Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 147136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
“Now we’re having pizza.”
Oliver held up his hand and his twin high-fived him.
“Yes!” Olivia whispered excitedly.
They were seven. Got along great for siblings, which I figured had to do with them being twins and sharing something regular siblings didn’t share.
Regular siblings fought, at least occasionally. These two didn’t. Siblings also liked having breaks from each other, alone time, but not Oliver and Olivia. They mourned each other if they were ever apart. Even for a night.
My sister Jenna moved into the room then from the direction of the kitchen, wearing an apron and wiping her hands off on a towel.
“Uncle Brian brought us pizza, Mom!” Olivia shrieked, pushing her matching blue glasses up her nose when they started sliding down. “Can we have it?”
“But I made roast,” Jenna replied, watching both kids drop their heads. She gave me a wink, then shifted her gaze between the two of them. “Yes, we can have it. I’ll save the roast for tomorrow.”
“Yes!” Oliver pumped his fist into the air, then spun around and took the boxes from me.
Olivia followed behind him into the kitchen, hooting and hollering.
“Big brother,” Jenna greeted me, coming over for a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
She was two years younger than me, which kept us tight growing up, petite like our mother and barely came up to my chin. Her dark hair tickled my jaw as she squeezed my waist.
“You, too,” I said, reciprocating the affection. “Figured I’d bring food since I haven’t made it over in a while.” I gave her an apologetic look as she pulled away. “Sorry. Work shit.”
I was including getting called to Xstasy in the “work shit” excuse. There was nothing shit about Wax, and nothing Wax related ever kept me from coming over here.
“It’s okay. I get it. I’m just happy you’re here now.” She gave me a smile. “Come on. Let’s eat before the two of them put all that food away and leave us with nothing but roast that apparently smells like feet.”
Laughing, I followed behind Jenna and got some of the pizza.
After dinner and cleanup, I stood in the kitchen while Oliver and Olivia played the Wii in the living room.
Jenna was putting away the roast and the vegetables now that they were completely cooled, and she was doing this after warning her kids they’d be having roast and Brussels sprouts for dinner tomorrow.
Bellies full of pizza and soda, they didn’t give her any lip over it.
I stood with my hip to the counter finishing off the last of my second Coke, taking in the surroundings of my sister’s small but cozy apartment and the two kids in the other room, absorbing their laughter and triumphant squeals when she nudged my side.
“You seem better,” she whispered from beside me. “That’s good, Brian. Really good. I’m happy to see that.”
Shit.
I didn’t want to get into this. I never did. Especially not with Jenna.
I moved a little so I was ahead of her and kept my eyes to the living room when I spoke.
“Come on. Stop.”
“Stop what?” she asked, moving with me, fucking typical, only this time spinning when she reached my side again so she could look up at my face. “I’m just saying it’s good to see you laughing and smiling again. You should be laughing and smiling, Brian. None of it was your fault.”
I sat my can on the counter and rubbed my face with both hands, then kept avoiding her deeply compassionate eyes, which I knew she had on me, and remained staring into the living room when I replied.
“Not getting into this with you, Jen. Had a nice dinner with you and the kids and I’d like to leave here still thinking it was a nice dinner and not a pain in my ass ’cause you’re hitting me with this bullshit again. I don’t want to hear it.” Then I looked down at her to say, “You weren’t there. You don’t get to weigh in. And you’re wasting your breath anyway. We both know that.”
She touched my elbow, her cool fingers wrapping around it.
“I was just commenting on how nice it is seeing you this way again. I’ve missed it.” She bit her lip. “And I thought maybe you had come around to thinking what I know is to be true.”
“That’s not it,” I interrupted.
“Or,” she continued, letting go of my arm as the lip she was biting started twitching. “If maybe you’re happy because of something else …”
I raised my brows.
“Like?”
“Like, a girl maybe?”
Arms crossing over my chest, I moved my eyes up and over to the living room again, huffing out a breath.
“Oh, my God,” Jenna whispered.
“Not talking about this with you.”
She popped up on her toes and leaned closer, pointing at me.
“I don’t even care. You’re totally admitting to me right now there is a girl and she’s the one making you happy.”