“Can we get back to the subject at hand?”I said.“I’ll let you know how it goes at the school, in case any of you want to do the same.”
“I ‘d like to,” Chase offered.“I always figured that young, impressionable minds could use success stories, especially coming directly from the source.You can find a lot of information online, but it’s different when someone talks about their trajectory in person.”
“I agree.”
“All right,” Chase said, clearing his throat.“We can bring you up-to-date on the comings and goings of Sterling Investments this week.”
“Not necessary.If something bad had happened in the stock market, I would have heard about it by now.”
Chase nodded.“That’s true.”
I looked at my brothers.“Anyone have ideas for new ventures?”
“Dude, I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Finn said, “but I do think we have our hands full right now.”
“This is no fun,” I replied.
“Are you sure you’re not just having a weird energy surge after the crash?”Wyatt asked.
“Can you just let the accident go?”Calling it a “crash” made it sound far more serious.
“Duly noted,” Wyatt replied.
“Although I do plan to use it as an excuse to avoid Mom and Dad’s house for a while,” Finn said.“I keep telling Mom that I think their moving in together was bad luck for you.”
“What the hell?”Chase exclaimed.
“Come on.No one thinks it’s weird that our parents are back together?”
“Of course we all do,” Chase said.“But it’s their relationship, their life.They don’t owe us any explanations.”
“And we are definitely not going to make excuses to avoid going by their house,” I told Finn.
He cocked a brow, and I shook my head.“All right, let’s focus.I asked you all to meet here for a brainstorming session, not a gossiping one.”
“Oh, it’s a cold day in hell when Knox tries to get us back on track,” Duncan said.“Well, since we don’t want to branch out any further into new things, I suggest that during these brainstorming sessions, everyone comes up with their biggest issue, and we all chime in with suggestions on how to fix it.”
“You’re a fucking genius!”I exclaimed.
Duncan winked at me.“I already knew that.”
“Always so humble,” Finn said.
“Never,” Duncan replied.“None of us are.”
I laughed.“That’s true.”
We had many qualities, but being humble wasn’t one of them.
“By the way, let’s move the meeting permanently to Friday,” Chase suggested.“Then we can discuss the problems that came up during the week.”
“Hear, hear,” Finn said.
We all immediately checked our calendars, booking a time slot for next week.
* * *
After we were done, Wyatt and I went to meet Kinley for lunch.I’d been shell-shocked when they became an item.Then again, I’d somehow been shell-shocked when every single one of my brothers got into a relationship.For the longest time, we were all single.Then more and more significant others started to join the family.But I kind of liked it.
