Page 23 of Back to You

“Like you’re being dragged naked over thumbtacks and then dipped in lemon juice.”

Well, that was a pretty apt description of how it felt to go shopping, Brandon mused. The whole process had many of Brandon’s least favorite things — decisions, perky sales staff and people. But Michelle had decreed that he needed new clothes, so here he was.

“Why do I need new clothes again?” Brandon said.

“Because you’ve gone from fashionably ripped into homeless territory. I swear I can almost see through half your shirts these days. Also, I bet my house that you need new underwear and socks.”

“Jesus, Michelle.”

“What? Tell me your underwear isn’t threadbare. Tell me your socks don’t have more holes than Swiss cheese.”

Brandon started to talk, then thought better of it.

“Yeah, I thought so. You forget, I’m married to a man. I know how you all are, never throwing away anything even when it’s no longer wearable. The only reason Steven doesn’t have to worry about his clothes is that most of the time he’s in uniform.”

“Fine,” Brandon groused. “Why did I bring you? You’re mean.”

“Hey, not my fault you need someone to hold your hand. I can’t believe Ethan has been letting you get away with looking like this for so long. He always looks so perfect.”

“Yeah, well, not like he’s had time to notice my wardrobe. Ugh, sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up. I feel like such a whiny baby lately, I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about it.”

“Hey, none of that,” Michelle said, stopping and turning to face him. “First, I’m always happy to talk about anything you need to talk about. Second, I definitely owe you for how many times I’ve bitched about Steven being deployed so much. Like, I know I signed up for this when I married an Army guy, but still.”

“He’ll be home soon,” Brandon said, patting Michelle’s shoulder. He felt like a hug might be appropriate, but the siblings definitely were not the hugging type. He didn’t want Michelle to shred him.

“So how did Sunday go?”

“It was great until it wasn’t. His boss called, and that just sent us over the edge. We had a pretty bad argument.”

“Well, that was inevitable. Did you resolve anything?”

“He just asked me to be patient a while longer. I can try, I mean, he’s the love of my life. What’s a little more patience?”

“I agree, just don’t lose sight of what you need in the meantime. I want Ethan for you, B. He’s amazing, and I really think he’s your other half. But I won’t hesitate to put my foot up his ass if he keeps taking you for granted.”

“Love you, too, sis.”

They reached the men’s section of the department store where they’d ended up. Michelle made a beeline for the jeans while Brandon started unenthusiastically perusing the t-shirt selection. He tended toward black shirts, generally.

“Nope, I refuse to let you just pick five black shirts and call it a day. Pick some colors too. And not just navy blue,” Michelle said without turning around.

“How did you know what I was looking at?”

“Mom powers.”

Brandon rolled his eyes, but started selecting some non-offensive colored shirts.

“Hi, how can I help you today?” cried a voice behind him.

“Jesus!” Brandon nearly leapt out of his skin.

“Looking for t-shirts? These are all 100% distressed cotton, very comfortable!”

Brandon turned to see a young woman standing behind him with a huge fake smile on her face. Her name tag revealed her to be “Bethany.”

Oh God, not a sales associate. Brandon was low-key terrified of sales people. Some of them were so pushy. He just wanted to shop unmolested.

“Or we have these moisture wicking shirts — they’re very popular, especially if you’re looking for outdoor gear.”

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