Page 25 of Fluke
Is he serious right now? “You wanna challenge me, Sparkles?”
He narrows his eyes.
Banks is the best fighter out of all of us. He’s scared of no one … except me. I’m not absolutely sure I could take him if we were really fighting, but I’ll never tell him that.
Maddox races up the road and pulls into his driveway. He’s out of the Jeep before the engine shuts off.
“What the hell is that?” he shouts, laughing.
“Banks’s ticket to hell,” I say.
Maddox points at me. “I want you to know I had nothing to do with this. Not a damn thing.”
Banks gasps. “Why are you throwing me under the bus like that?”
“Because I have a reason to live now.”
“It’s like you got married, and now I’m nothing to you,” Banks says. “I thought we were closer than that. What happened to bros before …”
Maddox fires him a warning look.
“… before throws,” Banks says, improvising.
“Good life choice,” Maddox says.
I cross my arms over my chest. “No. You don’t get to set boundaries with him now, Mad. I’ve already called dibs on that. He’s yours. Forever.”
Maddox rolls his eyes. Before he can say anything else, another car comes up the road. Mom and Dad stop next to the curb.
“Interesting lawn decor, Jess,” Mom says, giggling.
“Like it? Banks can bring it to your house.”
Dad slings his arm out the window and grins cheekily. “Your mom has all the cock she needs at home.”
Moss and I chuckle as Banks loses his mind like he does every time Dad makes a joke about having sex with Mom.
As entertaining as it is to watch Banks act like a child, it’s also fun to watch Mom ruffle Dad’s hair like they’re teenagers as he riles up their youngest son.
Their relationship has always been goals for me. They’ve been married almost forty years and act like they started dating six months ago. Together, they raised six kids, ran a business, and bought all the houses on the road for their children. Sure, they’d fight every now and then, but they’d make sure we saw them fix their problems too.
That’s probably why I’ve never been engaged. I’ve never met someone who I could see myself going to all that trouble with for forty damn years. The only girl I’ve ever even considered going the distance with doesn’t see herself going the distance with me.
Because that’s how life works.
You never get what you want.
“You don’t understand art,” Banks shouts over his shoulder as he starts back to his house.
“Get it out of here by dawn,” I shout back.
He flips me off.
“Good luck with this,” Dad says, chuckling as he pulls away from the curb.
I storm back into my house, Moss following closely.
“Our parents have one fatal flaw,” I say.
