3. Molly
Waving goodbye to my driver, I walked into the cabin, dragging my suitcase on wheels behind me. I was expecting to be greeted by just my parents, knowing that Jenna and Olivia hadn’t arrived yet. So, it was a shock to see the huge living room crowded with people. My mom came from a big family, and it looked like she’d decided to celebrate this particular birthday with all of her siblings. This was a different from what we’d done in the past, which was usually a small get-together with immediate family.
My two uncles and three aunts all turned to face me as I walked into the cabin. I flinched as everyone greeted me at once, the noise immediately overwhelming me. But this was my family, and I was thrilled to see them all. I smiled so widely that my cheeks ached, leaving my suitcase next to the door as I moved into the living room and accepted hugs from everyone. I reached my mom last and held on to her a little longer. She and I have always been very close. I thought it was because I was what she called her miracle baby.
My parents got married young. They were the same age as I currently was, just twenty years old. They got pregnant right away and had my brother just a month after their first wedding anniversary.
They planned to have another child a couple of years later, but it didn’t happen so easily. My mom suffered two miscarriages over the years and finally gave up, planning to stick with just one child.
Then, as she often told me, the universe gave her the best surprise of her life. I was an unplanned pregnancy, but my parents couldn’t have been happier. My mom especially adored me, and we’d always been close.
“Happy birthday, Mom,” I said.
“I’m so glad you’re here. How was your flight?”
I shrugged, not wanting to complain about the first class conditions on the plane or how a girl across the aisle gave me nasty looks because her boyfriend wouldn’t stop checking me out.
“It was fine,” I said, smiling.
My dad pulled my attention away then, eager to show me a picture of a large bass that he caught when we went fishing just last week.
“The first time out on the lake this spring and look what I got,” he said, making me smile at the way his chest puffed out with pride.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom typing out a message on her phone and wondered who she could be texting. Most of the family was here already.
I was still in conversation with my dad ten minutes later when one of my uncles came over to join us. After listening to boring small talk for a while, I finally slipped away. The first floor of the cabin contained all the common spaces. Living room, dining room, and kitchen.
I was thirsty after traveling, so I headed for the kitchen. I rounded the corner and bumped into a large, warm body. I gasped and went stumbling backward, but a pair of strong hands gripped my arms to hold me upright.
I looked up, surprise making my eyebrows pop as I took in the unexpected sight of my brother. I hadn’t seen him come in, and I hadn’t expected him to show up at all.
Atticus hadn’t been to this type of gathering in a few years. He always had the excuse that he was busy with work. He had some high-profile tech job in New York. I didn’t know much about it because I never bothered to learn what he did. We were siblings, but we couldn’t have been more different, and not just because we had a large age gap. I was only seven years old when he went away to college, but even then, I knew he was strange and a bit of a geek. My opinion of him hadn’t improved over the years, and I wasn’t thrilled to see him.
But something strange was happening in my body as I registered just how much hard muscle I’d collided with. Atticus always dressed casually. I guessed that being a tech genius gave him some freedom, and he didn’t have to grow accustomed to suits, but the jeans and loose T-shirts he wore were obviously disguising a more muscular physique than I’d imagined.
Not that I ever imagined what he had going on under his clothes.
I glanced at where he was still holding my arms and saw that he had two full sleeves of tattoos. Of course, my nerdy big brother’s tattoos weren’t anything cool, like badass flaming skulls, obscure tribal designs, or even images of sexy pinup girls.
Nope. Atticus had one sleeve with images from Star Wars and the other was video game characters. The colors were bright, so the art on his skin held my attention for a moment, and I wondered if they were new tattoos or if I’d just never noticed them. I didn’t exactly give the guy my attention.
Why would I? He was a loser.
“Hello, Molly,” he said in his deep voice. That snapped my attention to his face, and I hated that my first thought was that he was hotter than I remembered. He still wore the square, black framed glasses that he’d had forever, but he had a stubble beard now that made him look more manly than the last time I saw him, despite the childish T-shirt he wore with the Batman symbol on the front. His hair was shorter than the last time I saw him too, the black waves replaced with a short buzz cut.
I shook my head as I realized I was checking him out. What the hell was wrong with me?
Coming to my senses, I shoved his hands off of me with a scoff. I stepped around him, giving him a much wider berth than necessary. “Watch it, you fucking weirdo,” I snapped as I strolled to the refrigerator. I grabbed a drink and when I turned back his way, he was gone. Good.
I was halfway through my bottle of water when my phone went off with a text from Olivia telling me she and Jenna were pulling up outside. Heading that way, I noticed Atticus watching me from the corner of the living room. I sent him and dirty look before deciding to just ignore his presence altogether.
Jenna’s teal Jeep was parked in the grass to the side of the driveway that was already full of cars. Both of my friends got out, and I rushed over to give them hugs. The three of us had been as thick as thieves since we were freshman in high school, and we were still close, even though the two of them stayed in our hometown to go to the local community college while I left for New York. We had a group text that we all use every day, and I managed to video chat with them at least twice a week. Still, seeing them in person was different. There was a fuzzy warmth in my chest as I we embraced.
Atticus might have been my brother, but these girls were more like what I wanted from a sibling. They were the sisters that I had never had.
They each grabbed their duffel bags from the back of the Jeep and I led them inside. Grabbing my suitcase, I managed to get past the huge gathering of family members without getting sucked into any conversations. I led the girls to my room, which the three of us would be sharing, and we settled in to catch up before dinner.