Page 16 of Heart Strain

7

Holden

When I get to my parents’ old house after dinner and taking Jameson to his car, I take Peanut for a run in the hopes of wearing myself out enough to sleep. As I’m stepping inside the house, my phone rings, so I answer with a “Hey” as Gavin says loudly, “I’m home!”

I chuckle and lock the door behind me, following behind my dog to the kitchen where he drinks like he’s in a desert. “I’m glad you made it. How was your flight?” Once Peanut finishes, I scratch behind his ears and make kissy lips at him, and he jumps up to lick my chin.

“Fine, fine. Boring, mostly. I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow.”

“That definitely sucks,” I say, walking toward my room with Peanut practically attached to me as I pull out the hair tie and let my shoulder-length brown hair fall. It’s kind of a relief to let my hair down.

“What have you been up to since I left? You doing okay?”

His obvious concern for me makes me wish I could hug him. “Yeah, I’m alright. I just walked in myself, actually.”

“Where were you?”

“I went back to the hospital—”

“Holds, you promised you wouldn’t spend every waking hour there. It’s not healthy to sit there being miserable and depressed all day, every day.”

“I know, but I went there and asked Jameson to dinner.” I watch Peanut hop his way around the house as I lean my shoulder against the wall in the hall. Seeing how well he gets around with one of his back legs missing makes me smile. My poor baby. From the way he acts you’d never know what horror he faced when he was a puppy.

Gavin’s quiet for a second, then says, “Go on.”

“Yeah, so we went out to The Savory Lounge, and um… I met one of his exes.”

“Oh, ew. Was she really pretty and snobby?”

I snort. “No, but he was sexy and a complete douche.”

“Did you say ‘he’?”

“Yep.”

“I knew it!”

I chuckle. “You did not.”

“Okay, maybe not, but I had my suspicions. Now you can ask him out on a date.”

“I’m not going to ask him out.” I contemplate a shower, but since I’m on the phone, I walk to my old bedroom—where I’ve been sleeping—with Peanut trotting behind me.

“Why not?”

“First of all, I don’t date people, which you know. Second of all, hooking up with my brother’s partner is a terrible idea and will make everything awkward. Third, Drix will kill me when he wakes up.” I try to ignore the tendril of fear that crawls up my spine at the thought that he might never wake up. “Fourth, even if I did want to date him, I don’t live here, so there’s no point.”

He sighs. “Fine. Ruin my fun, but I know you want to have his babies.”

A reluctant laugh bubbles out of me. “I do not. Gross.”

“Okay, fine, maybe I want to have his babies.”

I laugh a little, but it’s kinda uneasy because seeing Gavin and Jameson dating isn’t something I think I can handle.

“Geez, I was joking, Holds. Don’t worry, his babies are all yours.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

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