Chapter 20
I’m leaning against the kitchen sink, nibbling on the edge of a bagel when Daniel’s car pulls into the driveway.
Shit!
After what he walked in on last night, I can’t say that I’m surprised to see him but I expected that I’d at least be able to get my coffee in before having to deal with him today. I grab my mug and take a long swallow of my café au lait as he walks up the back steps wearing a wool coat over his dark gray pinstriped suit. He taps on the window.
I give him a small wave before padding over to the door and pulling it open. “Hey!” My voice comes out all high-pitched and chirpy.
“Hey kiddo.” He ruffles my hair before he kicks off his shoes and strolls into the house. He heads straight for the kitchen cabinet and grabs a coffee mug.
“What are you doing over here so early?” I say as I reclaim my spot on the edge of the sink. “I heard that Gracie’s withholding sex. Is she withholding coffee now, too?” I joke in a snarky tone. It’s probably not funny to poke at my brother’s marital woes but I can’t help it. I’m desperate to lighten the mood in here.
“Ha!” he says mirthlessly before he reaches into the drawer and grabs a spoon. “Just came over to say thanks for watching Sebastian last night.”
Yeah, right.
“It’s nothing. I’d watch Mr. Pooh any time. You know that.” I shrug and take a small sip of coffee as my brother opens the fridge and grabs the milk. “You really didn’t have to drive all the way over here just to say ‘thanks’.”
“So…Keeland dropped by to help?” He says it so nonchalantly that I almost mistake it for an innocent question. Almost.
I lift my shoulder again. “He heard Sebastian crying and he came over. Said his ex-girlfriend had a baby.”
My brother is silent as he stirs the milk into his coffee and returns the near-empty carton to the fridge. He looks over at the piles of Master Ink paperwork sitting on the kitchen table. “And you’re helping him with his accounting?”
I nod. “Keeland needs a bookkeeper and I need money…”
He leans against the cold, stainless-steel refrigerator and stares at me. “Look, Sam — I love Keeland like a brother. Even after all these years, he's still my closest friend. But I don't want you to get tangled up with him. You hear me? A lot has happened to him over the years. He's not the same guy we went to high school with.”
I roll my eyes. Daniel takes his role as big brother way too seriously. I’m not a child anymore and I don’t need him to pry, especially since there’s nothing to pry into. “I’m not getting ‘tangled up’ with Keeland,” I say defensively as I draw air-quotes around the words. “We aren’t even friends. He just came over to help with your son. You should be thanking him.”
I spent last night awake, thinking about Keeland and the way he looked as he rocked Sebastian to sleep, the way he gazed at me as we talked about our past relationships, the lust that tickled my core when he implied that he was going to fuck me. I get a little flushed as it all replays in my head.
“Sam, I’m serious,” Daniel watches me sternly. “Girls like you don’t belong with guys like Keeland.”
What the hell is that supposed to mean? ‘Girls like me’?
What? Am I not pretty enough? Or thin enough? Or…I don’t know. Well, thanks a bunch, big brother!
“Don't you have a will to go draft or an estate to go inventory or whatever other soul-sucking shit probate lawyers do?” I ask sarcastically as I move toward the door.
Thankfully, he follows me. "At least I have a job…A real job,” he scoffs at me.
I lean in and straighten his crooked necktie. “Congratulations to you,” I say holding the door open. “Now, go do it.”
He grunts and leans in to kiss my forehead just before he slides into his shoes. “Be good, okay, Sam?” He gives me earnest eyes. Eyes that say ‘I’m only doing this for your own good’. I know he’s meddling but he’s my big brother and if he’s warning me about his best friend, maybe I should trust that he knows what he’s talking about.
“I’m always good,” I say quietly as he treks down the stairs and jumps into his Mercedes.