“And don’t flash your eyes.”
“I know.”
“And—”
“Carter.”
I sighed. “Just… if you need me, you call me, okay? No matter what. I’ll come running.”
He squinted at me. “Take a truck. Faster.”
Jessie coughed, and it sounded suspiciously like laughter.
“Whatever,” I muttered. “Go on. Get outta here. I’ll be here when you get back.”
He nodded and started to step around me. He stopped before grabbing me by the hand and pulling me into the kitchen. He didn’t let me go as he turned to face me. He looked down between us at the floor. His hair was wet. He must have dunked his head in the sink. “Okay?”
“I’m fine. You don’t—”
He shook his head. “Not that. I’m okay? I can do this?”
“You can do anything you want,” I told him.
“Can’t piss on Gordo’s floor.”
“Well, no. I mean, yeah, you can, but you shouldn’t. But this? Definitely. You can do this. And you asking is a good thing. I’m proud of you, dude.”
“Don’t call me that,” he grumbled, but his lips were quirking.
“Hey.”
He looked up at me. “What?”
“Thank you.”
“For?”
I shrugged because I didn’t know. “Everything, I guess.”
And oh, there was his smile. There it was, bright and warm, and I wondered if this was what it felt like to stare directly into the sun. “Thump, thump, thump.”
“Thump, thump, thump,” I agreed. I jerked my head toward the living room. “Go on.”
“Call you if I need you,” he said, sounding determined.
“Yeah. But I don’t think you will. Big bad wolf, but a good human. You’ll be all right.”
I was stunned when he raised our joined hands to his lips. He kissed the back of my hand. And then he was gone, as if he hadn’t just devastated me. As if he hadn’t just rocked me down to my foundation. I stood there, the morning sunlight pouring in from the window above the sink, motes of dust swirling in the air, listening as he followed Chris and Tanner and Rico out the door.
THEY WERE FOLLOWING ME.
They tried to hide, but I was their big brother. I would know the sound of them anywhere.
The air was cold as I walked along an old dirt road. The deciduous trees were bare, the conifers green, their scent sharp. Patches of snow lay in the shadows where the sunlight couldn’t quite reach. The sky was blue, though clouds hung over the horizon.
Kelly and Joe kept their distance. They didn’t speak. I thought about calling them out, letting them know I knew they were there. I didn’t. They’d join me eventually, especially when they figured out where I was going.
It didn’t take long.