“He could call me himself,” I said.
Kade took a drink from the bottle. “He could, but you know he’s stubborn. He does care about you.”
“I think he cares about me because I’m his son. He certainly doesn’t like me. He doesn’t like what I do or what I have become.”
Kade laughed. “Remember when he used to run drills with us?”
I rolled my eyes, groaning at the memory. “How could I forget? He would get us up when it was still dark outside. Mom used to get so pissed at him.”
“Lance, they are little boys. You can’t get them out of bed that early. They are going to need a nap!” He said it in a falsetto voice, imitating my mother.
“They are going to learn to be tough,” I said in a deep voice, pretending to be my father.
Kade shook his head. “I think I was three the first time he taught me to do pushups.”
“And running the mile, I think I was six the first time he started timing me.”
“Mom always tried to get him to lighten up. Remember when I fell during the obstacle course?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “How could I forget? I thought Mom was going to beat Dad with a two by four. She was so pissed. She picked you up, hauled you to the car to take you to the emergency room, and left me and Dad standing there.”
“The whole way to the hospital, I kept telling her I was okay. She wasn’t having it. She was so pissed.”
I thought about that day. It was one I remembered very well. “He was nervous,” I told him. “He didn’t let me quit but he told me to be careful. I think if it had been the other way around, he wouldn’t have given two shits. He would have made me suck it up.”
“Whatever.”
“It’s true. You were his favorite. You can’t deny that.”
“I didn’t mean to be,” he said apologetically.
“But you were. I don’t blame you for it. You can’t help being who you are.”
“Hey, what the fuck does that mean?”
“You are perfect in every way,” I teased.
“I am pretty damn perfect.”
“It wasn’t always bad,” I said.
He shook his head. “No, it wasn’t. All in all, I think we had a pretty good childhood. We weren’t poor. Our mom was awesome. Our dad was strict, but it did keep us in line for the most part.”
The most part was me. “I suppose.”
“How come you aren’t married yet?” he asked.
“Way to switch subjects.”
“I don’t have a lot of time. We have a lot of ground to cover.”
He was right. Growing up, we had been pretty close. Over the years, we had drifted apart with him always gone and me working my ass off to make some money. “I haven’t found the right woman to marry.”
“Have you even looked?”
“It’s not that easy,” I told him. “I have found some women like me for one reason only.”
He groaned. “Aren’t we passed the days of comparing our sex skills?”
“Not that, asshole. I’m talking about money. Now that I have it, that seems to be the motivating factor. I don’t think most of them even like me.”
“You are hard to like.”
“I suppose I am,” I admitted. “There is one woman that likes me for me.”
“Oh?” he asked, immediately intrigued.
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to say. Then I remembered he would be leaving soon and would have no one to tell anyway. “Evie. We met at a party. She’s a party planner.”
“Wow. This is a new development.”
“It’s nothing serious,” I assured him. “We haven’t even officially gone out. It’s a very casual thing.”
“It doesn’t sound casual.”
I smirked. “It might be on the way to a step above casual.”
He laughed. “You’re a pretty shitty liar. I want to meet her. Invite her over to your house or maybe we can go out to a club or something.”
“She’s working tonight.”
“Damn. What about tomorrow?”
“No.”
“What’s the matter, big brother? Are you afraid I’m going to steal your girl?”
“Like you could,” I shot back.
“There was that chick in high school. What was her name? Ashley? Amber?”
I scowled. “April. The cheerleader.”
“She saw the better man and couldn’t resist,” he teased.
“Whatever. April wasn’t exactly choosy.”
“You’re just jealous.” He laughed.
We spent a couple hours out on the boat, reminiscing and catching up on the last year since we had seen each other. I drove us back to my house and showed Kade to the room he would be staying in for his visit. I had insisted on him staying with me instead of a hotel.
“This is seriously really nice,” he said after we had gone for a swim in my pool and were now lounging on the patio with cold beers in our hands.
“It’s my oasis. I don’t go out much. I don’t really see the need in going out. I like my house. I like being alone. I like the quiet.”
“Your house is basically a five-star hotel. Speaking of, I’m hungry. This place have room service?”
“Do you want pizza? Chinese? Name it and I will have it here within the hour.”
He sighed, settling in on the chair. “I have to say, that is one thing I miss most when I’m over there. Takeout. I miss being able to eat whatever I’m craving.”
I imagined it would be a tough life. “I’ll order a little of everything.”
“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” he asked.
“Anything you want to do, I’m open.”
“I might just lounge poolside all day.”
“We could go down to the beach,” I offered.
“I’d like that.”
“Sit tight,” I said and headed inside.
I felt the urge to take care of him. When we had been really young, I always looked out for him. When he turned twelve or thirteen, he had kind of turned into this full-grown man that didn’t need me taking care of him anymore.
He would always be my little brother and I sensed he was tired. Not tired like he needed some sleep, but tired as in life was wearing him down.
I had two days to spoil him and that was what I was going to do.
Chapter 32
Evie
I finished pulling my hair up into a messy bun that would keep the heavy strands off my neck. It was going to be a warm one.
I sat down on the foot of my bed and put on my tennis shoes before standing up and checking my reflection in the mirror. I wasn’t really all that concerned with my appearance. I was going for an extra-long walk today. I needed to walk off the frustration of the week.
I headed for the kitchen and filled my water bottle that I carried when I knew I was going to go farther than my usual spot in the park. Despite my declaration I wasn’t going to work today, I needed to check my email. One peek.