Page 69 of The Chad Next Door
“Upstairs,” I tell Brooklyn. I ignore Micah’s question for now, turning back to Houston. “If you really want me to tell you, I can—”
“No.” He swallows. “No, I need to focus on my interview with Tamlin today.”
Micah squeals. “You’re seeing Tamlin today? She’s awesome!”
Houston growls, running his hands through his hair. “Iknowshe’s awesome.”
“Last week you hated her,” Brooklyn points out. “Besides, aren’t you dating Darcy?”
I really wish I hadn’t missed trivia night. From what I’ve gathered, all three of my siblings had a lot happen the last couple of weeks—they were all single before I went to Laketown and now they’re not—but I would have liked to meet Tamlin and seen their chemistry for myself. If Houston’s reaction to the video yesterday meant anything, he’s more interested in her than he should be, given her profession.
That’s dangerous.
“Hou,” I say.
He shakes his head. “I don’t want to know. I want to figure this out on my own. Ineedto.”
“We are gettingoff topic,” Micah says, waving Houston’s angst away like it’s nothing. “Our big brother just told us he’s planning to get married after knowing this girl for less than a month, and we need to talk him out of it!”
“Why?” Brooklyn and Houston ask at the same time.
Micah blinks, glancing between the twins. “Seriously? How am I the one questioning this?”
She makes a good point. Micah is the queen of love stories. She sees love everywhere, even between strangers, and she’s always wanted a perfect love story. I’m not so sure she got that with Fischer, but she does seem happy. Whoever he is—I will definitely be doing more digging—he did something right when it comes to my baby sister.
Brooklyn shrugs, and her eyes stray over to Jordan, who seems to sense that she’s looking at him because he looks right back and gives her a broad smile. That’s a pairing I never would have predicted, but they have history. That history might have been rough at times—Jordan has grown up a lot since his high school days—but it seems to have been good for their new relationship. Not sure how Houston feels about his best friend making eyes at his twin sister, but Brook is happy.
Just like Micah.
It’s not like I would ever want to give up my whirlwind love story with Hope, but I hate how much I missed while I was gone. These three have stories that I need to hear before I’ll ever be comfortable with them falling in love.
“Micah, you’ve only known Fischer for a few weeks,” Brooklyn says once she tears her eyes away from Jordan. “Houston fell in love with Darcy pretty much the minute he met her.”
“I did not,” Houston grumbles, turning bright red. I didn’t even know Houston knew how to love, with the way he’s gone from girlfriend to girlfriend. But based on how he looked at Darcy when they were here on Halloween, it’s obvious he fell hard and fast. That’s what makes the Tamlin thing so interesting.
“I think I was doomed the minute Jordan gave me a concussion,” Brooklyn continues.
I choke. “WHAT?” I’m halfway to my feet before Brooklyn and Micah both grab my arms, tugging me back down.
At least Jordan looks properly terrified. “It was an accident,” he tells me, holding his hands up. “I promise I took good care of her.”
“Too good of care,” Houston mumbles, probably not as quietly as he intended because he turns red as soon as he sees Jordan’s glare. “Sorry.”
Jordan folds his arms. “We cool?”
“We’re cool.”
I’m not so sure they’recool, depending on how Brooklyn and Jordan ended up together. Again, I’m sort of cursing the fact that I missed everything in the few weeks that I was gone, but now her phone call makes more sense. She called me the night I made spaghetti with the kids, and she mentioned Jordan, though I never quite figured out why she would bring him up. Understandably, my attention was quickly pulled…elsewhere.
“Chad, I’m fine.” Brooklyn pats my arm. “Outside of the concussion and the sprained ankle, Jordan has been so good for me.”
I raise an eyebrow, pleased to see Jordan flinch when he meets my gaze. “Sprained ankle?” I growl.
He swallows, looking at Fischer as if hoping to get some backup. But Fischer has already proven he’s smart enough to stay on my good side, and he keeps his mouth shut.
I should finish this conversation before things go too far off the rails. Preferably before Hope loses patience and comes barreling down the stairs to introduce herself before I can make my arguments to my siblings. I don’t want them to think I’m making a mistake by jumping into things so quickly, even if that’s exactly what all of my siblings are doing.
“Look,” I say to my siblings, rubbing my jaw. “The only reason I’m telling you three about my intentions is because I don’t want you to worry about me.”
