Total pages in book: 13
Estimated words: 11683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 58(@200wpm)___ 47(@250wpm)___ 39(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 58(@200wpm)___ 47(@250wpm)___ 39(@300wpm)
And just like that, all is right in our world again.
2
Andrew
“Need help?” Nate asks, peeking at the hamburger meat I’m browning on the stove.
The fact he wants to help is progress. His depression was at an all-time low right before our eighteenth birthday. I was scared as hell I’d wake up one day and my brother would have taken his life. So fucking fragile.
The rest happened so quickly.
Birthday. Huge fight with Dad. And then we moved. Just took our meager belongings and hitchhiked our way to the community college one town over.
“You can set the table. It won’t be much longer.”
The dishes and cookware were given to us by Vern’s ex-wife, Lavinia. She also brought us a shower curtain, bathroom rug, and a couple of lamps. Apparently she’s been remodeling her house. She says anything we need, just ask. I hate asking people for shit, though. It always makes Dex feel bad. Like he’s responsible for everything. As if working sixty plus hours a week isn’t enough.
Nate moves around the kitchen gathering dishes while I drain the grease from the skillet. Once I open the can of sauce and stir it in, I check on the noodles. It’s smelling damn good in here. Reminds me of the days when Mom used to make us dinner. My heart aches, but it doesn’t do anything to wallow. She’s gone and we finally left our asshole father’s house.
“Oh my God,” Dex says as he enters the kitchen. “If I find out a way to get a TV so you can watch cooking shows, will you cook more?”
I chuckle as I dart my gaze to him. “Let me do some of the grocery shopping sometime and you might not have to even buy me a TV.”
Dex runs his hand over his buzzed head, a tortured expression in his golden-brown eyes. At first, I hated that he let his boss, Bert, cut his hair like a damn criminal, but it’s growing on me. I like running my palm over the soft prickles.
“You guys can always go with me, but you have school and it’s on my way home. It’s no big deal for me to go.” Dex pleads with me to understand, just pinning me with his so-fucking-sad stare.
This is why I can’t stay mad at him.
Because even if he ran off my only friend, he still does so much for us. Everything. He sacrificed his own education so that he could provide for us. I’m just being bitchy about Seth. If I’m being truthful, Seth was kind of a prick when I wouldn’t give him a blowjob. Friends don’t let your brother fuck them because they didn’t get what they wanted from you. He took advantage of Dex. When Dex is exhausted and buzzing on a few beers, it’s like he lets go of all his control and is just a guy, not someone responsible for his two brothers.
“I would have bought black cherry chip ice cream if I went,” I say to him, giving him a stern expression. “Why didn’t you buy your favorite when you were buying ours?”
Because he doesn’t feel like he deserves it.
He never does anything for himself.
Always for us.
“Didn’t feel like wasting money on it,” he admits, his cheeks turning pink. “But I got a raise, Andy. Things won’t feel so tight around here pretty soon.”
I turn off the stove and grin at him. My smiles always coax smiles from him. It’s the gift that gives back. “Then I’m definitely going food shopping with you next time. Maybe we can start eating more than just hotdogs and peanut butter sandwiches.”
“Lavinia offered you some mustard greens,” Dex says, a devilish smirk on his face.
I pretend to gag and then set to draining the noodles. Since Dex didn’t buy garlic bread, I buttered up some regular bread and sprinkled a garlic concoction on top before toasting in the oven. I’m pretty damn proud of myself because it looks like it turned out okay.
“I can’t believe you made garlic bread,” Dex mutters, astonished. “This is awesome.”
He pats his bare, ripped stomach and I try not to ogle him in envy. Since he worked his ass off today in the shop, he showered while I got dinner ready, and now wears nothing but a pair of worn-out shorts that hang low on his hips. They’ve got a little weight room in the back of the auto repair shop he works at and he’s always lifting during his breaks or before or after work. Where I’m naturally toned with muscle, Dex is filling out and has definition I could never dream of. Poor Nate is the lean one of the three of us, mostly because when he’s depressed, he can’t be bothered to eat for shit.
“Do you have to walk around shirtless?” I complain, tearing my gaze from his abs. “Some of us don’t need to see all that.”