6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas

“As long as you need to, you know that.”

“Thanks, bro. You’re the best.”

“Mhm. Mom should have had me first.”

She stuck her tongue out at me before she turned and went out to her car, and came back with her overnight bag.

“What’s that?” I looked up to see her peeking over my shoulder. “Or should I say, who?”

“It’s a girl I met on that dating site. I really like her so far, but I’m not sure she likes me. She’s gone quiet.”

“Let me look.” She studied the image and smiled. “She’s beautiful, and so not like your type. What’s up with that?”

“There’s just something about her. I’ve actually seen her before at her job—”

Megan looked at me and shook her head.

“You told her you to know where she works? No fucking wonder, genius, you probably scared her to death. She’s gonna think you’re a psycho stalker, idiot.”

“Shit. I hadn’t even thought about that. It was a just innocent conversation. I was actually happy she hadn’t sent me a nude. So many have.”

“See and here I thought nude shots would be right up your alley, though I didn’t think you’d ever admit otherwise.” She walked over to the couch and took a seat. “You should really message her back and apologize.”

“Is an apology really necessary? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Could you be more of a guy right now? I’m telling you, you creeped her out. That’s the only explanation, and even if you didn’t, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Fine. What do I say, since you’re so good at this stuff?” I got ready to type a message when my sister shrugged.

“How the hell should I know, just tell her you’re sorry, you didn’t mean to be too personal and take it back to photography talk. Ask her what she takes pictures of. Anything.” She took out her fingernail file and went to work on her claws, as I liked to call them.

“OK.” I typed what she told me and waited.

“You really like this one, huh? Maybe she’s a real keeper, not like that Terri; she was awful. I was afraid she’d be the one you’d tie the knot with just to meet the requirements of your inheritance. That would have

the worst mistake of your life. You haven’t had the best history when it comes to girls.”

“Am I really that bad?” I asked.

Megan shook her head. “Relax. You’re not a total screw up all the time.”

“Gee, thanks,” I replied.

“But even if you think she is different, you should still hold off on flashing your cash around until you know for sure.”

I nodded. “You’re right. But right now, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, because she hasn’t even responded to my apology yet. I might have fucked it up beyond repair.”

Megan went quiet and stared at her nails for a minute. “I hope not. I really hope you find someone you want to stick around for. For the right reasons,” she said softly.

I leaned in closer and brushed back my sister’s hair to see her eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not going anywhere. Daniel is fine. One day he’ll call, and we’ll all catch up, it’s no different than mom. She calls when she’s ready.”

She hugged me hard and then pulled away to go into the kitchen. I caught a glimpse of her eyes and could tell that she was about to cry from the glassy look and the way they sparkled in the light.

We’d had it rough after mom and Daniel left, and though I’d resented their selfishness, I couldn’t help but care about them and where they were, but I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life worried about them. I couldn’t.

While she was gone, milling around in my kitchen, first digging in the fridge and then the cabinets, my phone let loose of another Matched Solid ping.

I looked down to see that it was another girl; one who had contacted me before and she wanted to chat. I didn’t want to talk to her, but since I was logged on, she could see my profile was active. I hadn’t remembered to fix that feature to private as Hazen had suggested.