“How are you?”
“Hasn’t Mum filled you in already?”
“Yes, but I want to hear it from you.”
“I’m fine. Work’s a drag, but what can you do? How are your finals going?”
“Uh, all right.”
“Mum said you sounded stressed.”
“I’m fine.”
“I crammed last-minute for all my finals. It worked for me.”
I don’t want to admit that I’m doing the same thing. I hate that we’re alike in so many ways.
“Have you heard from Flynn?” Why am I asking that? Yes, I want to change the subject, but changing it to Flynn is fucking stupid.
“No.” Billy’s voice is tight.
“What happened between the two of you?”
“Hasn’t Mum told youthattoo?”
“She said you fell out of love.” Which isn’t an explanation at all.
“He wanted to be a farm boy more than he wanted to be with me.”
Is that true?
I resist the urge to remind him that he was never supportive of Flynn’s dream. Oh, he might have saidthe right things to Flynn, but then he'd bitch about it to me. He wasconvincedFlynn would get bored with farm work.
“He was living with his grandma for a bit, but Mum ran into her the other week and discovered that he's moved out.”
“Oh?” Is my feigned ignorance believable?
“Yeah. He got a job on a farm somewhere. His grandma wouldn’t tell Mum where. I’m not sure what she thought Mum would do with the information. It’s not as if I’m going to chase after him and beg him to come back. I can do better.”
I clench my hand into a fist. My brother, the arsehole. “Are you seeing anyone?”
He laughs. “Nah, I’m just making up for lost time, fucking everything in sight. I was missing out, only screwing one person. He wasn’t even that good in bed. I’m enjoying being single. Like you.”
“That’s great.” I spit the words through my teeth.
“We've talked for long enough to please Mum. Enjoy your Brownie points.”
I press my clenched fist against my thigh. “Bye.”
He hangs up.
I put my phone down and wipe my hands over my face. Time to forget my evil twin, have a shower, and make my room presentable. I can’t wait for my hookup to arrive. Stress relief, here I come.
4
FLYNN
I’m done cleaning the milking clusters. They self-clean after milking each cow, but it’s still good hygiene to do a deep clean.
