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That tracked with everything I’d heard from Theo about all the things my brother could do—about all the things I had no idea he could do.

“So, this is just another random skill for the collection?” I asked.

“Pretty much.” He grinned. “Give me another week, and I’ll probably decide I need to learn glassblowing or some shit.”

I chuckled and looked back down at my own much less impressive piece of wood, finding an empty spot to start etching more random lines.

“Please pick something that doesn’t involve molten glass.”

“No promises,” he said. Yeah, that sounded about right too. “How are you and Theo?”

The question made my hand pause. I stared at the half-carved line beneath the tool, trying to decide how honest I wanted to be before realizing there wasn’t much point in giving him anything less.

“We’re good,” I told him. “It’s not perfect, but nothing ever is.”

“What do you mean?” Jude replied.

“I’m not going to solve decades of emotional stuntedness and relationship fears in a few weeks because I suddenly decided I wanted to be better for him.” That was putting it mildly. Most days, it felt like I uncovered a new layer of bullshit every time I thought I’d finally gotten somewhere. “But I’m trying, and I’m going to keep trying.”

Jude fell quiet. I glanced over in time to see his brows draw together slightly. His hand stopped, and his expression made it clear he was working through something. I would’ve given anything to know what went on in that head of his sometimes. He spent so much energy acting like a complete idiot that it was easy to miss how much was happening underneath—something I was far too guilty of missing.

“I don’t think better means you stop being scared. I think it just means you stop letting your fear make all the decisions for you.”

My hand stilled. Jesus fuck. It was like he and Sariah were conspiring over relationship advice. Still, it was hard to deny how true his words were.

“Okay, Mr. Relationship Advice,” I retorted, defaulting to a joke to cover for my discomfort. “How’s dating going for you?”

“I don’t date,” he said. “I do enjoy my excursions of a sexual nature.”

I shook my head as I started etching another useless line in the wood. Of course that was his answer. Only Jude could offer some surprisingly profound insight into somebody else’s relationship and then describe his own sex life like a scholar documenting field research.

“I don’t do anything more than a few dates here and there,” he elaborated. “I haven’t met anyone I don’t get bored with after a date or two.”

“Maybe you should stop introducing yourself with that magic tongue of yours,” I scoffed. Yeah, I’d regrettably heard those rumors.

“That’s when I make my best impression,” Jude shot back with an obnoxious grin. I shut my eyes and drew in a deep breath of annoyance. Some things an older brother didn’t need to know. Though maybe this was retaliation for the Super Bowl party. “I have another question for you, and it’s okay if you say no. I don’t want you to feel like you have to because I’ll figure it out.”

The shift in his tone made me look over.

“What do you need, Jude?” I interrupted before he could talk himself in circles trying to justify why it was okay for me to tell him no. And he still hesitated anyway.

“When the season ends, and you go back to Florida, can I go with you?” he asked.

I stopped engraving to give him my full attention. This wasn’t a passing conversation to have.

“What about school? It’ll be the middle of the semester,” I replied.

“I don’t enjoy school,” he told me with a shrug. “I don’t do well because I’m bored, and I don’t know why I should have to go into debt just because everyone thinks I should.”

That was a solid argument. I still didn’t have Jude completely figured out, but I knew enough to know he wasn’t going to be a college degree kind of person. He would almost always be the most intelligent person in most rooms, but a degree and a good job weren’t going to be how he embraced that—if he ever did.

I could respect that. However, I didn’t want him to make a huge decision in the middle of grief.

“And what are you going to do instead?” He needed more than a plan to just go to Florida with me and wing it. He opened his mouth to answer and promptly closed it. His face told me everything. “You need a plan, Jude.”

“I don’t know what my plan is,” Jude admitted. “Maybe I’ll give this fitfluencer thing a try.”

I held my tongue. I absolutely knew about his single thirst trap photo.