Page 2 of Rolling with my Best Friend's Brothers

Footsteps come from down the hall. Gabriel enters the room first. “Avery is our priority, but tell me you both didn’t pop boners the second Beatrix pulled her little bathing suit cover-up over her head and dropped it on the lounge chair. I can still see her tanned body like it was yesterday. And Mammoth, I remember you had just come outside and turned around and walked back inside the house. Did you go rub one out?”

I want to tell him to fuck off, but he’s not far from wrong. I try again to detour the conversation by pointing out the window. “It’s pouring down rain. Let’s make room for Beatrix to pull her car into the garage. We’ll help her unload, and get her on her way as fast as possible.”

Or hope that Avery’s right behind her because there’s nothing like seeing our sister’s belly that’s the size of the state-fair, blue-ribbon-winning pumpkin for erection control.

Avery’s reply comes through: I talked Beatrix into coming for lunch so you don’t have to make the trip. I’m going to hang out for a minute and say goodbye to my apartment. Be there soon.

Just when she’d established her independence, she’s giving it up. She struggled with the decision to move in, but we convinced her to do it for at least a few months since she’s taking a break from working at the diner and won’t have any income.

I guess we were so caught up in making sure our sister was stable, we didn’t think about how often her best friend would come around, and if that would ever happen without Avery present. Why do I feel like I could lose control? I’m a grown man who’s seen plenty of beautiful women without acting a fool.

Two

Beatrix

I label a box, add it to the stack by the front door, then pick up a dead houseplant from the windowsill. “Do you want to keep the pot?”

Avery grimaces and rubs her belly. “My hands will be full for a while.” She takes the plant and heads to the trash can, tossing it in, pot and all.

I go to her closet to gather the last few items. “One last box and you’ll be all packed.”

She watches from the doorway. Her brothers and I agreed that we didn’t want her to over-exert herself this far into the pregnancy, so we’re doing the packing and moving for her. She says, “Please come over for lunch.”

I busy myself gathering the stray hangers dotting the closet rod. I’ve successfully helped Avery pack her apartment and left the boxes for her brothers to pick up so I could avoid seeing them, but sooner or later, we’re going to cross paths since they built rooms onto their log cabin for her and the baby.

It’s easier not to think about them if I’m not in their air space. Even the thought of breathing in Gabriel’s musky cologne, Wyatt’s fresh-cut-wood scent from all of the log furniture they build, or the scent of leather that I first associated with Mammoth, and have since extended to all of them, can get me wound up. “I don’t want to be in the way with your brothers.”

“You won’t be. I’m doing mom practice. I found a crock-pot mac-and-cheese recipe. It’ll be ready when we get there, no extra work.”

Setting Avery’s roller skates in the box, I grab the last two purses and a few mismatched bedsheets. “Maybe another time. I have a camgirl call tonight, one of my big spenders.”

“You have to eat lunch. What time is your call?” She’s staring at her belly, rubbing a spot as if she just got kicked. She’s already in love with the baby even though she despises the daddy.

The good news is that he removed himself from Avery’s life, and as far as we know, he’s unaware that she’s pregnant. The bad news is that she’s on her own, aside from all the help her brothers and I offer. I’m torn about them offering to have her move in with them because I’ve had too many fantasies about all three of them, and an occasional lapse in judgment when I tried to get them to notice me. Once or twice, I allowed myself to believe that they felt the same way but Avery freaked out each time I let my fantasy dabble into reality. Distance has been my friend.

Avery would kill me if she knew how I felt about them, which is why it’s time to face my fear. “Lunch would be great.”

“Thank you. It means more than you know.”

I set the last box with the others and step in front of the window. “There’s a lull in the storm. I can fit these boxes in my car, so your brothers don’t have to come get them, but I’ll have to eat and run.”

Avery squeals. “As crappy as this apartment is, I loved living on my own, but you saw how the plant fared. Say a prayer that taking my brothers up on their offer to let me move in means my baby wouldn’t be better off raised by wolves.”

“You’ll be a great mom, and the living arrangement is temporary,” I say, to remind both of us of the last part. “Go on. I’ll load the boxes, lock up, and meet you at their place.”

“I need a few minutes to say goodbye.”

“Sure.” I nod and start shuffling the last of her stuff to my car.

One last trip back inside and I say, “The only thing left to pack is you.”

She takes a deep breath. “This is harder than I thought. Getting my own place was my big hurrah into adulthood, and I’m giving it up to move in with my bossy brothers. Is this all a big mistake?”

“Accepting help from family shows how strong you are, and how much you care about your baby.”

“It sounds fabulous when you say it, but they always controlled me and bossed me around, saying they were protecting me. I did everything I could to get away from them. The levels of irony aren’t lost. All the other girls our age wanted to get close to them. Ugh!”

I curse myself for not being able to fully appreciate her disdain for her brothers.

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