Page 5 of My Best Friend's Brother
“Uh, sorry to interrupt.” Her curious gaze rested on Pete. “I’m here to grab some stuff for the girls’ bunk?”
“It’s here.” Pete pointed to the table where he’d stacked a couple of piles of sheets and pillows.
“Take some toiletries too.” Titus gestured to his own pile. “And welcome home, Keke. It’s good to see you again.”
Keke ducked her head shyly, or maybe meekly. “Thanks, Mr. Headley.”
Pete cocked his head to one side. He had never seen Keke act shy before. Ever.
He grabbed one pile while Keke took the other. “I’m going there too.” He led the way out.
“Still playing video games?” Keke teased.
“Yup.”
“Clearly your dad thinks you should grow up.”
Pete whirled, nearly causing Keke to slam into him. “You don’t know anything about it.”
Keke took a step back, her expression startled. “No. No, I don’t.”
Pete resumed his trek to the bunk. “He doesn’t understand why it’s important to me, and I don’t get it. Why can’t he accept I’m different and be happy for me?”
“Be happy that you want to play video games all day?”
Pete groaned loudly. “That’s not even accurate.”
“Did I hear him, correctly? You got into Cornell?” Keke hurried to match his pace. She stared at him with astonishment. “Petey, that’s incredible! Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled. He’d rather be congratulated on getting a meeting with Warp Entertainment.
Warp Entertainment was a rapidly growing game company that rivaled the major ones that had already cornered the market on strategy fantasy games and first-person shooters. Warp wanted to dominate the gaming world only played on phones. A ton of apps existed, but nothing that had the sophistication of Warp’s. A lot of their storylines focused on space exploration, and Pete had been an avid Star Trek fan since conception.
“You’re not excited? That’s an Ivy League school.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“You know how many peopledon’tget accepted? I’d frame that letter if I was you.”
“I only got a partial scholarship. You got a full ride to your school.”
Keke nodded. “Yeah, I did, but it wasn’t Ivy League. It wasn’t even one of the top twenty dance programs in the nation. But yeah, it was a full ride, and it got me out of this place.” She looked around like she’d been transported onto an alien planet. He knew the feeling.
Pete stared at Keke’s lovely, heart-shaped face. “I want out, too.”
“Don’t blame you.”
“My dad wants me to go to school so I can come back here and, I dunno, start some firm and help keep this camp alive.”
“Is the camp in trouble?”
Pete halted in the doorway.
A girl with thick, blonde hair cascading over her shoulders bent over a bed, smoothing out the wrinkles in the sheets.
Lea…
