Chapter 2 Andrew
Andrew
“Need help?” Nate asks, peeking at the hamburger meat I’m browning on the stove.
The fact he wants to help is progress. His depression was at an all-time low right before our eighteenth birthday. I was scared as hell I’d wake up one day and my brother would have taken his life. So fucking fragile.
The rest happened so quickly.
Birthday. Huge fight with Dad. And then we moved. Just took our meager belongings and hitchhiked our way to the community college one town over.
“You can set the table. It won’t be much longer.”
The dishes and cookware were given to us by Vern’s ex-wife, Lavinia.
She also brought us a shower curtain, bathroom rug, and a couple of lamps.
Apparently she’s been remodeling her house.
She says anything we need, just ask. I hate asking people for shit, though.
It always makes Dex feel bad. Like he’s responsible for everything.
As if working sixty plus hours a week isn’t enough.
Nate moves around the kitchen gathering dishes while I drain the grease from the skillet.
Once I open the can of sauce and stir it in, I check on the noodles.
It’s smelling damn good in here. Reminds me of the days when Mom used to make us dinner.
My heart aches, but it doesn’t do anything to wallow.
She’s gone and we finally left our asshole father’s house.
“Oh my God,” Dex says as he enters the kitchen. “If I find out a way to get a TV so you can watch cooking shows, will you cook more?”
I chuckle as I dart my gaze to him. “Let me do some of the grocery shopping sometime and you might not have to even buy me a TV.”
Dex runs his hand over his buzzed head, a tortured expression in his golden-brown eyes. At first, I hated that he let his boss, Bert, cut his hair like a damn criminal, but it’s growing on me. I like running my palm over the soft prickles.
“You guys can always go with me, but you have school and it’s on my way home. It’s no big deal for me to go.” Dex pleads with me to understand, just pinning me with his so-fucking-sad stare.
This is why I can’t stay mad at him.
Because even if he ran off my only friend, he still does so much for us.
Everything. He sacrificed his own education so that he could provide for us.
I’m just being bitchy about Seth. If I’m being truthful, Seth was kind of a prick when I wouldn’t give him a blowjob.
Friends don’t let your brother fuck them because they didn’t get what they wanted from you.
He took advantage of Dex. When Dex is exhausted and buzzing on a few beers, it’s like he lets go of all his control and is just a guy, not someone responsible for his two brothers.
“I would have bought black cherry chip ice cream if I went,” I say to him, giving him a stern expression. “Why didn’t you buy your favorite when you were buying ours?”
Because he doesn’t feel like he deserves it.
He never does anything for himself.
Always for us.
“Didn’t feel like wasting money on it,” he admits, his cheeks turning pink. “But I got a raise, Andy. Things won’t feel so tight around here pretty soon.”
I turn off the stove and grin at him. My smiles always coax smiles from him. It’s the gift that gives back. “Then I’m definitely going food shopping with you next time. Maybe we can start eating more than just hotdogs and peanut butter sandwiches.”
“Lavinia offered you some mustard greens,” Dex says, a devilish smirk on his face.
I pretend to gag and then set to draining the noodles. Since Dex didn’t buy garlic bread, I buttered up some regular bread and sprinkled a garlic concoction on top before toasting in the oven. I’m pretty damn proud of myself because it looks like it turned out okay.
“I can’t believe you made garlic bread,” Dex mutters, astonished. “This is awesome.”
He pats his bare, ripped stomach and I try not to ogle him in envy.
Since he worked his ass off today in the shop, he showered while I got dinner ready, and now wears nothing but a pair of worn-out shorts that hang low on his hips.
They’ve got a little weight room in the back of the auto repair shop he works at and he’s always lifting during his breaks or before or after work.
Where I’m naturally toned with muscle, Dex is filling out and has definition I could never dream of.
Poor Nate is the lean one of the three of us, mostly because when he’s depressed, he can’t be bothered to eat for shit.
“Do you have to walk around shirtless?” I complain, tearing my gaze from his abs. “Some of us don’t need to see all that.”
Nate’s attention lands on Dex’s stomach and he frowns. As soon as Dex realizes it might make Nate uncomfortable, his skin turns bright red. He starts to rush off to put on a shirt, but Nate grabs his wrist, stopping him.
“He can relax without a shirt on,” Nate says, pinning me with a firm stare. “He’s not Dad.”
I shudder and Dex’s jaw ticks with fury.
It wasn’t what I’d meant when I said it, but now I feel like a dick.
Dad liked to dish out his punishments in three variations of abuse: physical, emotional, and sexual.
While he emotionally mindfucked me calling me every hateful word and insult he could think up, he beat the shit out of Dex.
As for Nate…he has his reasons to be depressed.
No kid should ever have to go through what he did with his own father.
“Let’s eat,” Nate urges. “Everyone’s so tense tonight. It’s making me nervous.”
