Page 84 of The Other Brother

“What’s this major news you couldn’t tell me over the phone?” Kate asks as she steps inside.

“It’s that.” Mel points toward Cody and me on the couch.

Kate gives her a funny look.

“Yeah, it’s Cody and Ryan. We talked about how they’re hanging out together the other night. It’s kind of cool.” She spots the remains of our feast. “Hey, do you have any more cookies? I’m famished.”

She heads in the direction of the kitchen.

“No, Kate, you’ve missed the point,” Mel calls impatiently after her.

Yeah, I’m not hanging around so my sisters can watch Cody and me like we’re giant pandas in the zoo.

I stand up. “You want to head off?” I ask him. “Go surfing or something?”

“I vote for the ‘or something,’” he says, grinning.

I offer him my hand, and he grabs it. But he doesn’t let go once I’ve pulled him to his feet. Instead, he laces his fingers through mine.

Kate comes back into the lounge and freezes, a cookie halfway to her mouth. Her gaze zooms in on where Cody and I are holding hands. “What the hell?”

“I told you,” Mel says triumphantly.

“Are you two together?” Her eyes dart to Mel for confirmation. “Like together, together?”

Cody clears his throat. “Ah… yeah. We are.”

“You’re gay?” Kate clarifies.

Cody’s eyes fix on a spot on the carpet. “Yeah. I am.”

“Isn’t that kind of obvious by the fact that we’re together?” I say.

“Okay, I mean, that’s… well, it’s absolutely fine, of course, but this…” She waves her hand in our direction. “Mum and Dad are going to completely freak.” There’s something approaching awe in her voice. Kate’s done her fair share of freaking Mum and Frank out over the years, so it should be flattering that we’ve done something that impresses her.

“They don’t need to know,” Cody says. He drops my hand and stuffs his own hands in his pockets.

“We need to record Dad’s face when he finds out. It’ll be a YouTube sensation,” Mel says.

“This is something none of the parents need to know about,” Cody says. His voice is no nonsense. I’ve never heard him use that tone before. From the looks on their faces, Kate and Mel haven’t either.

“Okay, okay,” Mel says.

“Promise?”

“I promise,” Mel says.

Cody shoots a look at Kate.

She puts her hands up in surrender. “They’re definitely not going to hear it from me. I don’t want to be responsible for Dad having a heart attack.”

This is where Cody’s lifetime of being a wonderful brother helps me for once. Because I’m fairly certain they would have tortured me for a while before agreeing to anything.

“Good.” Cody looks at me. “We off?”

“Well, you might be. But I’m perfectly fresh.”

Cody elbows me in the ribs in response to my joke, and I grab at his hands in response. We jostle for a second, both grinning, Cody twisting to get away from me, but I’m not letting go. I pin his hands together and snake my free hand around to tickle him under his rib cage where I know he’s sensitive, and he laughs his deep chuckle. I laugh as well, as Cody has the type of laugh that should never be lonely.