It’s been a little over a week since I last spoke to him now that I think about it.
He’s not going to be happy with me. I’m supposed to call once a week.
It’s just that I have been distracted by the man currently sleeping in my bed.
Not that I’ll be sharing that nugget of information with Cole.
He won’t be keen on me dating someone that he hasn’t had the opportunity to meet and vet.
Having an overprotective brother can be a pain at times. But I understand why he is the way he is.
Smiling, I apprehensively answer the call, putting the phone to my ear.
“Hey,” I say softly.
“So, you are alive then?” He sounds like he’s teasing, but he knows better than to say things like that to me, meaning he’s pissed but disguising it.
“I’m sorry. I should have called.”
“Yes, you should have. What’s been keeping you so busy?”
I can’t tell him that one of my coworkers was murdered alongside his girlfriend. Cole would lose his mind and order me home straightaway.
Not that I would go.
I can’t leave Jack.
I know that deep inside my heart. The heart that Jack has reawakened within me.
But I also don’t want to upset my brother. So, the best thing to do is to tell him nothing.
“Work. One of the guys who worked there … he quit. So, we’re down an employee. And my boss has been out sick for a few days as well, so I’ve been running the place in her absence. Early mornings, late evenings.”
“You shouldn’t let them overwork you, Audrey.”
“I’m not. I’m just helping out. My boss is a nice lady. She would never take advantage.”
The line goes silent. I hate when Cole goes quiet on me.
“I made a new friend,” I tell him.
“Oh?” I can hear the interest in his voice. “And what is this new friend called?”
“Gary.”
Another pause. I’m fighting a smile. Not that he can see it right now.
But somehow, my brother has the ability to see and know most things about me.
“A man?”
“Uh-huh.” I can no longer fight the grin, and it spreads over my whole face.
“Are you dating him?”
“You could say that.”
Jack and I have been walking Gary and Pork Chop every lunchtime this week. I have been busy with work, but I have made time to walk those guys at lunch. I love walking them with Jack. It makes me happy.
Jack makes me happy.
“I spend my lunch hour with him.”
“Audrey—”
“He’s about four years old,” I cut him off, sniggering quietly to myself. “Has gray-and-white fur …”
“A fucking dog.” Cole laughs, and the sound puts joy into my heart.
I don’t hear Cole laugh much anymore.
“Yes. He’s a rescue dog. He lives at the rescue center near the library. I’ve started walking him on my lunch hour. He’s so sweet. You would love him.”
“If you let me come to you, then I would be able to meet him.”
I sigh. “Cole …”
“I know; I know. I’ll stop talking.”
“No, don’t ever stop talking to me. Please.” I can feel this odd sense of panic quickly rising up in my chest. I press the heel of my hand to my sternum, trying to stem the fear.
“That’s not what I meant, Audrey, and you know that. I will never leave you. Never.”
I exhale. “I know.” The panic starts to abate in my chest at the forcefulness of his words.
Of course Cole would never leave me. What was I thinking?
But I did leave him. He has always been there for me, and I just walked away from him.
I’m a terrible person and sister.
I’m selfish.
Even more so because I don’t know when I’m going back home. Or if I ever will.
“You should get yourself to bed,” Cole says softly in my ear. “You need your sleep.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” I yawn.
He knows me so well.
There’s another pause and then, “I love you, Audrey.”
I smile. There’s a tinge of sadness that I hope he doesn’t hear when I say, “I love you too, Cole.”
I hang up the call. Holding the phone in my hand, I stare down at the dark screen.
“Who were you on the phone with?”
My head whips up to see a shirtless Jack standing in the doorway. He’s wearing just his sleep pants. His hair is all mussed up. He looks adorable.
“My brother,” I answer without thinking, caught off guard by the sight of him.
I lower my cell phone to the sofa, putting it on the arm.
Jack comes over and sits by me. Eleven is now squished between us. She doesn’t seem pleased by this at all and jumps down from the sofa, wandering into the direction of my bedroom.
“You have a brother?” Jack says quietly beside me.
I bring my eyes to him and nod.
There’s a flash of something in his eyes that I can’t quite decipher and a little line between his brows.
I know that happens when he’s thinking intently about something. Which is why I ask, “You’re frowning. Why?”
“I’m not.”
I press my finger against the little crease, rubbing it out.
“That’s just called old age.”
I laugh. “You are older than me, so it makes sense you’d wrinkle first.”
He rests his head back against the sofa, eyes still on me. “Does it bother you that I’m older?”
I shake my head. “Does it bother you?”
“No.” He’s still watching me.
I know there’s more he wants to say, and the anticipation jangles my nerves.
“So, you have a brother …”
And there it is.
Jack lets the words hang in the air.
“Yes.”
“Does he live close by?”
“No.”
He nods in response to my answer. “Any other siblings?”
“No. Why all the questions?” My voice is a little sharper than I intended. But I don’t want to have this conversation about my brother. Because it will lead to my adoptive parents and their deaths, possibly even my biological parents, and I really don’t want to talk about any of them right now. I don’t want to talk with Jack about my past, period.
“Just wondering if I need to look out for more than one brother who
