Page 17 of Rebound With Me
“Yeah, but there are too many girls.”
“Too many, huh? Any good ones?”
He shrugs. “Some of them are okay, I guess. Rory’s cousin is in it and she keeps saying my name and laughing. It’s annoying.”
“Sounds like she’s got a crush on you.”
He wrinkles up his face. “Gross.”
“She hot?”
“Shut up.” He snaps his book shut and switches off the little light. “When’s Sadie coming over?” I think he knows something’s up. Kid’s got a sixth sense, it’s creepy.
“I dunno. We’ll talk about it in the morning. Go to sleep.” I put the book on the shelf under his bedside table.
“When’s Dad getting back?”
“Soon, probably.” My Dad just started dating a woman who lives in Park Slope. She’s surprisingly age-appropriate and I think she really likes her, but we all know better than to get our hopes up. He hit the jackpot once in his life, but when my Mom left this earth it’s like she took all his good sense with her. God bless him for always getting back up on that horse, though. I don’t know if I could if I’d been through what he has.
Charlie’s watching my face as he lies back on his pillow. I pull the covers up over him and mess up his hair. “You gonna sleep here?”
“Course. What do you want for breakfast?”
“Waffles,” we say at the same time.
“Okay, but we’re gonna have to put a few berries on them or something so we can pretend to be healthy.”
“Okay.”
“G’night.” I turn off the bedside lamp and the nightlight turns on. My older brother thinks Charlie’s too old to have a nightlight, but fuck him. We all need a little light in our lives. Charlie is ours. He should have whatever he wants.
After eating five of Michelle’s cookies and drinking a glass of water, I crash on the couch without washing up for the night. I want to be able to smell Nina on my fingers just a little while longer until I fall asleep.
