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He groans with frustration. “And that’s your problem, Luke. You grew up too fast. You’re no fun, and you take everything too seriously. No one is ever going to want to settle down with you. You’re impossible to live with.”
“And yet, you keep coming back,” I say over my shoulder. “Besides,” I add. “I had to grow up fast because someone had to take care of your immature ass.”
“Oh please,” he argues. “You were already an uptight bore by the time I left home. So don’t blame your lameness on me.”
“You should be thankful I’m such an uptight bore. Who else would have taken you in when you decided to run away at seventeen?” I bark in return. “And for your information, I have no interest in settling down with anyone anyway, so I’m perfectly content being impossible to live with.”
“God, how do you walk around all day with that stick so far up your ass?” he shouts as he dumps the dustpan full of cereal into the trash.
“Alone. That’s how I do it,” I shout back.
He huffs as he walks toward the laundry room to put the broom back where it belongs. When he doesn’t argue back, I smile to myself. Not because I won this argument or because I’m right and he’s wrong, but because it is kind of nice having Isaac back. I missed these little arguments.
Of course, in true brotherly fashion, the fights aren’t real. We’re not really mad at each other. Not mad like Adam was when he found out Caleb took a meeting with our bastard of a father. Not mad like I’m sure both of them would be at me if they found out I’ve been caring for our “estranged” brother since the day he disappeared ten years ago.
“You hungry?” he asks nonchalantly as he returns to the kitchen. “I’m thinking about ordering Thai.”
“Thai sounds good,” I reply as I set the cereal bowl on the drying rack before using a paper towel to dry the stainless steel sink.
While we’re waiting for the food delivery, I retreat into my bedroom and change into a pair of joggers and a T-shirt. A run to clear my mind is exactly what I need. I only get about two and a half miles on the treadmill before the front door buzzes and the scent of spicy tofu and noodles wafts into my room.
Isaac is sitting on the couch, scrolling on his phone and eating with a pair of chopsticks when I finally come out. I glare at him because he knows how I feel about food in the living room, but he slurps a noodle instead of apologizing or offering to move. When I take a seat at the table, though, he eventually joins me.
We eat in silence for a bit, each of us staring at our devices. Finally, I look up and ask, “How long are you staying this time?”
Normally, he’ll respond with something funny or casual. But this time, I notice he tenses.
“Just a few days,” he mumbles without looking up.
“Going back to Nashville?” I ask.
He clears his throat. “No.”
I don’t pick up another bite of food as I stare at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
“I didn’t renew my lease at my apartment there,” he says as he finally meets my gaze.
“Is everything okay?”
Once Isaac became more focused on his career, I moved back to Austin for work. He was uncomfortable with living here again, so he kept a place in Nashville to escape to. For the past few years, I’ve been helping Isaac afford it while he worked to get his music career off the ground. He used to come home every month, but with time, his returns became less and less frequent.
Since he built his following online and went on tour, he’s had enough money to cover the apartment himself. But if he hasn’t renewed his lease, that must mean…
“I signed with a label.”
The words fly out of his mouth so fast it takes me a moment to register what he’s saying.
“Wait…what?”
“They’re not based in Nashville, though. They’re based in Austin.”
I shake my head in confusion. “Whoa. Slow down. You signed a deal with a record label?”
“Yeah.”
I drop my chopsticks and nearly bolt out of my seat. “Isaac!” I shout.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it, okay?”
