Bailey grimaces with an innocent smile. “Well … no. He has his moments, though! I’m telling you, he’s gonna grow on you,” she claims.
“Are we sure?”
She looks over Bailey’s head at me and I hold my hands in the air. “Hey, I voted forDemon Slayer.”
Bailey grabs the throw pillow beside Dani and whacks me in the side. “Fuck you, this is a good show.”
It is. It’s one of my favorites, but I do love to fuck with Bailey any chance I get.
“And why is this girl’s titties all the way out? She’s like twelve,” Dani says, referring to the character Momo.
Bailey and I look at each other, then back to Dani. “Anime,” we say in unison.
Once our takeout arrives, we decide to eat in the kitchen and give our binge-a-thon a break.
Dani asks how classes at Movement Lab are going and about a girl named Maddy, which ramps Bailey up to gush over the girl’s progress.
“I need to come for a class,” Dani adds.
Bailey claps her hands excitedly. “Yes! You probably should soon because I might be taking a break from the Lab.”
This news makes me rear my head. “Why? What’s going on?”
“I might be going on tour.” She beams.
“No, you’re not.”Shit.I want to take the words back the moment I say them, but Pandora’s box has already been opened.
Bailey gawks at me as Dani whips her head in my direction. It’s as if all the sound in the house was sealed into a vacuum.
“What did you say?” Bailey’s voice is eerily calm.
“I didn’t …”
She holds up her hand. “No. No. Repeat what you said.” Dani starts to chime in, but Bailey cuts her off. “I wanna hear him say it.”
Gripping the back of my neck, I sigh. “I said, ‘No, you’re not.’”
“No, I’m not … what?” she goads.
“Going on tour.”
“Please explain to me how you’ve decided I’m not going on tour. I’d really love to know how, without asking me a single fucking question, you made that decision.”
I wince at the ire in her words. I shouldn’t have said it. I know I shouldn’t have. It was as if the words invaded my body, spewing out their poison before I could regain control.
“I didn’t decide. I shouldn’t have said that. I just meant that touring would be a lot on your body.”
Her eyes lower into slits as her leg bounces up and down. “You don’t think I know that?”
Dani clears her throat. “Okay, let’s take a step back.”
“I don’t wanna take a step back,” Bailey hisses. She points her fingers at me. “I wanna understand why my brother thinks I’m so fucking useless.”
I jump up. “I’ve never said that.”
“It’s how you act!” she shrieks. “You act like I can’t possibly take care of myself. You infantilize me. I tell you news that should be exciting, and instead of being happy for me, congratulating me, or even asking who the fucking tour is with, you immediately tried to shut down the idea.”
My skin feels like thousands of needles. She’s right. I stomped all over her joy before she even had a chance to express it. “I’m sorry,” I offer. It’s not enough, but it’s all I have in this moment.
