Chapter Fourteen
As soon as Brent walked through the door to his house, he found himself with an armful of Emily, hugging him so tight that it was hard to breathe.
Behind him, Riley slipped into the house unnoticed, murmuring something about putting the coffee pot on.
Emily let go of Brent and grabbed Riley before he could get away, wrapping her arms around him, as well. “Hey. No escaping until you get a hello hug.”
Riley chuckled, hugging back and grinning at Brent over Emily’s shoulder.
“I’m not trying to escape. I’m trying to get some coffee into your brother.”
Emily snorted, but let go of him. “Oh, yeah. He looks like he could use it.”
“Hey!” Brent objected. “I look calm and well-rested.”
“You look like you just woke up,” Emily responded.
“He did just wake up,” Riley called from the kitchen. “He snored the whole way home, too. In the plane and in the car.”
Owen had been kind enough to drop them off at the airport and then pick them back up, and Brent did feel a little guilty for falling asleep in his car on the way home. Owen had Riley for company the whole time, but it still felt rude.
Not that Owen had said anything. Not that he would say anything.
Like the rest of his family, Owen was a lot kinder than he needed to be. Brent was still grateful.
“So, how was your trip?” Emily asked as Brent followed Riley into the kitchen. “Did you have a good time?”
The tips of Brent’s ears burned at the question, his mind flashing back to kissing Riley instantly.
He’d had a good time. Despite everything, he’d enjoyed his time with Riley.
Now that they were back in the real world, he was going to miss it. It was only hitting him now just how true that was, while he watched a sleepy, yawning Riley spoon coffee into the filter and flick the switch on, humming while he did it.
That was the kind of thing he would have liked to see every day. Every morning. Right after they’d both rolled out of bed.
He wasn’t about to tell Emily any of that. Especially not in front of Riley.
He was supposed to be the grown-up among them.
“I did, actually. We didn’t really do much, but… it was nice to get away. Not that I’m not glad to be home.”
“Well, you can see I didn’t burn the place down,” Emily said.
“But did you tell that girl how you feel?” Riley asked.
Brent had barely remembered Emily telling Riley about that. He wasn’t surprised that Riley had remembered it, though. He remembered everything.
“No,” Emily admitted, looking down at her shoes. “I chickened out. And I’m going to college in a few days. There’s no point.”
“Listen, I’m not qualified to be handing out this advice, but I think you should say something. Especially because you’re leaving for a while. Regrets suck. You’re not gonna regret telling her, but you will regret not telling her.”
Brent wasn’t sure who Riley was talking about, but he sounded like he was speaking from experience.
“What if she hates me?” Emily asked.
“You’re not doing either of you any favors by pining in silence,” Riley said. “If you’re always going to want more than she’s willing to give, you’re just torturing yourself needlessly. If she hates you for that… she didn’t deserve you in the first place. A real friend, someone worth keeping, they’ll still be your friend even if they don’t feel the same way. Honesty never hurts a strong relationship. Secrets do.”
Brent sat down at the table, knowing he had nothing useful to offer this conversation. He was still reeling from the wedding that had never happened, still confused about where he stood with Riley now, and Riley was back to offering sage advice as though he knew everything about life.
“I know it’s scary,” Riley said. “Believe me, I know it’s scary. And I haven’t always followed the advice I’m giving you right now. But I wish I had. Like I said, regrets suck.”
Emily made a soft, sad noise and walked around the counter to wrap her arms around Riley again.
“You have to help me finish a whole tub of ice cream if she rejects me,” Emily said. “Since you’re the one telling me to go for it.”
Riley laughed at that. “I’ve had plenty of practice with that. You like raspberry ripple, right?”
Emily nodded, biting her lip. Sometimes, Brent forgot she was only eighteen. She seemed so grown-up for her age.
Sometimes that made him feel like a failure. He was never sure Emily had gotten the childhood she deserved.
Riley was always quick to tell him he was doing his best, when he mentioned it. Sometimes, Brent just wasn’t sure his best was good enough.
Sometimes had become more and more often lately, even though he knew Emily had turned out okay. He couldn’t help but think of all the things he might have done differently, all the mistakes he’d made.
He was still making mistakes. Maybe that wasn’t something he was ever going to grow out of.
“Okay. Tell you what. I’m gonna buy ice cream later, and we’ll either have it to celebrate or to drown our sorrows. Sound good?”
Emily nodded again. “Sounds good.”
Riley beamed at her. “Good. And if she’s not interested, you’re going to college on Saturday. There will be plenty of cute girls there.”
“You never went to college,” Brent pointed out.
“I’ve been to colleges,” Riley countered. “There were cute girls at your college. Half of them waiting for the cute nerd who had no idea how cute he was to notice them.”
Emily pulled a face.
“Brent’s first roommate dropped out within a week,” Riley explained. “No one ever seemed to notice that I wasn’t actually a student, and the beds in those dorm rooms were comfy.”
Brent smiled at the memory of Riley coming to stay with him when he’d felt lost and lonely, away from home for the first time. That was before Riley had gotten his hands on an RV. Until then, he’d been hitchhiking and relying on long-distance buses and odd jobs that gave him a place to sleep while he did them.
They’d both come a long way since, but Riley had always been around when Brent needed him most.
“Those beds were not comfy. They were comfy compared to sleeping on an overnight bus. A concrete slab would have been comfy in comparison.”
Riley waved away Brent’s objection, tapping on the coffee pot. “My point is: cute girls. Plenty of them. You will find someone you connect with. Probably lots of someones, and that’s okay. You only get to do this whole life thing once.”
Emily smiled wryly. “I get it. Live for the moment, or whatever.”
Riley chuckled. “I’m getting that printed on a t-shirt,” he said.
“I want a percentage,” Emily responded without taking even a second to think.
“You are your brother’s sister,” Riley said. “Which is good. If you’re going to try to imitate either of us, make it him, okay? Your uncle Riley is fun, but kind of a screw up by normal standards.”
“You’re not a screw up,” Brent said before Emily could say anything else. “Don’t say that.”
“A non-traditional success?” Riley tried.
That did sound better. “Okay. You can have that.”
“If you two are gonna argue like an old married couple, I’m gonna go back to watching TV.”
Riley laughed again, grabbing mugs from the cupboard. “Do you want a cup of coffee to go?”
“I’m okay,” Emily said. “I’m glad you’re both home safe.”
“I’m glad you didn’t burn the house down.” Brent grinned at her. “Go do whatever you were doing. Don’t let us old folks keep you.”
Emily stuck her tongue out, but crossed the room to hug Brent around the shoulders, kissing the top of his head as she did so. She waved goodbye as she left the kitchen, and Brent waited to hear her footsteps on the stairs, like he always did.
He was going to miss Emily when she was at college.
He was going to miss Riley when he left.
He really needed to get a dog or something.