Page 82 of The MC's Little Brother

“Hey,” Skylar greeted. Something in her voice made me frown, and I stepped a little farther away from Zoey.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Sort of. Um, we have cameras around the house, and Butch was checking them when he noticed something from last night. It looked like Xander was crying alone in the backyard for a while. I’m just calling in case you didn’t know? I know he’s going through a lot and I don’t want him suffering alone.”

No one had mentioned it to me, but then again, I’d been at the hospital all night. I looked at my watch with a frown. He was probably at school right now, so I’d have to wait to check in with him.

“Thanks for telling me. I’ll talk to him when I get home tonight. He’s at school right now.”

It felt weird to call it home since I didn't technically live there, but not a bad weird. I had been thinking on and off about what Mattias said about me moving in. He was ready whenever I was. It was elating and a little terrifying how fast things were moving with us. I had wanted this for forever and I was worried about making a wrong move and ruining us before we were even truly established. We hadn’t even gone on a real date yet.

“Are you still at the hospital?”

I hummed, glancing back at Zoey. She was cuddling her stuffed bunny that matched one that Gracie had. They were both overjoyed that they matched when I bought them those. They carried them everywhere.

“I stuck around to support Maggie and technically, my shift started an hour ago. I’m starving,” I pouted.

She snickered. “I’ll send Butch with your favorite donuts. You deserve it after coming through for us last night.”

Snickering, I peeked into the hall towards the nurse’s station. Mattias was there, looking all drool-worthy and perfect, and he had a familiar box in his hand.

“You can hold off on that. Looks like another biker came to my rescue.”

She laughed and teased me a little, but I did the same thing when she first moved in with Butch. Theirs was a whirlwind romance, and they were playing house after only a couple months of knowing each other, some of which were spent in different cities while Skylar tried to make it work with Gracie and Malcolm’s biological dad. I teased her about jumping into the deep end with both feet. It was only fair that she teased me back.

I sobered a little, biting my lip as I looked at Mattias again. “Hey, how crazy would it be if I moved in with him permanently?”

“Considering the way he’s been looking at you for years, I’m surprised you’re not married and pregnant already, honestly.”

That cracked me up and my laugh caught Mattias’s attention. I blew him a kiss and wiggled his fingers, but didn’t beckon him over. He and Wyatt were still weird with each other, and I didn’t know if my stupid big brother wanted him to join us.

“Alright, troublemaker. I’m going to get back to it. Kiss the babies for me.”

“Tell me how that conversation goes. I want to know if I need to buy you a housewarming present.”

“Bye Skylar,” I laughed, hanging up. Right as the door to the elevator opened and Maggie and Wyatt stepped out. Oh hell, this should be fun.

The bars were up for Zoey’s bed, but I didn’t want to leave her alone, so I beckoned Maggie with a wave. She left Wyatt and Mattias to stand around awkwardly, glancing over her shoulder a few times with a frown.

“What’s he doing here? Did he come to talk to Wyatt?” she asked.

“No, I’m pretty sure he’s here to see me. Can you stay here? I don’t like littles in those big beds by themselves.”

She nodded and went to join her daughter, still frowning at the pair by the elevator. After I was sure Zoey was safe, I jogged out to join them, catching the tail end of the pure awkwardness of the conversation.

“She worked late. Figured she’d be hungry,” Mattias grumbled.

“Thanks… I was going to pick her up something after we got discharged. I felt bad making her stay.”

They went quiet again, avoiding eye contact with each other. I couldn’t stop myself from commenting.

“Wow. This is so awkward, I feel like medical intervention is necessary. Wyatt, do you seriously still have a bug up your butt about us?”

That got me a dirty look from Wyatt, but I just smirked at him. Even when he threw a tantrum as epic as he had, he was still my older brother. He loved me and I loved him. His idiot moments included.

And, because he loved me, he very awkwardly admitted, “Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t notice you two hovering around each other.” His spine straightened, and he frowned at Mattias. “How long exactly have you been together?”

I rolled my eyes, but Mattias answered before I could snark at him. “A couple of weeks. I didn’t want to start anything without talking to you first.”

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