“You do?”
“I do.”
“I don’t know,” I hesitated. “I’m just…”
“Kyle…” Jake interrupted, his impatience boiling over.
“Dude. I’m having second thoughts, okay?”
“Because of me?”
“Not because of you.”
Jake huffed as he shook his head. I didn’t know why I bothered lying to him. He always saw right through me.
“Okay, maybe a little bit because of you,” I confessed. “I mean, you have to admit, you’ve been kind of a shithead lately.”
“All the more reason to leave,” Jake mumbled, frowning.
“I was kidding. Don’t be so sensitive.”
He grimaced and turned away. “I want you to go. It’ll be fun.”
I eyed him skeptically.
“Uugghh!” Jake made a weird throaty growl before picking up his sweaty shirt and throwing it at me.
I ducked just in time.
“I hate when you do that,” he complained.
“What did I do?”
“You act like I can’t manage my life without help,” Jake replied, shaking his head. “But we both know I’m the fucking king of coping.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. That was certainly the understatement of the century. I wanted to ask him if he ever got tired of justcoping, but of course I knew such a question would never be answered. As close as we were, there were lines that were not to be crossed. I knew those limits, and the fact that I didn’t push them was most likely the only reason he kept me around.
“And besides, if I needed a babysitter, I certainly wouldn’t hire you for the job. I’d get myself a hot Swedish nanny.” Typical Jake – always trying to redirect the discussion away from anything real.
I laughed anyway. “Okay. Fine. I’ll do the show.”
“Thank god.”
My brother picked up his phone and turned away from me. I stood there staring at him. Without even looking up, Jake said flippantly, “You can leave now.”
I scoffed.
“What?” He glanced up.
“Don’t pull thatstarbullshit on me.”
“I wasn’t,” Jake mumbled. “I just really want you to go.”
Well, fuck you too.I didn’t budge – not because I was making a stand for my self-worth, but because I refused to let him win.
“Seriously? You have nothing better to do than annoy me?”
I shrugged. “Not really.”
