Page 55 of The Other Brother

Happiness isn’t exactly the mood of the hour right now though.

Mum exhales a large breath when we pull into the space next to Frank, her jaw jutting out in a determined way.

“It’ll be okay,” Dad says.

I think he’s mainly trying to reassure himself.

Kate greets us at the door with a grim but resigned look, the kind an undertaker might perfect. “Dad and Heather are still here.”

“I thought they were helping you out in the morning and we were doing the afternoon?” Mum says.

“I can’t exactly kick them out, can I?”

Mum sniffs as though that’s exactly what she’d do if it was her.

We follow Kate down the narrow hallway to the open-plan living space. Frank and Heather are in the tiny kitchen, surrounded by half-unpacked boxes of kitchen utensils.

I spot Cody sitting on the floor next to a bookshelf, a half-empty box of books next to him.

“Good afternoon,” Mum says stiffly, plastering a smile on her face.

“Hello,” Heather replies, while Frank grunts out a sound that could be interpreted as a greeting.

The only smiles here that would pass a lie detector test are the ones Cody and I are giving each other. He tilts an eyebrow up, and I match it, so we have our own non-verbal greeting that escapes the scrutiny of the parents.

I manage to tear my gaze away from Cody and check out the place. It’s a small apartment. When you add in two sets of parents who can’t stand each other, it becomes positively claustrophobic.

Kate’s standing by the dining table with this look on her face like she wouldn’t mind if the walls collapsed in on her.

Chris comes out from the hallway and greets Mum, Dad, and me with false cheer, running his hands through his dark hair.

“What can we do to help?” Mum’s voice is tight.

“I’m just about to put together our bed. I’d appreciate some help,” Chris says.

Getting Mum and Dad far away from Frank and Heather is a stroke of genius. I’ve questioned the guy’s intelligence after the accidental pregnancy thing, but it appears he has some smarts.

I sidle over to where Cody is kneeling by the bookshelf. “Need a hand?”

“Sure. Although I didn’t realize unpacking was part of your advanced skill set,” Cody says with a smile.

“I’ve been dragged here kicking and screaming,” I reply as I sit down on the floor next to him. “Let me guess, you volunteered enthusiastically like the dutiful brother you are?”

“Of course. I also brought a housewarming gift that Kate loves.” He nods at a weird potted plant sitting on the table a few feet away.

“What is it?”

“It’s a money tree. It’s supposed to bring good luck.”

I shake my head. “You are seriously the definition of a suck-ass.”

He grins at me, scrunching up his nose, and my stomach does a matching scrunch before I can stop it.

Friends.I remind my body.Cody and I are just friends.

I work side by side with my friend, unloading boxes of books onto the bookshelf. It’s natural for you to notice the way your friend’s long slim hands grasp one of Chris’s old biomechanics textbooks, right? And the fact that my skin heats up in the places where my arm brushes up against his, is simply due to laws of friction. And noticing his clean, fresh scent that’s a mixture of soap and something uniquely Cody just means my nostrils are working correctly.

Unfortunately stacking books on a shelf doesn’t take that long, and when we’ve finished, I hate the idea of moving away from Cody. I really don’t want to sort pots and pans in the kitchen or something like that.