Page 28 of Worst Nanny Ever (Babes of Brewing #2)

I’m also working through the rest of my anger about what happened at Big Catch.

I hadn’t thought my friends would abandon me like that.

Like I was nothing to them. It brought back a lot of hard memories.

Maybe it’s also made me feel more attached to Ollie.

Because we’ve both learned the hard way that people can just walk away from you.

They can be there one day, a bitter memory the next.

Of course, my brother carries that same burden, so I’ve made sure not to completely cut him out of my life, even temporarily. I’ve been texting with him, and whenever he calls, I answer.

I wait until Ollie and I are in the car to ask what happened with Mickey.

“He said something mean about Travis.”

“It was nice of you to stand up for your dad,” I say, feeling a swell of emotion in my chest. “But we can’t just walk around shoving everyone who annoys us.

If someone aggravates you, you give them a piece of your mind, without any violence.

Besides…I think this whole war with Mickey might be based on a misunderstanding. ”

“Oh, there’s no misunderstanding. He’s made it very clear that he doesn’t like me.”

“What if that’s because he thinks you don’t like him?”

“I don’t like him, Hannah.”

I hold back a laugh. Truthfully, I’m biased and think anyone who messes with Ollie is automatically a twat, but I’ve been reading a few nanny blogs about teaching valuable lessons, and unfortunately they’ve rubbed off on me.

“I have an idea,” I say. “Why don’t we watch some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Liam’s place while he works on your hair problem?”

“The movies aren’t very good. The special effects make them look like monsters.”

“Sure. But the ones you’re talking about aren’t the original version. There was this great cartoon from the eighties, and a live action movie they made in 1990. I watched them when I was a kid. Your dad probably did too.”

“That’s really old, Hannah,” he says in a serious tone. “I don’t think it will hold up.”

Look at that, he’s using an expression he picked up from me against me.

“You’ll see, mister. You’re going to like those turtles, and next week Mickey’s going to think you’re the coolest dude in the school.”

“What if I hate them?”

“Then I’m going to suggest that you avoid future interactions with Mickey.”

Ten minutes later, we’re standing outside of my brother’s apartment. I have his spare key, but I knock on the door. He opens it and engulfs me in a famous Liam bear hug. As his arms wrap around me, I take in his familiar scent of lemon and hops, and a feeling of profound relief envelops me.

God, I really missed him.

Distancing myself from him is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it felt necessary, like we both needed to learn how to function on our own. To figure out how to craft strong relationships with people who aren’t blood related and bonded by trauma.

He squeezes me before releasing me and crouching down to offer one of his huge hands to Ollie.

I almost laugh at the sight of them: small, dark-haired Ollie next to my huge beast of a brother with his reddish-brown hair, too long right now because I’m probably the only one who cuts it for him, and trimmed beard.

At least he’s been taking care of his facial hair.

But I also feel close to tears, because I love them both so much, and they’re meeting for the first time. It feels like a big moment.

“I’m Liam,” my brother says. “I’m told you’re Ollie.”

Ollie nods as he shakes Liam’s hand, peering up at him with wide eyes. “You’re very big. Much bigger than Hannah.”

“Eat your vegetables. You’ll get big too. Unlike Hannah, who never met a green bean she liked.”

I push his massive arm and get nowhere.

“I don’t know if I want to be that big,” Ollie ruminates. “Can you touch the ceiling? My dad’s tall, but he’s not as tall as you, and he can’t touch it. I know because he tried to get a bug off the fan and he couldn’t do it.”

“Depends on how low it is,” Liam says with a laugh. Then he gets up on his tiptoes and touches the ceiling of his apartment, instantly earning him points in Ollie’s scorebook.

“Are we done with the masculine posturing?” I groan. “Because we need a specialist in gum removal and the best ever version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to help Ollie bond with his nemesis.”

My brother grins at Ollie. “Does she always threaten you with a good time?”

“I don’t know what that means,” Ollie says, “but Hannah does like to have fun. She gets bored a lot, though. Sometimes we do, like, five activities in an afternoon.”

Liam laughs and gently pats him on the back. “She does, but guess what? She’s never bored with you. She told me so.”

I smile at him and mouth, Thank you.

“Here, let me get the Turtles on for you,” he says, and within five minutes, Ollie has a pretty sick little setup in front of the living room TV with toons on, a glass of Gatorade, and a bowl of Goldfish crackers that’s not long for this world.

Once the little guy is situated, I catch Liam’s eye. “Can I talk to you privately for a minute?”

He gives me a wary look, probably because I yelled at him the last time we talked “privately for a minute.”

I drag him into the bedroom and shut the door.

“Should I have given him a juice box instead?” he asks, lifting his brows.

“Ha ha. No, I just wanted to tell you that I’m ready to get over this rift between us. I’d like to put it behind us.”

“Good,” he says, a person of few words as always, which usually leads to me having to translate him to the world.

“But—”

“I knew there would be a but.”

“You’re not making a good case for yourself right now.”

He nods. “Go on.”

“But you owe me one good favor. A really freaking juicy one. I’m going to ask you to do something, and you’re going to do it, no questions asked.

” I pause, then shake my head. “No, screw that. You owe me two good favors. One for dating my friend, and the other for putting me in an impossible position.”

He considers this, then nods. “That’s fair.”

“You’ll do anything I ask, twice.”

He nods again. “Anything you ask. Twice. ”

“And you’ll never, ever, in a thousand million years date another one of my friends.”

“Nice to know you think so highly of me, Han.”

I glare at him, and he laughs.

He looks like our mother when he laughs. He knows this, which is one of the reasons why he doesn’t do it much.

“Okay, have it your way,” he says. “I’ll never, ever, in a thousand million years date another of your friends. You know, you’re supposed to put the bigger numbers first, the smaller ones second. Besides, the human lifespan is?—”

“I don’t care, you agreed. Now, let’s shake on it and then get that gum out.”

He grins at me and holds out his big mitt, and I feel something settle inside of me.

It’s been harder than I realized to keep this distance between us.

Liam and I didn’t even tell our brother we were at odds, because it would only worry him, and he’s got enough to worry about, running his own kitchen.

I shake hands with Liam, then pull him into a hug.

“Whoa, have you been working out more? Don’t become one of those gross bodybuilder guys. I’d have to pretend I don’t know you.”

“I’ve had lots of time on my hands, since I haven’t been running your pointless errands,” he says.

I shove his arm, and just like that, we’re good with each other again.

It doesn’t hurt that everything turned out okay after the huge fallout from the Margaret situation.

Sure, I lost some friends, but Travis was right: if they’d been true friends, they wouldn’t have turned their backs on me for something that wasn’t my fault.

And, yeah, I stepped away from a job I loved, but if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be working with Ollie.

I wouldn’t have gotten to know him and Travis as well as I have, and I probably never would have met the powerhouse that is Eugene Peebles.

We head back out to attend to little King Ollie, who’s enjoying his setup.

Liam’s good with him, not that I expected anything less.

He probably sees Ollie as a version of our little brother, or maybe even me—another kid abandoned by the people who were supposed to care.

I used to see Ollie that way, too, but that has changed over the last couple of weeks.

I don’t just care about him because he’s in the same position we were in all those years ago. I love him because he’s Ollie.