Page 129 of Things Left Unsaid

I swear he should patent that expression.

“No reason you can’t be. I think she’d be good for you.”

“Since when are you a romantic?”

He scowls. “I’m not.”

“Sounds like it to me,” I mutter as he hunches his shoulders and slouches over to the house.

It’s a habit to watch him until he’s inside. I’ll never forget that time he was twelve and almost got run over by a pickup truck because he was watching his feet more than his surroundings.

Scratching my chin, I turn my attention to the pasture.

I already know Theo won’t hire this guy seeing as he can barely stay in his saddle. Imbecile’s trying for a job on a ranch and he looks like he has motion sickness.

“Next,” I holler at Theo, impatient with how he’s coddling the idiot.

Then, because Callan’s contagious, I glower at nothing.

I don’t need my little brother to set me up with my wife.

Iknowshe’s awesome and beautiful?—

Jesus, I hate it when he’s right.

Zee

We Didn’t Start The Fire - Fall Out Boy

“You finished?”

Turning my head so I can see Callan in the doorway, I nod. “Gimme five.”

“Sure thing.”

He steps into my bedroom, meandering over to the window where he looks onto the ranch.

In the time I’ve been here, I’ve grown used to Callan hanging out with me. Not only do I not mind because I’m used to Tee hovering while I work, but I like the kid.

Sure, his candor is borderline offensive, but he’s kind. And he always seems to know when I’m having a bad day.

It’s uncanny.

Today, however, it appears that he’s the one in a mood.

Once I’ve finished the email I was working on—a deep dive into a complaint against the strip club in West Orange that the Satan’s Sinners own—I twist in my chair and stretch a kink in my spine.

“You look pensive.”

“I heard your alert earlier,” he comments.

“Sorry. I know it’s annoying. Tee set it to a crying baby because she knows that’ll make me react fastest.”

“I know Colt has apps on his phone that monitor your blood sugar. Can I be included on the account?”

“You don’t need to?—”

“I’ll feel better.”

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