Dex swallows and gives Nate a quick nod. He turns, revealing his sculpted shoulders to us. I wonder if they’re as firm as they look.
Sick piece of shit.
I can practically hear the disgust in Dad’s voice when I’d casually mentioned how I thought our neighbor was good-looking.
Our male neighbor. He called me everything from prissy faggot to filthy dick sucker and everything in between.
Which was pretty rich coming from him considering what he did with his dick and with whom.
Tearing my gaze from my brother’s back, I focus on bringing the food to the table.
We all settle eventually once our plates are filled.
This is something we used to do when Mom was around and Dad was on the road.
Those days when it was just the four of us were my best memories.
But being a truck driver didn’t mean Dad stayed away forever.
Eventually he’d come home and our little slice of happiness would be devoured.
She died and then he was forced to take a job in town so he could be home for us. Worst five years of our lives.
Aside from my meltdown, Dex seems lighter tonight. Like maybe life isn’t so hard on him. It makes me incredibly happy. Every day while I sit in class and study boring shit, guilt eats me alive that he’s not there with us.
Someone raps on the door. Dex flies out of his chair, his homemade garlic bread still in hand as he goes to answer.
“Here with your delivery, Mr. Love,” the man says. “Just sign here for it.”
Delivery?
Nate and I exchanged a confused look. Then, Dex saunters back over to us, munching on his bread. His whole face is lit up with happiness.
“What did you buy?” I demand, trying to look past him and out the door.
“You’ll see.” He wolfs down the rest of his food before trotting to the back bedroom.
Nate and I scarf down our food as well. Just as we’re standing, two big guys enter through the open trailer door carrying a giant mattress.
Holy shit.
Like two excited little kids, me and Nate follow them into the bedroom. Dex has propped our air mattresses up against one wall to make room. The guys lean it up against one wall and then leave.
“We got a bed?” Nate is gaping like it’s the best thing he’s ever seen. “I can’t believe we got a bed.”
The mattress is still in its plastic packaging. It’s brand-new. Tears burn at my eyes and I feel like the biggest asshole for nearly ruining Dex’s big surprise by being pissed about Seth. Fuck Seth.
Dex smiles so big both his dimples are showing. I have the incredible urge to kiss both of them. Nate launches himself at Dex, nearly tackling him. Dex cracks up laughing as he hugs Nate. I’m too stunned to move.
The guys come back with box springs and a metal frame.
All three Love trips watch in awe as the two men assemble the bed in record time.
Once it’s complete and taking up most of the room, they leave for good this time.
Dex follows them out and then returns with a sack in hand.
He’d brought two home with him—one with groceries in it and the other remained a mystery because I bitched him out.
He pulls out a packaged set of sheets for the bed and some pillowcases.
It takes all three of us to wrangle the fitted sheet onto the queen-sized bed, but we eventually manage. There’s a top sheet so we lay it neatly on top. Once all three of our pillows are covered, we put them across the top of the bed. All three fit perfectly.
Since Nate’s blanket is the biggest—a giant quilt Lavinia also gave us, we set to stretching it across the bed. When the bed is made, we just stare at it in disbelief.
“I can’t believe this is ours,” I murmur, my throat thick with emotion. “And we’ll all fit.”
Nate predictably climbs into the middle, a rare smile gracing his pouty lips. I kick off my shoes, bouncing onto the bed next to him. Dex more or less prowls onto the other side. Something about the way his shoulder muscles bunch as he moves has my stomach tightening.
This is so fucking cool.
Dex lies on his side so he can see both of us.
Nate turns toward him, snuggling against his chest. I’m annoyed at first because I kind of want to be the one to touch Dex’s stupid-hard abs, but then I’m thankful I’m not that close because there’s no telling what I’d do if I touched his abs.
Brother or not, the thought is electrifying.
I spoon Nate, inhaling his hair that smells like lavender.
“Thank you,” Nate says to Dex. “For everything. You saved us.”
This time, tears well and I can’t hold them back. Dex’s strong arm wraps around the both of us, squeezing.
“I would do anything for you,” Dex admits. “Anything.” He takes turns running his fingers through Nate’s hair and then mine. I want to purr because I fucking love when he touches my hair. I’ve loved it since we were toddlers. Something about it has always soothed me.
Dex’s voice grows sleepy. “Aren’t you going to go eat your ice cream now?”
His breath evens out and I know he’s passed out. Bringing my lips to Nate’s ear, I say, “Come on. Help me clean up dinner. Let him nap for a bit.”
Nate shivers at the way my hot breath tickles his ear, but he nods. “And then I want to go to bed early.”
That makes two of us.
What started as a horrible damn day has quickly turned into the best. Things are looking up for the Love trips. It’s about time we crawl ourselves out of the gutter.