“What’s the partner like?”
All I could think about was Andrew saying Brandon’s had a hard road and then seeing how protective James was with him.
“Morgan.”
“His partner seems really nice.”
“I wonder where he’s been. Remember, he didn’t show up for Haley’s funeral?”
“Haley was a mess, and her mom wasn’t any better. Remember all the stories in the media about Haley being in and out of drug rehabs? The kid probably didn’t have it easy,” I added.
“We need to tell Chase. He wanted to be part of this kid’s life badly. Remember?”
“How could any of us forget?”
“I’ll come over and be there when you tell him.”
“You will?”
“Yes! When have I ever left you hanging? Patrick and I can be there by ten tonight. We can tell him tonight or in the morning.”
“Where are you going to stay?” I asked. “Because Mom will think something’s up if you and Patrick show up unannounced.”
“We’ll stay with Chase. Technically, it’s still my place.”
I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Okay. Text me when you land, and I’ll come get you.”
7
CHASE
I shoveda handful of Cheez-Its into my mouth and then wiped my fingers on my jeans when I saw my cell phone light up. I reached for it and saw it was an incoming text from Morgan.
Are you up?
Yeah, I’m just working on some sketches and eating.
I’m going to come by. I’ll be there soon.
Attached to that text was a picture of Hollis and Patrick that looked like it had been taken inside a car.Were they here too?I held my phone up and took a selfie of my excited face and sent it to him.
Morgan, Hollis, and Patrick would be here soon!
Shit!
I set the phone down on the counter and looked around the place. I hurried over to the great room and quickly straightened the cushions and grabbed the empty water bottles and empty pizza box from the coffee table. I threw all of that away and then ran to get the vacuum and hurriedly zipped it around the couch and coffee table.
After I put the vacuum away, I grabbed the cleaning spray and a rag and cleaned off all the counters except for the area where I had been sketching. I looked at my cell phone on the counter when it made a noise letting me know that a key card to my place had been used in an elevator.
“Shit, they’re here!”
I put the cleaning spray away and ran to the guest bathroom. I squirted some toilet cleaner in the bowl and gave it a quick scrub.There. That will do.I looked at myself in the mirror while I washed my hands and made sure I looked presentable. Morgan always looked perfect. Hollis knew he was perfect as is. And Patrick tended to stress about these things like I did.
I dried my hands and ran to open the door when they rang the bell. I was actually excited to see all of them. It was Christmas when we were all together last. I opened the door and jumped into a karate pose to brace myself for Hollis’ hug. He would always come in and overpower me into a bear hug, which I really enjoyed.
“Chase!” Hollis excitedly called my name as he rushed in, wrapped his arms around me, and squeezed me against him. I couldn’t help but smile and close my eyes as my oldest brother took all the weight off my shoulders for just a few moments. “I missed you, bub,” he said and then set me down.
