Page 48 of Right in Front of You

“I worked the late shift,” I said, but it didn’t seem like either of them heard me.

“So, what’s it to you if she’s talking to someone?” Carter remained in Max’s face, and it didn’t seem like he wanted to take a step back.

“Okay, this is getting out of control. Max, go to your room.” Boy, did I ever sound like my mother. “Carter, sit.” And a dog groomer.

As Max bent down to pick up his towel, somewhat pushing Carter out of the way, he inadvertently flashed me his goods. I guessed it was true what Carter had previously said jokingly about firefighters: that they had longer hoses.

Wait, Max was not a firefighter. Was Carter’s hose just as long?

Stop it!

Once Max left to change in my room, I plopped down on the couch and stretched my legs out. I was so wrong to have thought that my day full of emergencies was over when I finished my shift. Carter pulled out a flask and took another swig. Who in their right mind carried beer in a flask? My insides twisted with both disgust and memories from the past. Just the smell of it, which I remembered on my father’s breath, turned my stomach. He finally sat down on the stool at the kitchen table, nearly falling over. Maybe he wasn’t as ready as I’d thought.

“I can’t believe you’d put out for my brother.”

What the fuck?

“Leave, you asshole!” I pointed to the front door. Did he seriously think he could talk to me like that? What was it I’d thought about his maturity earlier? Because it was definitely not there.

For a brief moment, when our gazes connected, I thought Carter would come to his senses and apologize. I thought that there was a chance he’d finally break through all those walls we’d both kept up over the years and make everything right between us. Instead, he took another swig from his flask, and left.

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