Chapter 3
Chris
“God. Damn. It. Max.” I choked out as I slowed my pace in front of the new omelet breakfast bar two miles from the apartment.
Max found it last week and decided it would be a great replacement to the donut shop we used to run to. He was a tyrant with this new diet shit and somehow I was wrangled into participating. For the most part. The Rocky Road last night with Natalie was pretty damn good.
Okay. I felt better since I cut some of the junk from my diet and started exercising with him. My energy had skyrocketed and I was able to work off some of my stress and tension from work. I was healthier and I could feel it.
But fuck man. The daily jogs were brutal. I thought it would get easier, as he promised it would. I was starting to get the impression he was full of shit and just wanted someone to suffer with him.
That’s where I came in. Insert brother that didn’t have anything better to do than risk having his first ever asthma attack.
Ok. That was dramatic. But the pain when I breathe made me wonder if I needed medical attention. Max said I needed to practice better breathing techniques during the run. Easier said than done.
I take one last gasp for air and start jogging across the street before he disappears from view around the front of the restaurant. I catch up fairly quickly and am pleased to find him out of breath too. At least it wasn’t just me this time.
“What’s wrong, bro?” I taunt. “Too many bacon, egg and cheese burritos this week?”
“You know I don’t eat that shit anymore.” He snapped, resting his hands on his knees momentarily. I smirk at his tone. It seems my little brother isn’t so gung ho about his plan to cut all fried foods and starches anymore now that he’s been without his beloved bacon, egg and cheese for a couple weeks.
“Come on.”
He opens the door and the bell chimes loudly. We’re greeted by the cashier as we make our way to the counter to pick our omelet ingredients. I eyeball the bacon longingly. Max catches my eye and shoots me a glare so I pass it up. He does the same when I gaze at the cheese a moment too long.
He can be such a pain in my ass sometimes. Do little brothers ever get less annoying?
“Fuck off.” I mumble under my breath, loud enough for him to hear me but not the cashier. The poor kid doesn’t need to be dragged into our calorie deprived argument.
“Can I help you?” The cashier asks Max, who looks surer of himself than I do and ready to order.
“Egg whites, tomatoes and mushrooms.” He says, refusing to look at the cheese and bacon. I know that’s what he really wants. He’s just too stubborn to cave and admit this diet is excessive and stupid. It may be healthy for the body but it sure wasn’t good for the mind.
“And for you?” The cashier turns to me.
“Egg whites.” I say begrudgingly. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth saying it. What happened to the good old days when we had donuts? I already gave up heroin and all forms of alcohol. Asking me to give up donuts and bacon was crossing the damn line. “Tomatoes. Ham. And cheese.”
Max sighs and rolls his eyes at the end but I pointedly ignore him. I’m getting the damn cheese and that’s final. He better not say shit about me adding a coffee to my order either. The two mile run to get here earned me that. And I needed the caffeine boost to prepare me for the two mile jog back.
We stand at the counter and watch the guy whip up the omelets and cook them both within minutes. We take our plates to two seated booth by a window and dig in.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m so obsessed with this diet, huh?”
“Not really. I just figured you were turning into a fucking calorie Nazi. There’s a reason?”
“I’m asking Lacey to marry me this weekend.”
He pulls out a small velvety box from his pocket and hands it to me. I pop it open and find the sparkling diamond ring he picked out. It’s simple, it’s big and I know she’s going to love it.
Honestly, she would love anything Max gave her. He could go to a pawn shop and find some plain tarnished band. She would still say yes. That’s how I knew they were perfect together. She loved the shit out of my brother.
“Wow, bro. Congratulations.”
I don’t try to talk him out of it the way some brothers might. I’m genuinely happy for him and this proposal has been a long time coming.
I’ve already accepted Lacey as a sister because I knew there was no way those two would split up again after everything they’ve been through. Not after I fought to get both of them to see the light when they broke up two years ago in a moment of sheer stupidity and stubbornness.
Who thought I would be the voice of reason, leading them both back to each other?
They both owed me big. And what did I get for it? Put on a no donut, no ice cream, no fried pork chop diet.
“You think she’ll like it?”
“She’ll love it.”
“You think she’ll say yes?” He asks, nervously playing with his fork and pushing an untouched piece of omelet. I stab it with my fork, pop it in my mouth and answer him.
“Of course she will. She loves you man. I’m honestly surprised you waited this long to ask.”
“You are? I mean we’re still in school. What if she wants to wait until we graduate. What if she-”
“Stop worrying, little brother. She loves you. That’s all that matters. She won’t say no. So she might want to wait until you guys graduate next year to have a wedding.” I shrug. “You guys can just stay engaged a little longer if she wants to wait. But she won’t say no. There’s no way.”
He takes a deep breath. “Thanks. I needed some sort of pep talk. I guess that’s why I wanted to come here this morning.”
“The donut shop was closer. Just saying.”
“It is. But if Lacey says yes I need to look good in my suit. And you need to look good in yours.”
I lift an eyebrow. “I always look good.”
He laughs at my cocky expression. “Will you be my best man? I know it’s a little early to ask. She has to say yes first-”
“She will.”
“-but there’s no one else I would want standing by my side.”
“Of course I will. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
I swallow hard. Things were rocky between me and my brother for a couple years. It means a lot to me that he still wants a relationship with me after everything we went through together. Everything I put him through.
I was older. It was my job to protect him growing up. Natalie too. And I failed to protect either of them.
Yet they both still wanted me around for some reason. I was determined to be deserving of the unquestionable, unconditional love from my brother and faith and trust from Natalie.
Sharing an apartment for the past year and a half with her really strengthened our friendship. It deepened bond. Other than my brother, she was honestly the closest thing I had to a best friend.
“Well that’s settled.” He cleared his throat, fighting to lift the heaviness between us. “You ready to run back?”
I groaned and ate the last morsel of my omelet, knowing I would need the protein to survive the next hour.