My Brother’s Best Friends

***Reagan***

Imanagedtoavoid the guys again until the next afternoon. I was the only adult in the household that wasn’t busy yet, so Russ tasked me with picking up the girls from their summer program at the school. I’d spent the entire day wallowing around the basement, pretending to unpack while I mostly stared at the tens of texts on my phone from my married ex and thought about Theo being married to Jenny. Needless to say, I was glad to escape the house.

Since I was just picking the girls up and going straight back home, I didn’t bother changing out of my pajamas. My hair was still in messy braids that hadn’t ever ventured into cute messy territory. I was scrubbed free of makeup, but I was pretty sure my lips were stained red from the cupcake I’d eaten that definitely didn’t belong to me.

I remembered the pickup line from when Russ and I had been young enough to be picked up by our mom. It was always backed up, no matter the fact that Lunar wasn’t a big town. It always had at least one mother who was seconds from screaming her face off, and another mother eager and ready to put the first one in her place, at any cost. It was a mom eat mom world with a few terrified fathers thrown in. And me.

I waited patiently to pick up Piper and Posie because I wasn’t a demon, and when I got to the front of the line in my small, eco-friendly car, I smiled politely at the teacher in charge of directing the students to their rides and told her I was picking up my nieces. She seemed stressed beyond measure and spoke into a headset that reminded me of a boyband singer from my childhood.

“You’re not on the list.” The fear in the woman’s eyes told me she expected me to bite her head off.

I was a cool, calm aunt. I didn’t freak out. I just kept smiling, not realizing that I probably looked like a crazed kidnapper trying to get kids of my own. My PJs and braids didn’t read collected and mature aunt who would be put in charge of other human lives. “Is there a way you can check again? My brother, Russ James, told me he’d added me.”

She started to shake her head but stopped when someone called her name from behind. She turned and I watched as her face relaxed into pure bliss as she watched what could’ve been a scene from Baywatch. Charlie, dressed in gym shorts and a sleeveless shirt that clung to his chest with sweat, jogged towards us in what had to be slow motion. It felt like the entire pickup line calmed down and grew more anxious all at once.

He even brushed his hair out of his face with a big grin that showed his deep dimples and made his eyes sparkle as he approached and looked at me. “I’m sorry, Ms. Gorman. Russ asked me to take care of it, but I got caught up with the kids. Reagan is cleared to pick up Piper and Posie whenever.”

Seeing Charlie keep his eyes on me, Ms. Gorman suddenly seemed less afraid of getting shouted at. As she looked back at me, she frowned and then tapped her headset. “Send out Piper and Posie James, please.”

“Thanks. Sorry, again. It slipped my mind completely.” Charlie finally looked at her and smiled, though the charm was dimmer if I wasn’t mistaken. “Don’t let us get in your way. I’m going to chat with Reagan until the girls get out here.”

Oh, it was official. Ms. Gorman fucking hated me. I watched as she promised death with her gaze and walked to the SUV behind me. Wincing, I gave a small shudder as I hoped to never find myself alone with the woman in a dark alley.

Charlie opened my car door and squeezed his big frame in. Without a second of hesitation, he reached over and tugged at one of my braids. “You used to wear these things all the time. I don’t remember them being quite so wild, though.”

I batted his hand away and scoffed. Running my hands down my braids in an attempt to straighten them, I made the mistake of engaging with him. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone. I don’t remember the pickup line being a social hour.”

He rested his head on the headrest and watched me. “Oh, it’s not. This thing could turn into a bloodbath any second. I’ve seen less violent professional football games.”

I bit my lip to stop a grin and looked away. “I don’t want to keep you from whatever you were doing.”

Seemingly unable to help himself, Charlie played with the end of my braid. “Forcing a bunch of teenagers to lift weights? I like it much better here. Smells so much nicer.”

I tried to bat his hand away again, but he caught my hand and held it against his hard thigh while tugging my braid with his other hand. I huffed out a sigh that made him grin. “What?”

“You’re still just as fucking cute as you’ve always been. I guess I just assumed life would’ve knocked some of the sweetness out of you by now, but I don’t think it has.” He glanced back at the school and squeezed my hand. “Girls are coming.”

My heart sped up as I searched his face. I hadn’t expected him to say anything like that. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Charlie leaned closer and ran his thumb over my lips before smiling. “You can keep my shirt if you’ll promise to wear it every so often.”

“Uncle Chip! Aunt Rea!” The girls’ excited squeals broke the moment.

Charlie left me stupefied in the car as he helped get the girls inside. I had to shake myself and spin in my seat as we both fought to figure out how to get both girls in their booster seats in my minuscule backseat. Every time our hands brushed against each other, I knew my face was going red.

“So, girls. Are you ready to lose your socks at poker night?” Charlie hesitated after we got the girls in safely.

Piper let out a growl. “You’re going down, Uncle Chip! Daddy’s been showing us how to win.”

I stared at them. “Should I be worried that my brother has started a child gambling ring?”

A car honked from behind us, making me jump and accidentally hit my own horn. The other car honked even longer in return.

Charlie laughed and watched my face as I tried to duck and hide from whatever scary parent that was honking at me. “They’re going to smell blood in the water.”

More honking followed and the girls started screaming back. Piper shook her fist. “You don’t honk at my Aunt Rea!”

Posie flipped the bird with both hands, proudly. “You wanna fight?!”

I stared at Charlie with my mouth hanging open and my eyes nearly popping out of my head. “Oh, my god.”

Charlie threw his head back and laughed like a mad man, even as the honking grew more furious. He slowly retreated from the car and shook his head. “Honestly, Ms. James, have you no control over your children?”

“Stop honking at us, you crazy bird!” Piper turned fire-filled eyes at me. “Honk back.”

I covered my mouth with my hand to hide an inappropriate laugh. I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to encourage their bad behavior. “Um…”

“You’d better get out of here before you find yourself in the middle of a war that your nieces are willing and eager to fight.” Charlie leaned back in to fist-bump both girls and growled. “Give ‘em hell, P-dogs.”

I stared in horror as my sweet little nieces started growling back, giving the occasional bark, before continuing their verbal assault at the honking moms behind us. I locked the car doors before pulling away, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to lock to save myself from the hellions in my backseat.