Brooks tilts his head like he didn’t hear a single word. "We’re fishing," he decides. "Go get dressed."
I let out an aggravated groan. "I’m not going anywhere with you and Jasp today." My voice sharpens as I glare at him. "You’re like black mold, Brooks. Creeping in where no one wants you until suddenly, you’re everywhere."
He grins. "That’s a new one."
Before I can tell him exactly where to shove that grin, Mom’s voice calls from the living room.
"Elowen?"
I close my eyes, groaning. What now? "Yeah?"
"If you’re going to be home today, do you think you could help me clean out the hall closet?"
Both Brooks and I freeze.
The hall closet.
The graveyard where the mice go to die. Where their shriveled little carcasses are unearthed once a year in some kind of horrifying, cursed tradition.
No. Absolutely not.
"Sorry, Mom," I call back, straightening. "I’m fishing today."
Brooks' smirk deepens. "Thought you weren’t going anywhere with me."
Honestly, hanging out with the boys might not be so bad after all.
I shoot him a glare over my coffee. "I will drown you."
"Maybe tomorrow then?" Mom adds from the living room.
"Maybe," I hedge.
Brooks chuckles, and I hate how satisfied he looks.
Because somehow, once again, he wins.
Twenty minutes later, I’m climbing into Brooks’ truck, my jean shorts sticking to the hot leather seat as I adjust the strap of my white flowy top. A bag filled with sunscreen, towels, a hat, and oversized sunglasses sits beside me. Prepared for anything.
Except, apparently, for this.
I glance around the yard, scanning for Jasper. "Where’s my brother?"
Brooks smirks as he starts the engine. "Jasp is on a date."
My head snaps toward him. "I’m sorry, what?"
He chuckles. "Iced coffee with Wren Cassidy."
My mouth drops open. "Wren Cassidy? The space-camp girl obsessed with constellations, now on track to be an astronaut?"
Brooks barely holds back a grin. "Space Camp girl who only wears the color blue? Yep,thatWren Cassidy." He nods. "The very one."
I blink, momentarily stunned. "That’s… kind of adorable." Except for the fact that he still hasn’t visited Dad in the hospital.
But he can take a girl to coffee?
"She’s always been sweet on him," Brooks agrees, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. "Took him, what? Adecade to finally work up the nerve to ask her out?"
