Page 148 of The Future Play

Pushing the front door open, I’m surprisingly met with the smell of lemon and garlic.

“Hello?” I call.

A moment later, Pete appears. “Hey, little sis. Come on. Food’s almost ready.”

My brow furrows. “Food?”

Pete drags me to the kitchen where he and Josh are cooking.

“Shrimp scampi?” I ask.

“It’s what you ordered every time we went out for dinner anywhere that wasn’t sushi,” Josh said. “We figured you’d need something comforting right now.”

He walks over and pulls me into a hug. I’m so surprised and overwhelmed that I burst into tears.

“How did you… know?”

“We saw the headlines,” Pete says. “Then Rae called and gave us a heads up on what was happening.”

Of course she did.

“Shouldn’t you both be at work?”

“Well, I work for Rae’s dad, and he’s understanding,” Pete says.

“I just called out,” Josh says with a shrug as he steps back.

“Thank you,” I sniff.

Pete sighs. “Look, I know there was a time—a good chunk—where we didn’t do the best job of taking care of you.”

“Especially me,” Josh says.

“But we’re your brothers. We’ve got you.”

I wipe at my eyes and nose, then sit down at the table.

“I’ll take it.”

Pete brings over plates and they both sit down.

After I’ve had a few bites, Josh asks, “So, what really happened?”

“He didn’t cheat on me,” I say quickly. Even in the midst of all this, I still want to protect him.

“We figured. We’ve known him almost as long as you, and he’s never looked at you with anything but adoration.”

That makes me choke up again.

But after another bite of pasta to strengthen myself, I tell them everything that happened this summer.

“So what happens now?” Pete asks when I’m finished explaining.

I shrug. “We take some time and figure out what we both want from our relationship. Then we can decide where it goes from there.”

“We’ll have your back, whatever you need,” Josh says.

My face pulls into a grimace. “It’s weird that you’re being so nice to me.”

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