Page 31 of My Brother's Best Friends

“I couldn’t,” she objects.

“You should have fun here,” he insists. “Go down the slopes a couple times for me, and we’ll meet up later.”

“We can both go to the meeting. I’ll take notes so that the Andersons can read up on it later,” Callie offers. “I may not know all the technical terms you guys sling at each other on a daily basis, but I can still take minutes. Good minutes, might I add. Besides, that way, we get to spend more time together.”

Bryan looks at me, as if asking for my permission.

He doesn’t need it, and I can’t exactly put pressure on him to blow off work. Actually, I wish I could come along with him instead of Callie, but I know exactly what would happen if I did. Alex, Kellan, and Makayla might find an excuse to stay in the hotel suite alone together to finish what they started. They’ll say they couldn’t help it, that one thing led to another. I know that story all too well.

“Does that work for you?” Bryan asks me.

“Of course,” I respond. “I’m looking forward to getting out on the slopes, and what better way to do it than with all of my brothers and our lovely Makayla here?”

I look across the table and find both Kellan and Alex smiling broadly. The pair of them have no scruples. They’re just going to turn the screws until I finally give in. Joke’s on them though, I’m made of steel.

“Will you stay with us, though?” Makayla asks. “You know, instead of going off on the steep slope by yourself.”

I open my mouth, but no words come out. Of course I can’t leave her alone with my brothers. I’m too selfish where she’s concerned. But if I stay and watch her glide around in that tightsnowsuit, I’ll end up wanting to peel it off just to feel her skin against mine.

“Yes,” I manage.

“Fantastic! I consider this excellent progress. It puts us on the right track,” Kellan declares.

“The right track?” Bryan asks, understandably confused.

“The right slope, I mean,” Kellan chuckles.

Out of the three of us, he’s always been the most impulsive. He’s also gotten his heart broken one too many times, but that hasn’t stopped him, either. His blood runs hot, and I know that nothing makes him sizzle hotter than Makayla. I share the sentiment. He doesn’t share the long-term projections. Kellan lives more in the moment. Perhaps I live too much in the future. We should find the middle ground where Makayla is concerned.

“I should remind you,” Makayla says, “that I only skied a few times. I am incredibly clumsy and prone to disaster, as my brother can testify.”

“We’ll keep you alive,” Alex assures her. “There’s three of us and only one of you, Kay.”

Bryan laughs. “I remember… When we were kids… I mean, I was old enough to walk on my own, but Kay was still learning how to run without tumbling over. One time, our parents bought into that kiddie harness trend. They put Kay in one.”

“I don’t remember that,” Makayla mumbles, her eyes wide as she looks at her brother.

“Oh, you weren’t even three at the time,” he says. “This was a few years before they… you know. Anyway, we were at Disneyland,in Orlando. And Dad was adamant about keeping you in the harness. Mom had mixed feelings about the whole thing. They bickered at one point.

“And she unclipped the harness, telling Dad, ‘See? She’s sticking by our side. She’s overwhelmed by all these people, so she’s staying close where she knows it’s safe,’” he adds.

“Let me guess, she ran off,” Kellan chuckles.

“Kay bolted!” Bryan laughs. “I will never forget the look on Mom’s face. Luckily, Dad was fast enough. He caught up and brought the little munchkin back, but hearing you guys talk about Kay’s propensity for trouble just now… it made me remember. Sorry.”

“What did Mom say?” Makayla asks. Her pleading tone tells me they don’t talk about their parents much.

It makes sense. They were still little when the Dwyers passed away, but Bryan was old enough to remember most of their time together. Makayla wasn’t. Bryan once told us he gave her stacks of family photos because she kept forgetting what their parents looked like. It breaks my heart. It makes me want to reach around and hold her close.

“Mom?” Bryan comes down from a bout of laughter. “Mom was a proud woman, I’ll give her that. She said, and I quote… ‘Okay, the harness stays on, but you hold on to it. I want you to be the one who tells people that stop you that no, they can’t pet her.’”

The whole table bursts into heartfelt laughter, Makayla included. I see the tears glinting in her eyes, and it’s an endearing side she rarely shows. She misses them, she misses the life she would’ve had if her parents had lived.

Once we’re done and out of the restaurant, we part ways with the power couple, retracing our steps to the elevator.

No one is talking about the elephant in the room. A current of sexual tension hums between us, pulling us tight. I can almost see it—electricity arcing from heart to heart.

Makayla isn’t indifferent to it, either.

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