Page 16 of Jesse and the Ice Princess
Most of the time, Jesse found that adorable.
But not on a Friday night when they continued to throw things at each other from their respective beds.
Jesse caught Will's pillow mid-air and looked down at his brother. "Knock it off, guys." He shifted his eyes to Eli on the top bunk.
Will rolled his eyes—like he'd been doing a lot lately. "Jesse just wants us to fall asleep so he can go meet girls." He drew out the last word.
Eli made kissy sounds.
Jesse sat on the end of Will's bed, ducking his head to avoid hitting it on Eli's. "I'm not going to meet a girl."
Eli hung half his body down to look at them, his hands gripping the rail to keep from falling down onto them. "Then why can't you stay with us? We could readHarry Potter."
Jesse hated the sadness in his brother's voice. In a way, he and Cass were all they had. Their dad didn't put them to bed or read stories with them.
He'd once admitted to Jesse he had a hard time looking at the twins because they looked so much like their mom. The early days after her death bonded the siblings in a way nothing else could. Their dad checked out, and they had to be there for each other—even though the twins were only six.
Jesse raised an eyebrow at Eli. "You're going to fall out of your bed if you keep that up."
"You'll catch me." The confidence, the trust, in his voice made Jesse smile.
"I'd try, bud." He pulled Will to his side. "I'm sorry we can't read tonight. It's late anyway. How about tomorrow? I'll stay in, and we can find out what Harry is up to."
"Only if you promise." He held his pinky up.
Jesse hooked their pinkies together. "Promise."
"Me too," Eli called.
Jesse laughed as he offered his other brother a pinky-swear. He looked up to find Cassie watching them from the doorway with a smile on her face.
Jesse got up and pushed Eli back into his bed before joining Cassie in the hall. "Sure you don't want to come with me? Dad is down in his office, so he can handle things here."
"Where are you going again?"
"A pickup hockey game." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. "Coach gave me a key to the rink in case any of the guys wanted extra practice. He's probably hoping we'll magically get better."
"I think I'll pass." She grimaced.
Jesse shrugged. It was worth a try. He knew his sister wouldn't go hang out with all of his friends, but he wanted her there. "So, what does your night entail?"
"Reading." She smiled.
"For someone who hates people, you sure do read a lot of romance." She was obsessed with it, in fact.
"At least in these books I can pretend I'm out there living my life."
He knew what she meant. Living her life instead of trapped here by a paralyzing fear of people.
"Well." He pulled her into a side hug. "I'll miss you."
"What would all those friends of yours say if they knew their golden boy was at home every night making dinner with his sister and putting kids to sleep?"
"Rome knows."
"But that's Roman."
"Does it matter what anyone else thinks?" He released her and entered his room. Hockey posters hung along the wall behind his made bed. With the rest of the house usually a mess, he liked to keep his own room in some kind of order.
