Page 37 of Mine

Yes, Landry could be volatile, but so was I. And Landry was the guy with the balanced life now; mine was the scary one.

“Hey.”

We both looked up, and there he was, yawning, eyes watering as he looked down at me and Chris.

“Can you move so I can sit?” he asked his brother.

“Sure,” Chris said, getting up so Landry could push by him to retake his seat next to me.

Once he was down, Landry put on his seatbelt and offered me either the chocolate chip granola bar or the Power Bar from where he had stuffed them into the pocket in front of his seat.

“I’m not hungry,” I assured him.

“You sure?”

I nodded, and he reached up and touched the ten gauge hammered steel plug in my right ear. “What?”

“I got those red jade ones for you for Valentine’s Day, but you never wear them.”

“That’s because they’re red.” I smiled at him. “What do I own that goes with red?”

He smiled at me. “You need to try something new.”

I closed my eyes. “I don’t like change.”

“I know,” he said, and I felt his fingers tracing over my eyebrow.

“I like all those bracelets you make,” Chris told Landry.

“I have one for you, but I don’t know if you want it.”

Silence.

“You made me one?”

“I picked you one. I didn’t have time to make one from scratch, but I have one that I think fits with your vibe.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Can I have it? I mean… I’d love it.” Chris was breathless, and no matter what he thought of his brother, about his brother, Landry doing anything for him flipped him inside out.

“Here,” he said, and I didn’t open my eyes to see. It wasn’t that important to me. What was important was that Landry had done something for his brother.

“Oh shit, Lan, this is awesome,” he breathed out. He was in awe, and it was good to hear.

“You like it?”

“I love it.”

“Good. Now the amber is supposed to ground you so you don’t go crazy,” he told him. “Trev always tells me that I should be draped in it.”

Chris sucked in his breath, and I started chuckling.

Landry let out a snort of laughter before his lips pressed to my jaw, his fingers grazing my throat. “Let’s get drunk tonight, okay?”

“Whatever you want.”