Page 7 of From Our First

He shook his head. “Either way, we both agree that the third movie of each trilogy is the worst. It is the curse ofX3.”

I grimaced. “It is. So maybe we should skip those and move on to the next set and pretendX3never existed.”

“That is what we’ve always decided. And stop distracting me. Tonight, you need to go on a date.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s the pact sisters. The girls do blind dates.”

“Yes, and I think it ended up quite nicely so far,” Prior said, smiling dreamily.

If I didn’t get Prior out of here soon, he would start talking about Paris and get even more blissful, and I’d have to deal with the sickly sweetness of it all.

I didn’t begrudge my brother’s happiness. Hell, I was one of the first in our family to like the guy that our little sister, Arden, married. Arden was my twin, but she was so much smaller and frailer, that I thought of her as the baby.

Every single one of my siblings was happy and either married or engaged. They were already talking about adoptions and pregnancies, and Macon even had a son with Dakota since the two were already working on the paperwork to make Joshua a Brady legally.

Everybody was taking steps into their futures, but I was at a stalemate. I was fine with that, though. I didn’t need a future of happiness and marriage and babies. That was simply what society told the world a person needed.

“Why are you sitting there staring into space?” Prior asked.

“I was just thinking about societal norms. I don’t need to conform. We are in a new age where we can follow whatever paths we want to.”

“Of course. But first, you’re going to follow the pact rules.” Prior gave a tight nod.

I frowned. “I thought Cross and Macon were the bossy ones. Where do you get off?” At Prior’s leer, I gave a full-body shudder. “Let me rephrase that.”

“I’m not going to talk about that right now. Especially since we’ve already discussed Paris today.”

I made a gagging sound. “Thank you. I hate this. I need to go burn this room so I never have to think about it again.”

“This is your house. You don’t need to burn it. Maybe burn some sage or throw some salt in the corners. You’re fine.” Prior grinned. “However, as I was saying, you can go and do whatever societal norms you want.Afteryou do this.”

“I’m not going on another date. I’m fine. I went on a date like three weeks ago.”

“You attended a business dinner with a couple of your clients who are married to each other and you were the third wheel. Unless you’re entering into a triad situation. If that’s what you truly decide, then we support you. But you’re going on a date tonight.”

“What if I had plans?” I asked.

“You’re Nate. If you had plans, it would have been with one of us, and we already talked. You don’t have plans.”

“I have friends other than you,” I said, affronted.

“Whatever you say. I believe you. Especially with you leaving the house all the time since you now work from home.”

I clenched my jaw, and Prior had the grace to wince. “Fuck. That’s not what I meant. I know that you love your current job, and you left your old one for medical reasons. I wasn’t insinuating anything. Shit. I’m sorry. Let’s start over.”

“I know you didn’t mean anything by it. I don’t need to be an EMT anymore. I do just fine as a copywriter. It’s a completely different path than I thought I would be on, but…here we are. I like my life. I have a steady job. I’m saving for retirement. I need to pay for my medical insurance, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“That’s always here, but I digress,” Prior began. “It’s time for you to find somebody. You don’t need to fall in love on the first date, just get out of the house.”

“Why is it that happy couples want to set up all of their single friends?”

My brother scowled. “You helped push Macon in the right direction, why are you hesitating now?”

“I pushed Macon because he was madly in love with Dakota and refused to see it.”

Prior shook his head. “Okay, that’s a good reason. However, you saw a good outcome with that. Why don’t you think you can have a good one?”

Because I already had one.

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