay the hell home and be a father. That meant—I’d have a whole night to myself. A whole night with Audrey.
Excitement buzzed through me. I usually only felt that zapping sensation before a game, right as the puck dropped onto the ice. Yeah. I’d take her somewhere nice to eat. Maybe get dessert after.
It’d totally be a date. But if she didn’t want to call it that, then it could just be dinner? Fuck. I hadn’t thought about this shit in years. I hummed Pen’s favorite nursery rhyme until she settled down and tucked her back in bed. In these moments, with my sister drooling and feeling so safe with me, I knew I’d made the right choice to be here this year. It was hard as fuck, but I’d remember these moments the rest of my life.
I grew up with mom and dad as their best selves. My siblings wouldn’t. So, it was only right that I could help provide them with what I had while I was still here. Damn, the thought about leaving next year for Minnesota felt like a knife in the chest. Of course I had to go. This wasn’t up for debate. My dad needed the financial help for my mom, and I’d do anything to ease her comfort. But leaving my siblings? Would my dad take care of them? I wasn’t sure, and it killed me.
My phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number, and I checked it.
Unknown: The whole team is hanging minus you. Tell me again how they’re gonna choose you over me? Fuck that, Sanders. You’re over.
Ah. Lovely. Quentin. The thorn in my side who continued to ruin every pleasant moment. Of course I’d been invited to the hangout tonight. I was actually fun and cool.
But my responsibilities held me back, not that Quentin understood what that meant. I stood at the base of the stairs, not quite entering the living room and instead watching. Em and Daniel had pulled out all the stops for Audrey. Em made her our mom’s old stove popcorn recipe. Daniel showed her how our Apple TV worked, which, come on. She already knew that.
Audrey gave nothing away. She thanked them and had the best poker face of surprise when they went through ten options for movies. Em sat right by her, Daniel on the other side as they put on Toy Story 4. It was a family fav and would make us all cry. Cool.
Just what I wanted. To cry in front of the girl I had very deep and complicated feelings for. Neat. As my brother rested his head on Audrey’s arm, Quentin’s text left my mind.
This mattered more.
“You two trying to embarrass me in front of a girl?” I said, jumping over the back of the couch so I was in between Em and Audrey. “You know I cry in this one!”
“We didn’t do it on purpose, Theo!” Daniel yelled as I tickled his side. That meant putting my arm around Audrey, and yeah, I liked it.
“Yes, you did, you rascal!” I leaned closer onto Audrey to tickle him more, making him howl with laughter. Audrey giggled before intervening.
“Boys, boys, settle down. I’m not a part of this war.”
“You are now.” I put my other arm around her waist, holding her against me as I messed with my brother. It was honestly fucking perfect. This moment. It hit me hard, like a check to the chest. I wanted more of this.
