Page 33 of The MC's Little Brother

“Had to be sure I was awake. For the record, I like snarky Wraith. He’s fun to poke at. But I appreciate the thought.”

A low chuckle escaped him, sending a thrill through me. If Wraith’s smiles were rare, his laughs were even more so. Butterflies filled my belly, and I had to stuff down the urge to flirt. Off limits, off limits, off limits.

Maybe if I repeated it enough, I’d get it through my head.

I decided to stop while I was ahead, heading downstairs and away from the stupid crush that wouldn't go away, no matter how much I dated and tried to forget it. I almost wanted to challenge the rule, since Wyatt was in a relationship with my best friend, but it wasn’t the same thing. I hadn’t seen Maggie in years and we were only friends in college. Wyatt and Wraith had been friends since they were kids. He wasn’t a long-lost friend I was getting reacquainted with. Even if I thought I could get away with it, I doubted Wraith would go for it anyway. Bro code and all of that nonsense.

Resigned to an unrequited crush, I pushed the thought out of my mind. I needed to focus on what was right in front of me. Somehow getting two brothers who seemed to have vastly different personalities to open up to each other.

If I pulled it off, I felt like I deserved a medal.

Thankfully, Wraith had started the coffee machine before he came upstairs. It was already percolating. I got out a mug and filled it while considering what we could do that day. When I explained to my boss why I needed more days off, she was more than happy to give me the time. I didn’t take time off often anyway, so I guess I had some days saved up. Which meant I had the time. I just needed ideas. Maybe I could get some of the crew involved. Not all of them. That was too overwhelming for Xander last time. But a couple probably had the time to come over. It’d take the pressure off Wraith and hopefully give the brothers the opportunity to–

Oh. That was an excellent idea. And I would totally laugh my ass off throughout the whole thing.

Picking up my phone, I scrolled through what was available in the area. There wasn’t much, it was a small town, but there was a college just on the edge of it, so there was stuff around there that was set up to entertain the masses so they didn’t have hundreds of bored college kids hanging around every weekend. There was only one place that fit what I was looking for, but it would definitely get the brothers to loosen up aroundeach other.

I made a few phone calls to see who was available and made a reservation at a time when everyone was free, hanging up just as Wraith came back downstairs to join me. I slipped my phone into my pocket, giving him an innocent look as I sipped my coffee. From the look on his face, he didn’t suspect a thing.

This was going to be so much fun.

20

Wraith

Melissa was up to something. She had this mischievous little smirk on her face whenever she thought no one was paying attention. She didn’t say anything outright, but she made a few vague comments about going somewhere before lunch and needing company. If she wasn’t doing her best to help with Xander, I’d call her out on it. But he trusted her, and she was obviously doing something right, so I decided to just go with it. Whatever she had planned couldn’t be that bad.

“Let’s boogie,” she called from the door, bouncing on her toes impatiently.

I reached for my helmet automatically, but she smacked my hand to stop me and waggled her finger. “Nope. You don’t know where we’re going. You can handle being in the car for one day.”

Making a face, I reached for my patience. “Not in your car. It’s too small.”

“So scoot the seat back,” she suggested with a shrug. “It’s not far. Suck it up, buttercup. Xander? You coming?”

She ignored my irritated noise, looking up the stairs. I looked too. Xander had gone up a while ago to get dressed for the day, but he hadn’tcome back down yet. Mel and I both shot each other questioning looks, but neither of us seemed to know what was going on.

When he didn’t come downstairs or acknowledge us, we headed up together to check on him. We found him on the floor of his room in front of his duffle, his legs hugged to his chest and a deep frown on his face.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Mel asked, moving to squat beside him.

He shook his head, burying his face against his knees. While Mel tried to get him to talk, I looked around the room for clues. He hadn’t done much to the space yet, but little things were out, like the laptop I got him on his desk and the deodorant on the dresser. Even stuff he must’ve brought with him, like two well-worn books lying on the nightstand. The only thing that wasn’t put away was the bag full of clothes that he’d brought with him. When I looked at the bag and saw the stained baggy clothes inside, I made an educated guess. He didn’t unpack them because he didn’t like them. We hadn’t gone shopping for new clothes yet. And he hadn’t asked to wash them either.

Without a word to the other two, I headed downstairs. He was too small to fit into my clothes, but too big on him was better than dirty, ripped, or stained. I grabbed one of my t-shirts, a pair of sweats, and a sweatshirt, bringing them back upstairs to Xander’s room.

“Here.”

Mel looked curious, and nudged Xander to get him to look up, too. He frowned at the stack in my hand, taking it uncertainly.

“I’ll get you new stuff after whatever Mel has planned.”

He shook his head rapidly. “You don’t have to–”

“Yeah, Xander. I do. You should have clothes you like. It’s no problem. I can afford it.”

It still didn’t look like he was any closer to agreeing, but Mel was quick to swoop in, hugging his shoulders. “Why don’t we just look? I love shopping and wouldn’t mind an excuse to look around. Maybe we can find something for this one that isn’t all black.” She tipped her head toward me, smirking at him.

He still looked uncertain, but he reluctantly agreed and when he came out of his room wearing my clothes, he at least looked a little less like he was swimming in his clothes. I was a lot taller than him, but his clothes had to bexxl to fit him like they had. Maybe they were Jorge’s before Xander got them.

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