Page 77 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
I finally drop the mallet I’m using to hammer a fence post into the ground and prop my hands on my hips. My brothers stop what they’re doing as if sensing I’m finally ready to talk.
I use the back of my wrist to wipe the sweat from my forehead. “I kissed her,” I finally say.
My brothers exchange a glance I can’t interpret, then look back at me. “Okay?” Lennox says.
“I kissedKate,” I say again. “Last night. Pretty muchallnight.”
Lennox frowns as his eyes dart to Perry who is looking unusually...smug? Why is he smug?
“And I guess this is a big deal because you’ve never kissed her before?” Lennox asks dryly.
My brow furrows. “Of course I haven’t.” Technically,shekissedmea week ago, but that feels like a minor detail after last night.
“I told you,” Perry says. “Itoldyou.” He reaches out and shoves Lennox, his lips curving in a smile we almost never see. Lennox shoves Perry back, elbowing him in the gut, but it only makes Perry laugh and wrap his arms around Lennox from behind in an attempt to knock him off his feet. The only thing that keeps me from interrupting the scuffle is the fact that Perry seems to be enjoying himself. We haven’t seen too many signs of life in Perry the past couple years. It’s nice to think he might be waking up.
Then again, he can wake up on his own time, because right now, we’re supposed to be talking about me.
I clear my throat. “Can someone please explain what’s happening here?”
Lennox gives Perry one more shove before they finally drop their hands and stand next to each other like civilized adults. “Lennox was convinced you and Kate have had more of a friends-with-benefits situation going on.”
“What?No.Never. We’ve never—we’re just friends. We’ve only ever been friends.”
“Well, right,” Lennox says, “but sometimes friends—” He gives his head a shake, like he can’t make the words line up in his head. “Are you honestly telling me you’ve been best friends withsomeone that hot for all these years, and you’ve never even kissed her?”
“I told you, man,” Perry says. “Brody isn’t like you.”
Lennox rolls his eyes. “Come on. Every time she shows up, he drops everything for her.” He looks at me. “The only time I ever saw you in Charlotte was when she was passing through. And you’ve never had a serious relationship with anyone else. I mean, I guess I just figured...”
“Is that seriously all you think about?” I say. “Friendship, Lennox. You should try it sometime. Have a relationship with a woman that doesn’t involve sex.”
“That’s not what my relationships are about. You don’t know near as much about me as you think you do. And what, you think I should be more like you? Fall in love with someone who isn’t ever going to love me back? Wasteyearswaiting for something that’s never going to happen?”
Perry holds out a hand. “Hey,” he says to Lennox in a voice that sounds so much like Dad, it almost pulls me out of the moment. “That’s enough.”
I move toward the longer fence rail that will stretch from one post to the next and pick up one end, waiting as Perry moves into position on the other end. “No, he’s right,” I say bitterly. “Ihavebeen waiting for something that’s never going to happen. Because right after I kissed her, she left for London.” We drop the rail into the pre-cut notches on the fence posts, settling it into place.
“Is she coming back?” Lennox asks. “Or is this it? She’s just...gone again?”
“No idea. I didn’t even see her in person. She sent me a text.”
“Ohh, ouch,” Lennox says. “That can’t be a good sign.”
“Why London?” Perry asks. “Did she just randomly pick a city, or—?
“Who cares what city she’s in? She left. I kissed her, and her reaction was to flee the country.”
I’m not really being fair. Kate didn’t necessarilyflee. She went on a trip she’s had planned for weeks, for a job interview she told me about. But somehow, after finally admitting my feelings, I hoped things might be different. Kissing Kate sent my brain all the way toand now I ask you to stay with me so I can love you forever.But for Kate, the opposite happened.
“I’m just trying to understand her motive,” Perry says. “Didn’t you say she came home to get her grandmother’s house ready to sell? Is that done yet?”
“That’s not—” I reach for my phone. “She’s not gone for good. She’ll come back to finish the house, but that’s not the point.” I scroll to Kate’s latest text and hand Perry my phone. “She made her feelings pretty clear.”
Perry tilts the phone so he and Lennox can read her message at the same time.
Lennox winces. “That sucks, man. I’m sorry.” He pulls his t-shirt up to wipe the sweat off his forehead, then moves to the next rotten post. I step in beside him, and together we shift it back and forth until the ground around it loosens and it slides free, splintering and breaking apart where the wood is rotten.
Perry hands me my phone while Lennox shovels the broken chunks of wood out of the soil.
