Page 64 of Show Off

He doesn’t say the rest of it. He doesn’t need to.

“You might still have use of your?—”

“Don’t.” Ji-Hoon shakes his head and peels the wrapper off his pastry. “Nothing good can come from obsessing over who’s more to blame. It’s pointless and I’m tired of it.”

“Wow.” It’s rare to hear Ji-Hoon so worked up. “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?”

I’m being sarcastic, but he ignores all that. His dark eyes blaze, forearms flexing on the table. “Okay, I will. Yeah, it’s a little comforting to know we don’t shoulder the entire burden of blame for what happened. Are you happy?”

“Why does everyone keep asking if I’m happy?”

“It’s a rhetorical question.” Ji-Hoon cocks his head. “Wait. Who else asked?”

“Uncle Korain. Last night.”

“And what did you say?”

One edge of my mouth tips up, despite my best effort not to smile. “I told him I was pretty happy in my car right before he banged on the window.”

Ji-Hoon guffaws, and we’re back to being dipshit brothers. What if we’d gone through our teen years together? Not navigating hospital stays and surgeries and our parents’ death, but normal teen stuff like dances and dates and backseat hookups.

“I’ve got another big date with Rosa.” He bites into his muffin, watching my reaction.

I shake myself back to our bakery table. “When?”

“Early next week. An overnight date this time.”

“No kidding?” That’s a big step. “Sounds serious.”

“Kinda.” His grin tells me he’s way more smitten than he’ll admit. “We’re spending a couple nights at Ponderosa Resort.”

“Over in Bend?”

“Yep.” He chews a mouthful of muffin. “Korain’s coming, too.”

“Ah. So notthatkind of overnight date.”

My brother rolls his eyes. “Korain’s staying at the lodge and I’ve got a private cabin, so yes—potentially ‘that kind of overnight date.’” He mocks me with air quotes, then shrugs. “It’s a two-bedroom cabin. I’ll leave it up to Rosa if she’s ready to take things to that level.”

I nod and take a gulp of oat milk. “You, uh…have what you need?”

My brother tilts his head. “You mean condoms, Viagra, cock rings, or an appointment for penile injection therapy?”

“Jesus, dude.” I glance around, but the café is blessedly empty. Behind the counter, Patti and Colleen stand measuring a shelf above the cash register. In the opposite corner, a very pregnant Police Chief Amy Lovelin sits eating a cinnamon roll as she scrolls on her phone.

Ji-Hoon’s laughing when I turn back to him. “What?” he asks, still chuckling. “You’re the only one who gets to be rudely blunt?”

“That’s not the same thing, and you know it.”

“Why?” He sounds truly perplexed. “Because I’m talking about sex?”

“Because it’s—” Crap. I’m not sure how I planned to finish that sentence.

“Awkward?” he supplies helpfully. “Too personal? Weird for strangers to contemplate if they’ve never wondered how a guy with paraplegia gets it up?”

“Aboutyou,” I argue, not sure I’m making the point I mean to make.

Ji-Hoon shakes his head. “I’m not embarrassed, Dal. It’s a fact of life. A fact ofmylife. There’s nothing shameful about me having a normal sexual relationship.” He flashes a smile that’s half cocky, half self-deprecating. “Normal for me, anyway.”

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