Page 73 of My Brother's Best Friends

“Agreed. Go again?” I suggest.

We queue for the next chair and hop on as soon as the bench swings around. As the chairlift crawls skyward, a fresh perspective settles over me. I don’t care that we’ve only recently reconnected with Makayla. I’m positive that she’s the right person for me, and for my brothers.

“I know you think I’m jumping the gun,” I begin, “but I really think we might have a future with Makayla.” Before Kellan can hit the brakes on me again, I lay out my argument for marriage and family. “When we first realized one woman could be the key to our happiness, none of us thought it would last. Realistically, how could three brothers and one wife ever pass as a nuclear family? But this one feels different. It’s not just a fun time or a fun few weeks; I really want to make things work with her.”

“I hear you,” Kellan says solemnly, “but there’s more than just the four of us to consider. We’re forgetting about Bryan. Their uncle, too. How are we going to explain our relationship to them, especially to Bryan? He knows we’ve taken a woman to bed between the three of us. He knows we do it for fun. Not for anything serious. Do you really think he’ll believe us when wetell him that we have serious intentions with his little sister? It’s a pipe dream.”

“He can’t be that obtuse, Kel. Come on, man—he’s known us for so long. He knows we follow through on every promise we make. He could always depend on us. Kay, too. She’d be happier and safer with us, anyway, not with some stranger. We would provide for her. We’d support her in everything that she sets out to do. I can’t believe he’d see things as so cut-and-dried.”

Kellan shakes his head reluctantly. “I just think you’re holding onto a dream. I can see the benefits, but I doubt her brother will. And in the absence of their parents… I’m sorry, Bryan’s blessing does matter. Maybe we just see where this thing is going, and we don’t worry about making it official just yet.”

“For how long do we keep it on the down-low, then? I don’t want Makayla looking at us and seeing no future together. A woman like her is rare to come by, Kel. Any man would be lucky to have her attention.”

Kellan doesn’t have a response. Maybe he’s happy with the way things are going, but I want that sort-of-official confirmation, provided only by Bryan’s blessing, that our quartet is in it for the long haul. I would shout it from the rooftops if polyamory wasn’t so frowned upon, truth be told.

“To be fair, getting Bryan’s blessing at some point in the future doesn’t sound as daunting as it would’ve been if their parents were still alive,” Kellan muses, then pinches the bridge of his nose. “God, that sounded awful.”

“Don’t worry, I know what you mean,” I say with a chuckle, glancing out at the wintry landscape. “Remember Makayla’shigh school graduation? Bryan helped her throw that big party…”

My brother nods. “I remember her dress.”

“Her commencement gown—white, one of her class colors.” I can almost see that version of her in my mind’s eye. “The boys wore green, and the girls wore white.”

Slowly, I slide back into the memory.

One of the straps of her dress had come loose and was hanging over her shoulder. I remember wanting to reach out and set it back on course but denying myself that pleasure. We weren’t an item at that point, and I was so much older than her. I was worried she would take it the wrong way.

“Is this anything like your graduation?” she asked me, unscrewing the top of a large bottle of Coke. I snuck my cup onto the counter and she poured me a glass too.

I didn’t know what to say at that point. She spent so much time following us around, I kind of took her for granted. But standing in the kitchen that afternoon, I was struck by her beauty.

Pulling myself into the present, I give Kellan a smile. “Even then, I knew I could fall hard for her.”

The chair lift reaches the top and we hop off.

“I’m just saying, brother… be careful. Let’s not get carried away,” he says.

“And I’m saying we’re not like other men. We’re built differently. Societal norms don’t apply to us, and we certainly don’t fall head-over-heels for every woman we share. That’s why I’m telling you—without a shadow of doubt—Makayla is different.”

“Maybe I don’t like hearing you talk this much sense,” Kellan grumbles.

We approach the top of the slope again, having nothing more to say on the subject. We’re about to start our descent when someone calls out to us. A familiar voice makes my stomach sink, and when I turn, it knots with repulsion.

Melanie glides closer—close enough that my first instinct is to raise a hand to keep her away.

“What do you want?” Kellan snaps.

“Hello to you, too,” Melanie says, as though we’re the rude ones. “Figured I’d get a few runs in since Callie’s off getting her nails done and Makayla’s MIA.”

“You need to stay away from Makayla,” I say. “Keep your bullshit to yourself.”

“Ah, so you don’t want me telling her what you did to me?” Melanie says sweetly.

Her smile doesn’t falter—proof of how easily she lies and how much she enjoys turning our lives into hell. It’s all a joke to her.

“We didn’t do anything to you that you didn’t consent to,” Kellan snarls. “And the fact that you told a judge we forced you is unforgivable.”

“Maybe for you,” Melanie says, flicking her hair. “But I’m trying to move past it. We’re all here together, so why not make the best of it?”

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