Page 78 of Show Me How to Heal
Luke’s expression when he opened his front door to reveal Moritz waiting on the other side was priceless. Fucking epic. His mouth hung agape, his eyes rounded like saucers, and his eyebrows raised so high they looked like they’d disappeared under his hairline.
“What the… Moritz?”
Sammy came running to the door, stopping dead in his tracks up as he saw Moritz. He turned his head towards Luke, back towards Moritz, and to Luke again before taking a confused step in Moritz’s direction, sniffing the air carefully.
Moritz smiled, leaning forward to extend his hand, Sammy inching closer until his nose almost touched Moritz’s hand, sniffing again. When he was satisfied, barked once, and bounded back towards me to get some scratches.
“No, it’s a mirror… a magic mirror that makes you more attractive and… well dressed,” his brother deadpanned before getting back up, grabbing Luke, and pulling him into a fierce hug.
“Was zum Teufelare you doing here?” I heard Luke mumble against his brother’s shoulder, though I only understood the second half of his sentence.
“Mom, Dad, and I thought you might need emotional support,” Moritz explained, my heart warming once again at how caring his brother, or rather, his family was. He’d just left the fucking continent to come stay with his brother. “Hi, Zayne,” he said, turning to me with a smile. “Thanks for letting me crash at your place. Unfortunately, I get to tell you that the press is camping in front of your house, man. And Luki, they might have snapped a few pictures of me leaving the house. I don’t know if anyone realized I wasn’t you.”
“That’s… I told you… Wait… you two know each other?” Luke asked, his eyes wide as his eyes pivoted between his twin and me. “How… when…?”
“We met briefly yesterday,” I explained, smiling at Moritz. “Good to see you again.”
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to him,” Moritz said. “To try to convince him to hear you out. But I didn’t have to do anything since he was already set on getting to you.”
Luke shook his head once, a fond smile tugging at his lips. “Thank you,” he finally said, shaking his head again. “You know I’m going to reimburse you for the flight, right?”
Moritz snorted. “Do you have any money left after buying… a fucking mansion, two cars, and… oh,anothercabin?”
What did he mean? I didn’t know anything about any other cabin.
I turned my head towards Luke, who was looking at me with wide eyes, a fiery blush creeping up his neck, coloring his cheeks a dark purple.
“Shut up!” he hissed at his brother who just started laughing.
“He didn’t tell you, did he?” Moritz asked me.
I bit my lip, instantly alarmed, my heart picking up speed. Swallowing, I shook my head, forcing myself to stay calm. Moritz was smirking, looking just like he was about to mercilessly tease his brother.
“Moritz!” Luke moaned, looking at me. “I swear, it’s not bad. Let’s all head inside andI’lltell you.”
“You’re ruining all my fun,” Moritz said with a pout. Then he walked past Luke and me. “So… your living room is that way, right?” He pointed towards the left.
Luke nodded, firmly shutting the door before he joined his brother, leaving me and Sammy standing in the hallway. I still wasn’t sure I’d like where this whole house-thing was going. Could anyone blame me for being wary after everything that’d happened in the past couple of days? That was still happening?
Avery had sent pictures of Kickstart, filled to the brim with paparazzi, drinking coffee, apparently getting ready for a long day. They’d have to wait for a long time, I thought grimly, pulling my phone out of my pocket.
Today was Sunday, so the store wouldn’t be open today, anyway. No idea what the paparazzi planned on doing. Did they really want to waste their day waiting for us to come out?
A message from Addy in our group chat made me smile.
Addy: How did it go?
Avery: How did what go?
Addy: Zayne talking to Luke, obviously.
Zayne: We talked. We’re good. I think.
Zayne: His brother said something about a second house while laughing his ass off. Needless to say, I’m a little suspicious.
Avery: Oh yeah… uhm… I mean, I don’t know anything.
Zayne: Sure you don’t. I bet Mr. I-Own-The-Only-Real-Estate-Agency-In-This-Town doesn’t, either.
