Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 64929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
He looked down at the floor. “Have you… Did you… I haven’t gone in there since they died. Just to get the stuff… the stuff they needed. What should we do? Like, donate their stuff?”
That was probably the best idea, and it wasn’t like I had a better one. “Probably. I know Mom had a few things she said belonged to her mom. Those old earrings she said were from when her dad went to war or something.”
They hadn’t collected a lot of stuff over the years, and what they did have was mostly sentimental shit. I’d rather they’d kept old bonds than old baby stuff, but memories were better than nothing, I guess.
“And wasn’t there like her wedding dress in a bag somewhere?” Adrian looked up at me. And if it looked like his eyes had scanned up my body, I was going to chalk that up to my crazy brain trying to justify the shit that was still going through it. The tattoos. That was what it was. He was trying to see just how else I’d desecrated my body, as some might say.
“Yeah, and didn’t she have some photo albums or something, under the bed?” Adrian shrugged, “Maybe?”
“There’s probably some stuff we need to box up and keep, but most of it can be donated or sold.”
He finally cracked a smile. “Want to have a lemonade stand to go with your yard sale?”
I laughed and leaned against the door frame. “I was thinking pawn shops and Craigslist, but if you want to go hang out in the front yard on a Saturday, be my guest.” “No.” Adrian gave me a grin but then quickly looked away again. “I’m not really a deal with the public kind of guy.”
I was going to go ape-shit on him if he made a joke about my job.
He glanced at me, maybe sensing me pulling away. “You do a better job with people, I think. I’m glad… You do a good with that.”
It was an awkward compliment, but I thought it was one. Maybe. “Um, thanks. I could if you wanted me to, though,” I said slowly. It would fucking kill me to watch strangers pick through their belongings, judging them and haggling for what they thought was a good price for the invaluable. But if I had to, I would do it to spare Adrian. “It might be the easiest way to do it. We can donate what’s left…” I trailed off, unsure of what else to say.
I might’ve been good with people — sometimes — but that didn’t mean I was good with my brother.
“No.” He shook his head. “Your idea was more practical. I’m not sure either one of us wants to sell stuff and talk to the neighbors.” I shrugged as though it didn’t bother me at all, even though it threatened to rip me apart. I’d always seen my brother as someone stronger, more confident, but the past few months had shown the lie of that.
I could see the allure of something like puppy play to him, but if I tried to offer again, that same tension in the air might reappear. I didn’t know what I’d do if he realized how turned on I was…
But maybe this was the first step toward helping him heal, toward helping us both heal. “We’ll go through it then figure it out.” Abruptly aware that I was only wearing a towel, I tugged awkwardly at it to make sure it was going to stay in place, and I wished I was hiding in a robe. It wasn’t like I was embarrassed about my partially completed sleeve, but under Adrian’s gaze, I was keenly aware of it. “I should, um…” I nodded toward the door of my room.
Adrian glanced down at my towel and blushed. “Yeah, probably a good idea.” He took a step back and started heading toward the stairs. “I have to get going but yeah… Saturday. Um, thanks.”
“Sure. Saturday.” I watched him go, closing my eyes briefly. My brother was a mystery to me. With anyone else, I’d have poked at it until I’d seen what lay beneath the surface. But he was different from others, and I didn’t know what to do.
Shaking my head, I turned as well, going to my own room and closing the door behind me. There, I was alone with my thoughts, and I didn’t want to be. But for now, there was nowhere to run.
All I could do was hide.
Chapter 5 Adrian
I’d been staring up at the ceiling for longer than I wanted to admit. But considering I’d been awake to watch the sun rise off the neighbors’ roof, I’d been up a while. But being awake and being ready to face the day were two different things.
I wasn’t sure how Saturday had snuck up on me so fast. Normally, the week seemed to take forever. Classes would drag on, then the mad dash from school to the accounting office downtown where I was interning made the day even longer. And that didn’t even count the endless hours I spent working at less than minimum wage when you totaled everything out.