Page 65 of Lease to Love

“And I had to find out from social media.” He appeared around the corner holding a container of something I was fairly certain I'd never purchased and pointed to himself. “Me. Your own brother.”

I finally looked away from the television. “You want a medal?”

“I want answers.”

“You're not getting any.”

He dropped onto the couch beside me, still holding whatever he'd stolen from my refrigerator.

I sighed. “What do you want me to say, E? It's new. Brand new.”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time.” He popped the lid off the container and started eating.

I shrugged. “Summer wanted to keep things quiet after the breakup with her ex,” That part wasn't technically a lie. “didn't want people talking about her rebounding with her landlord, so we were keeping up the enemies thing for now.”

Erik chewed slowly, then he hit me with a Kanye shrug.

“Well… They're talking now.” He chewed some more. “All that work pretending you still hate each other, just to get outed on the ex nigga’s live.” He shook his head, genuinely entertained. “Tragic.”

“Nothing tragic about it.” I sighed and turned my attention back to the television. “We're two grown adults who are dating. Everything else is gossip.”

“No, I was talking about your refrigerator. The snack situation is tragic.”

He reached into the bag he'd apparently brought with him and pulled out two bags of my chips that he must have swiped last time.

He handed one to me before opening the other.

“You need to go grocery shopping. Where are those little pre-cut mangoes I like?”

I glanced at him. “Try your place.”

“I can't keep shit at my place,” he took a drink, “Because I have asshole roommates who eat all my shit without asking or replacing it.”

I slowly turned my head toward him and raised one eyebrow.

“The irony.”

He frowned. “I'm not your roommate. I'm your brother.”

“You're right.” I leaned back into the couch. “A roommate would help with the bills.”

Erik’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” He put a hand dramatically against his chest, “I didn't realize my poor, richer-than-God big brother was struggling with his bills.”

He tossed a throw pillow at me, which I caught with one hand.

“I didn't realize my little brother was a mooching little shit who would eat anything that didn't eat him first if I let him in my house.”

He grinned. “That's on you. I've been stealing your snacks since kindergarten.”

He leaned back and stretched his legs across the coffee table and lifted his beer in a mock toast. “And I'm a college-educated, gainfully employed mooching little shit, thank you very much.”

I shook my head, but the corner of my mouth lifted despite myself.

Erik caught it.

Of course he did.