Chapter 31
This had been the best visit with my family since moving out for college. Luke got along with everyone and miraculously retained his posh bearing. By Tuesday, he had inside jokes with Ben, was giving car advice to Nathan, and helped Momma cook breakfast for everyone. I was thoroughly impressed.
We had one last hurdle to handle: lunch with Jamie and Michael.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, come on.” I pulled Luke along.
They were already at Parlo when we arrived. Jamie sat on the table with Michael on the bench beside him, the same positions I’d found them last time. Luke carried bags of greasy burgers and fries, and I had a bag of sodas from the gas station in town.
“Hello,” Luke said first when we reached them.
“You’re still here?” Jamie asked Luke, and Michael shoved his hip.
“Calm down,” Michael said, to which Jamie gave a dramatic eye roll.
“If you’ve survived this long at the Brandts’, you must be tougher than those prissy clothes would suggest,” Michael said.
“From you, I’m taking that as a compliment,” Luke said.
I grinned at Luke, then stuck my tongue out at Jamie, who did the same.
Luke had been amazing, just digging right in and being at home with my family. I wasn’t blind to how extra they could be, and he hadn’t seemed out of his element for long. Now, here he was, handling Michael as if they’d known each other for years.
“So what’s new?” I asked.
Jamie watched Luke for a long time as we ate, and Michael told me about the odd jobs he’d been doing with Mac’s Demo and trying to make it a bit steadier work.
Luke nudged my shoulder. “You don’t have a cousin to help him out?”
Michael laughed while I swallowed my food, and then I said, “Mac is my cousin.”
“Oh. Well, I’m out of ideas, then.”
“What do you do?” Jamie asked Luke.
“I’m a financial advisor at my father’s firm, Genisis Investments.”
“What’s that do?”
“We tell people where to put their money to get the most gains from it.”
“And people pay you for that?”
Luke chuckled. “Yeah, they do.”
“You gonna buy Asher a car?”
“Jamie,” I chastised.
“What? He’s done met your folks. Y’all’re practically engaged. I gotta know he can take care of you.”
“Your Civic is rather old,” Luke said.
“See?” Jamie waved at Luke. “He’ll man up.”
“Stop being a brat, Jamie,” Michael said.
“What? How come you can say shit, and it’s protective, and when I say shit, I’m a brat?”
Michael shrugged. “Just works that way.”
“What kind of car does he want?” Luke asked Jamie.
“Hold up. You ain’t gettin’ me a car,” I said.
“Ford Bronco Heritage Edition in Ruby Red.”
Luke cocked his head my way and grinned. “He didn’t even have to think twice. You must’ve talked about it before.”
“Only since he was fourteen and his cousin Billy got one, but the Heritage is what he really wants,” Jamie said.
I dropped my burger and wiped my hands. “Do I need to be here for this? Y’all can just come get me when you’re done visitin’.”
Luke clamped a hand onto my leg before I could stand. Not that I’d really leave, but it was fun to joke. And worth it when his fingers rubbed the inside of my thigh.
Jamie warmed to Luke a tiny bit when Luke directed questions about me to him. I let them have their fun because too soon, we had to head home, and I’d miss this.
The wind picked up as the sun lowered in the sky. I hugged Jamie and squeezed him until he asked Michael to save him. Which he did with his heavy-handed way. Jamie waved from upside down as Michael toted him off like a caveman.
Luke stared after them with a thoughtful gaze in his eyes. “Are they—together?”
“You don’t think it’d be weird? They’ve been brothers since they were kids.”
“Who says there’s a finite limit on falling in love? Look at us?” He waved a hand between us. He only meant something about our differences, but I heard love, and I heard us. Luke seemed to catch on when I stared blankly at him. He grinned, dipped his chin, and blushed.
I nudged his shoulder and didn’t say more about it as we returned home.
Momma teared up as we loaded the car with our bags. One of the college football bowl games was going, so we got half hugs from Ben and Nathan. Everyone else followed us outside.
“Call me when you get back to the dorm.” Momma waved her hand. “Or wherever, just call me.”
“I will, Momma.”
“Miss you, college boy.”
“Miss you, Momma.” I kissed her cheek, and then Luke gave her a hug before we loaded into the car.
This time, I didn’t give him directions or commentary, just watched my hometown fly by out the window.
“You okay?” he asked when we got to the interstate.
“Yeah.” I rolled to face him in the darkness and smiled. “Yeah. How about you? My family can be a lot.”
“They were great, Asher.” He reached for my hand. “The whole trip was a lot of fun.”
The soft sounds of classical music filled the air, and the three-hour trip took less than an hour, it seemed, and before long, he’d parked behind my Civic at Aunt Penny’s once again.
There would be no change of plans and returning to his place since I was headed to my dorm tonight before classes tomorrow.
“It’s gonna be weird sleeping alone.”
Luke nodded. “I’m having dinner at my parents’ tomorrow.”
I sat up. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to think about it while you were with your family.”
“Why are you going? I don’t want you to.”
He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my fingers as he did so often. “I’ll be fine. They’re pissed about the New Year’s Eve party. I’m sure they’ll reprimand me, we’ll eat, and that will be the end of it.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. I didn’t want him to go by himself or at all ever again. Those people were vile and toxic. I’d hoped spending time with my family would show him how it could be, how it should be. Families were supposed to be supportive, not destructive.
Maybe I’d hoped he saw how easy it could be to love me openly too. That I’d love him openly if he would give me the chance.
“Asher.” He traced my lips with his thumb, then lifted my chin. “I’ll be fine. I’ll talk to you before and after. It’s really okay.”
It wasn’t okay, but I didn’t say that. I didn’t give in to the worry in my heart, to my own weakness of not being enough.
Who was I without my huge family? Who was I other than a babysitter, a comedian?
Luke was grown, established. Who was I to think myself so important he would disrupt all he had built for me?
“Yeah.” I swallowed the pain, the doubts. “Yeah, of course.” I cleared my throat. “You’ve got this.”