Page 58 of Golden Rule

“More like hopped on a bus, but… what are big brother’s for, right?”

He sets his things down again, then peers up. I follow his gaze to the gigantic chandelier hanging above.

“Shit, I heard you upgraded, but I didn’t realize you guys went all flashy on me.”

I roll my eyes as I lock the door, knowing the part about West and Iupgradingcame from none other than Scar.

“Shut up. It’s just a house.”

Laughing, Hunter shoots me a look. “The fuck itis.”

I give him a few seconds to take it all in. Finding our dream house was the cherry on top of getting back to our roots, and we didn’t skimp. From the coded gate at the end of the long drive, to the large, statuesque fountain in the front yard, to the sheer size of the home itself, it’s safe to say this was our grandest purchase to date.

“Damn,” he says, and I smile despite feeling a bit self-conscious. But then the feeling fades when Hunter’s gaze locks with mine. He doesn’t speak, but I know what he’s thinking. He’s trying to reconcile how we grew up with nothing, and that somehow turned into living likethis.

It’s one of the many reasons I wake up grateful every morning.

“Want to take your bags up to one of the spare rooms? You can take your pick of the four,” I offer. “We haven’t furnished any of them yet, but we’ve got an air mattress with your name on it.”

“Thanks, but I’m not staying.”

I’m pretty sure my face gives away my disappointment.

“I’ll be in town for a while, and I don’t want to be in the way. Although… I’m pretty sure that’d be next to impossible seeing as how this place looks like a damn hotel,” he adds with a smile, looking around at the size of the house again. “But I already worked things out with Dusty. I’ll be crashing on his couch.”

I make a mental note of the fact that he asked our uncle instead of our father, but I won’t bring it up. There’s so much sordid history between those two, it would take a lifetime of therapy to get through it all.

“Well,thatsucks.”

“If I’d been able to call you first, I’d take you up on the spare room, but I wanted to surprise you.”

My frown fades, slowly turning into a smile again, because it’s agreatsurprise, actually.

Hunter pushes his bags out of the way, and I gesture straight ahead toward the living room.

“Want to sit?”

“Is there a dress code? Because I left my suit jacket in the Uber.”

I laugh, slapping his arm as we start walking. “Stop being an idiot.”

“Just making sure I don’t piss off management.”

I’m still smiling when he lowers onto the couch. I move my laptop from where I left it when I hopped up to answer the door, then drop down on the opposite end.

“So, the appointment was today, right?”

I nod. “It was.”

“Everything went okay?”

To most, it wouldn’t be a big deal that my brother is asking these questions, but Hunter notoriously avoids all personal conversation. He’s never been one to handle the emotions of others very well, so I appreciate him stepping outside his comfort zone.

“Things went… as good as I could’ve expected.”

“But?”

He knows me well.

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