I shrugged again.
“Yeah. Maybe. If I didn’t have… everything.”
“Then you have to go.”
I glared at my brother, but he didn’t back down.
“Stop that. I’m sure you can ask one of your buddies to take your shift or ask your captain for the day off, and Enzo, Lilian, and I can help look after Ella. Why not?”
I bit my lip.
“What kind of dad abandons his kid at Christmas?” I said.
Carson rolled his eyes.
“Firstly, it’s not Christmas yet. Secondly, it’s only two days—one night—and thirdly, you gotta go. You’ve spent God knows howlong with your head buried in the sand after Sandra’s death, and rightfully so, but Cole, I haven’t seen you this… alive in a very long time.”
I sighed.
I knew he had a point. I knew it. But it still didn’t feel right.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“Hang on. You… you do like Samir, right?”
I pressed my lips together and looked down at the kitchen counter instead of him.
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “I didn’t expect to even like dating again, but… there’s something about him.”
“Okay. Then you have to do it. No, let me correct that. Youneedto do it. You need to do this for yourself first and foremost.”
“I thought that’s what I’ve been doing all this time. Ditching the Grill, going out with Samir, spending more time with Ella.”
He nodded.
“You have. And that’s just another thing you need to do. Go out there. See the world a little?—”
“I’ve seen the world.”
“The world is a lot more than Mayberry Holm, Cole.”
“Yeah,” I sighed.
“So you’re going to do it, yeah?”
I took a deep breath and reached for my phone.
“I guess,” I said and typed up a response to Samir.
“Fuck yeah. My brother’s going to get laid. Halle-fucking-lujah.”
I stopped and stared at Carson.
“What? Don’t look at me like that. I know you haven’t done it yet.”
I let out a long breath and banged my forehead to the counter.
“Does everyone know the ins and outs of my sex life?”
