Page 83 of The Other Brother

Right. Time to trigger the freak out.

“Do you want some company?” I ask innocently.

Mel splutters on her mouthful of coffee, spraying it all over the table.

“Yeah, that would be epic,” Cody replies with a small grin.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” I say, leaning back on my stool. “You get it warmed up.”

Mel’s still coughing, her eyes wide.

“Sure, I’ll warm it up.” Cody slides me a blazing hot look as he leaves that I’m fairly sure isn’t just for Mel’s benefit.

I’m going to get lucky again. I can’t suppress my smile. Life is awesome.

“What the hell?” Mel says when she recovers.

“What?”

“Is this for real?”

I force a look of confusion on my face. “Is what for real?”

“Don’t play with me, numb nuts. You and Cody?”

“If you’re asking if I’m actually going to join Cody in the shower, then the answer is yes, it is for real.”

“Oh my God.”

“Funny, that’s exactly what I hope to get Cody saying in a few minutes.” I give her a wink.

Mel just gapes at me. She appears to have lost the power of speech.

“Remember when you and Kate always used to say to me why can’t you be more like Cody? And you’d always tell me how sweet and amazing he is,” I say.

“Yes…” Mel says slowly.

I shrug. “I figured if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. I’m now a Cody convert too.” I stand up and flick her a grin. “And on that note, I think I’ll head to the shower.”

For the record, I get an almost constant stream of Oh my Gods from Cody. But I decide not to share that information with Mel.

There are some things sisters definitely don’t need to know.

Chapter21

Once we’re out of the shower, Cody and I collapse onto the couch and mindlessly watch some reruns ofThe Walking Dead. After one episode, Cody gets up and raids the fridge, coming back with an assortment of snacks.

We’re sitting shoulder to shoulder, but we don’t engage in any type of PDA. Mainly because Mel is perched on a chair on the other side of the room and is watching us with intense curiosity. Like she can’t quite believe what her eyes are showing her.

A car pulls up in the driveway.

I seize up and inch away from Cody.

Through the front window, I see Kate climbing out of her car. Shit. It’s like she’s grown even larger in the few days since I last saw her. You’d think she was brewing multiple babies inside her stomach. But I’m not letting my sister’s womb capacity distract me from what’s happening here.

“You rang Kate?” I challenge Mel.

She ignores me, opening the door as soon as Kate arrives on the doorstep.