Page 68 of Everything's Better With You
I’ll see you later today. You’ll have to come get your monster truck keys from me at some point.
Always,
Joe
Leslie beamed through his workout and shower, grinned through his morning meds, smiled as he cheerfully greeted Agnes for breakfast, and even laughed at his brother’s antics.
“What crawled up your ass and made you happy this morning? Wait…don’t tell me—”
“Randall Lee Payton, you watch your mouth.” Agnes lightly smacked Randy upside the head. Then she laughed when he found egg in his hair and stomped back upstairs to clean up again.
“You seem much better than you have most mornings lately. You have a good time last night?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“You’re just as bad as him. Joe drove me home, did an acupressure treatment for my migraine, and then he tucked me into bed. That’s it, you pervs.”
Sandy chuckled over his coffee and morning spreadsheets. “I didn’t say a word. I wish you would have told me you weren’t feeling well before we took off last night. It’s a good thing Joe was there. I think from now on one of us should drive you home at night—”
“Oh, come on. Let me enjoy a morning of wellness before you start mothering me.” He saw the look of hurt on Sandy’s face and went right to his side. “Hey, thank you, Brother Sandy. I appreciate everything you do for me, but I don’t want to be a burden on you guys. I hate that, you know? It was bad enough Joe had to see me like that.”
“He knows, though, right?” Agnes had lost her teasing smile and was dead serious. “About the TBI? You told him, didn’t you?”
Leslie’s smile deflated. “He knows I have migraines. That’s as much as I’ve told him.”
Agnes tapped a long manicured finger against her spatula several times and stared.
“What? If things get worse or we get more serious, I’ll tell him. I promise.” His eyes burned and his chest squeezed. “I just want a little more time.”Time to make Joe fall in love with me and stay, time to get this under control, time to live my life before I’m not me anymore.
“Just be fair to him,” she said, looking down at her scrambled eggs. “Most likely, he’s not going to care. If he knows what’s good for him, it won’t matter. Just be fair.” She set down the spatula and walked out of the kitchen.
“Fuuuuuuu,” Leslie said, leaning against the counter.
“What’d I miss?” Randy said, coming back in the kitchen tucking inhis Jackets coaching polo. “I’m not sure white was the best color, dude. I better stock up on stain remover.”
“You ready for today?” Sandy asked Les, his gaze unsure.
“Yeah. I’m ready. I feel good. Steady. No funky lights or auras, not even a stiff neck. I feel really good. Let’s go start our semester, huh? Go Jackets!”
“Go Jackets!” his brothers shouted. They all high-fived and Randy caught the end of the spatula, flipping it up until it splatted against his chest.
“Dammit! That was my last white one! I’m not going to be matching you guys.” He pouted as he pulled it off over his head.
“Fine, grab one of mine,” Sandy said. “But you better throw all of the dirty ones in the wash before we go.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Randy said, stomping out of the kitchen.
“You’re really okay?” Sandy asked. “Joe stayed a long time. I saw him leave around one. He was smiling.”
Leslie’s grin was back. “Victory is within my grasp.”
Sandy looked him up and down. “Your shoelace is untied.”
“Huh?”
Leslie looked down at his bare feet.
Sandy shrugged. “Made you look.”
Nineteen
