And suddenly I didn’t need to run from my family anymore. I just needed to take a stand when something was finally important enough to stand up for.
“I like him, Gray, Lennox. I really like him. Don’t get in the way of this,” I beseeched in a polite but deadly voice.
Lennox cracked a smile first and said, “We weren’t going to.”
“Come on, Els, we’re not that bad,” Gray sounded offended.
Ugh. Brothers.
“We kind of like him,” Lennox continued. “We won’t ever let him know that though.”
Gray added, “We’ll definitely have to make his life a living hell, but you have our approval.”
“Thanks guys,” I smiled at them adoringly as if their opinion actually mattered. And maybe it did, but just a little bit.
“We need two things from you though,” Lennox interrupted my moment of familial bliss.
“Hmm?” I was suspicious once more.
“Don’t tell Beckett,” Lennox said.
Grayson echoed, “Yeah, don’t tell Beckett. He won’t be as accepting as we are.”
“Plus, it sounds like he has his own problems right now,” Lennox grimaced.
“Done.” They didn’t really need to convince me of that. “What’s the sEcond thing?”
“Let dad help you with tuition,” Grayson’s voice dropped down to his serious octave. “It’s killing them that you don’t want their help.”
“You can still live on your own, work on your own, do whatever you need to do, but just let them help, Els. Alright?” Lennox asked in a kinder tone.
I sighed but thought it over. I got what they were saying. And I didn’t want to cause my parents pain but I did want to be independent. Did accepting their help make me less independent? I didn’t know. But I did know that they didn’t run my life and they hadn’t for a long time. Accepting help wouldn’t be like handing over the reins to my future, it would be exactly what it sounded like, accepting help.
But I couldn’t let my brothers see what a pushover I was. Or they would think they got their way with everything. I finally agreed, “I’ll think about it.” They gave me nods of approval and then I remembered a question that had been bothering me for a while. “Hey, Gray? Fin said he owed you a debt, that you did something for him that he needed to repay you for. What is it?”
Grayson thought that over for a while and then gave me a sharp look. “You should probably hear this from him, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” He shrugged for effect and then took a breath, “His freshman year he was struggling, really struggling. His grades were behind, his track career was headed down the drain and he seemed stressed all the time. I knew him from the gym, our workouts coincided and so we saw each other often. He needed money; that was his biggest issue. I guess he has some family problems or something. We would talk every time we saw each other, nothing deep or personal but we knew what was going on in each other’s lives. One day he was different, he said he didn’t need to worry about his family anymore, he had a way to make money. All he needed were a few backers. I backed him.” Another shrug.
“You backed him?” I asked in disbelief.
“Iinvested. I helped him out initially. He looks at it like this big favor, but I’m making money now so it’s all but forgotten to me.”
“You’re making more money now,” Lennox cut in with a sly smile.
They didn’t seem to want to elaborate that, and I was too dumbfounded to ask any more questions. “You’re good men.” I finally said and I meant it.
They both gave me adoring smiles and then their food was delivered along with their beers. I left them to their food so I could get some work done, but I never avoided their table. And when I had some down time I stopped by to talk and laugh with them. They talked to me like a grownup, not like the little girl I still felt like around them sometimes and it was nice.
For once in my life I was actually glad they stopped by to see me.
