“Good boys and girl. Did you miss me? Yeah, I missed you so much.” I kiss each of their heads as Frank comes to pay the driver and take my one single suitcase.
I’m never one for travel, or doing the whole six hundred bags for a couple of weeks. Besides, I don’t have all that much stuff.
“Is this it?” Frank asks.
“Yep.”
“I don’t know how you can pack so light.”
I laugh. Frank often thought I wasn’t like normal girls, especially compared to my mom. For a weekend away, I know she always had to pack at least four bags. My mom had a thing about odd numbers, so if she only packed three bags, it would bug her too much to let it go, so she’d find an excuse for a fourth.
It was sweet, really.
“Come here,” Frank says, pulling me into a hug. Before I’ve even gotten into his arms, Mom is there, surrounding me with her love.
I love both of these people so much.
They are my reason for fighting so hard at school, not physically, but on an educational basis.
I love to learn, but it’s also really difficult for me, has been for as long as I can remember. I do my best, and I know my parents think I’m gifted or what not, but it’s only because I have to try really hard.
Tucking my red hair behind my ears, I pull away and follow them back into the warmth of the house. Snow has already fallen, and I wasn’t supposed to arrive until Christmas Eve, but the moment the forecast got so bad, I was asked to make the trip here early. I’d finished all my assignments, and caught up well in advance of my schoolwork, so there was no valid reason for me to not come.
In the back of my mind there was a tiny problem: Myron.
My feelings for him, my real feelings over the years, they haven’t changed, not one bit, but I wouldn’t let him see I was like the other girls. He didn’t need to know that the moment he walked into a room, all I could think about was him. All I wanted was him. No, he had to think I didn’t like him, and that way, I wasn’t like the other girls.
He had many notches on his bedpost, and I’d promised myself years ago I wouldn’t be one of them.
“I’m so pleased you came. I’ve got dinner baking in the oven. Vegetable lasagna, your favorite.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I hug her tight and feel her happiness surround me. This is one of the many reasons why I love my mom, and will never, ever say no to her. “I’m going to go and get freshened up. My room is still my room?”
“Yep, don’t worry, no gym yet, darling. Your mother keeps me on my toes.”
“Don’t mind him, sweetheart. It’s so good to have you home.” She hugs me again, and I smile. It’s really good to be home.
College is great. I love it, but it is not like home. Going away was supposed to be my chance at finding independence. Becoming myself. Experimenting.
Instead, it has only driven me crazy because I know there is one person I want that I can never, ever have.
Taking my case from Frank, I walk upstairs, going to the end of the hall where my bedroom is. The door is open, and I frown. My door is always shut.
You haven’t been home so of course everything is going to change.
At least I don’t feel like the odd one out.
The moment I enter my room, I freeze. There at my open window, which is letting in a cold, icy blast, is my stepbrother, Myron.
He’s not even smoking, just letting the cold in.
****
Myron
I watched her arrive. I saw the dogs loving her and getting petted, her affection. Then of course my dad, her mom, and she’s looking good.
No, fuck good.
She’s looking sexy, hot, and grownup.
Gone is the young schoolgirl she’d been, with the beautiful red hair and sweet smile.
Now, she is … stunning. Sexy. Even in a reindeer sweater, which I have one to match in my own room.
I don’t live with my parents, but over the holidays my dad insisted I come around for family time. It’s not like anything was keeping me back at my apartment. It’s lonely. Sure, I own it, and I’ve become an independent, respected working man at twenty-five. My dad can’t find a reason to complain about me, but I know deep down he wants what is best for me.
I’m simply not allowed to have this woman standing right in front of me.
“Myron,” she says, her gaze going to the window.
I only opened it so I could hear her voice.
“Kate.”
Her lips are nice and plump. I’ve wanted to kiss them for so long, but always held myself back, because my family wouldn’t allow it. I’m getting sick and tired of looking the other way.