Page 38 of When I'm Gone

It’s an effort not to groan. “Something you’d like to say, sis?”

She hums. “Oh nothing, it just looks like we walked in on something.”

“Nope. Just drinking coffee.”

“Because friends love zero personal space before caffeine.” Sassy for someone wearing fuzzy pink pajama pants, but what do I know?

Luckily, Easton is oblivious. I level my sister with a glare which she returns with an innocent shrug and lets the subject drop. Eventually, Parker and Emerson filter out, yawning and rubbing their eyes blearily. Mom is the last one up, which is no surprise. She’d miss her own funeral if it was before ten a.m.

When Parker resembles something akin to a human, he says Dad is just getting started on breakfast and asks me to go with him to the gym before it’s ready. Leaving Easton alone with my mom and Logan seems like a risk, but when I nudge him, he only looks up briefly before waving me off. Him and Sage have a real project going on it seems so I leave them to it.

We wave to Dad as we pass him, who’s very preoccupied getting cinnamon rolls in the oven. He spoils us. Parker and I separate momentarily to change clothes but we’re on our way out fairly quickly considering he was still mostly asleep ten minutes ago.

“So, Brady must be fucking stoked,” Parker says as we walk. The gym is only five blocks up so dealing with the limited parking was not worth it.

“Um, yeah. He’s glad to know that Easton is okay for sure.”

Parker pauses. “Kinda surprised he didn’t come, especially with his birthday right around the corner.”

Goddamn. What is with these people today? “He decided to hang back this time. Give Easton a chance to get acclimated and all that.”

“That makes sense.”

I make a noncommittal noise and he thankfully leaves it alone. Parker has always been the energizer bunny out of us all. He’s go, go, go, and usually is pretty nosy. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll take whatever he finds out to the grave, but he is going to try and get it out of you so he can help. Logan’s mini-me, without a doubt. All of us are step-ladder kids, each one born right after the other, so while they are my greatest annoyances, my siblings are also my best friends. It took us a while to get here, so long we almost gave up on the possibility, but there’s no going back now. I much prefer Parker calling me three times a day to update me on the menial shit that’s happened in the last six hours than the isolation I felt as a kid when he was right across the hall and I didn’t know how to talk to him.

Emerson and Logan too, they’re a pain in the ass but I’m the only one allowed to think that.

We almost are at the gym before he speaks again. “Why do we all have gender neutral names?” I wish he hadn’t.

I bark a laugh. “Do you ever get tired of saying weird shit out of nowhere?”

A grin splits his face. “No. So, anyway, why do you think Mom and Dad did that?”

“I don’t think mine is, Park.”

He holds the door open for me as we walk inside, immediately ready to defend his position. “Nah, Chase could totally be a girl's name.” He keeps going even as he racks his weights. “You don’t see it? I totally can.”

It’s an effort not to roll my eyes. “Shut up before you drop that on your neck, dumbass.”

He brings the weight to his chest and back up with a smirk. “Worrywart.”

We bicker the entire time we work out, Parker egging me on to add more weights or do extra reps and me doing thesame to him because I’ll be damned if I’m the only one suffering this morning. Competitive little fucker.

By the time we’re done, my arms are jello and I’m drenched in sweat. Parker is acting smug as shit, but I saw how he winced when he pulled the door open. It is going to be a fucking scorcher in Illinois today. The heat index already has it feeling like you’re inhaling steam when you breathe and it’s not even noon. The walk home is going to be so fun.

Easton not having a fully-functional phone is really starting to bother me, if only for the reason I can’t stop thinking about how he’s doing at home. Borrowing one I had no intention of ever taking out of its desk drawer grave is one thing, but worrying he won’t be able to get in touch with me because he’s out of WiFi range is not working for me. I don’t know if it’s a financial thing or what else could be the reason behind it, but I’m gonna start breaking out in hives soon if we don’t figure this out.

Parker nudges me with his shoulder. “Hey.”

Dude, we just spent almost an hour together.“Hey, what?”

“Can I come visit for the Fourth of July?”

“Maybe,” I say. “Why do you want to?”

He sighs heavily. “Well, the thing is, this girl I’m seeing is getting a little clingy and wants me to go to Montana with her to go boating with her family for the holiday, and I don’t wanna. So I lied and said you and Brady always go all out in Washington and we already made plans.”

Did I say he was my pain in the ass? Because, surely, there’s a return policy. “Sure, Park. Come whenever. But have you considered just breaking up with what's-her-face?”

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