I’ll definitely never look at rubber bands the same way again.
I’m watering the plants in front of the house when a car I recognize pulls into the driveway.
No.
No, no, no.
Oh, no.
This isn’t happening.
It’s not.
Fuck.
A clean and polished black SUV with all the bells and whistles skids to a stop a few feet from where I’m standing, sending up a plume of dust.
I’m coughing and waving a hand in front of my face to clear the dust as Ember comes to stand beside me.
“Are we expecting someone?”
“Nope,” I mumble, the confident business owner I was reverting to an adolescent wanting the approval of an older sibling who will never give it.
The driver’s door flings open, and out steps freaking Chad.
He still looks exactly the same as he did the last time I saw him. Chocolate hair slicked back into a bun, beard neatly trimmed, and his Canadian tuxedo covered in dirt from a long day of digging graves. I guess some things never change.
He slams the door shut and surveys my funeral home.
“Do you know him?” Ember asks, completely oblivious to the shift in my mood.
“Yup. That’s Chad.”
“Chad?”
“Yes. Chad. My brother, Chad, Ember. Geez,” I mutter. I know I’m being dickish, but my brother brings it out in me.
“That’s an unfortunate name,” he whispers in my ear with a chuckle before holding out his hand to greet the brother who hates me most.
Chad ignores Ember’s outstretched hand, choosing instead to arrogantly look me up and down with a sneer on his smarmy little face.
“Sunny,” he says, using the nickname he knew I’d hate.
“Chadwick,” I say, refusing to use a nickname because he’s dumb.
We glare at each other like two people who are about to negotiate their Beanie Baby settlement in divorce court.
“You know,” he starts, his voice grating on my every nerve ending, “I overheard something interesting the other day.”
I don’t say anything, refusing to give an inch to his pompous bullying. When he realizes I’m not going to go by the script he wrote in his head, he rolls his eyes and continues.
“I heard Dad talking to Emily about what he would’ve done with this place had Uncle Jeremiah not been such a brattyomega and given it to you. Yeah, he said that his plan was to give the place to me.” His jaw clenches as his anger flares, green necromancer magic showing out of his eyes. “This was all supposed to be mine. As your wiser and older brother, I’ve decided to right the wrongs that Uncle Jeremiah created and take it back. So now, you can focus on being a good little omega and pumping out babies for your… Oh. Wait. You don’t have anyone, do you?” His brow lifts in mock sympathy as he pats my shoulder with a limp wrist.
I imagine breaking that wrist.
Ember chooses that moment to remember who Chad is from past conversations.
“Chad. Chaaad. Chad… Where have I heard that name before?” he ponders before snapping his fingers like the idea just came to him. “Oh, yeah. You’re the dumb as rocks brother who doesn’t like my Sunshine because of your parents’ failed marriage.”
