Page 58 of Assisting My Brother’s Best Friend

I sat down on the edge of Decklan's bed. "Because three squeezes mean ‘I love you.’" And to demonstrate, I squeezed his arm three times to show him, saying the words "I love you" with each squeeze.

It was something my mom had taught me when I was little.

Decklan reached for my hand and when he squeezed it three times, my heart filled with love for my sweet, often shy, nephew. I bent over to give Decklan a hug and a kiss on the forehead, saying, "I love you, Decklan. Sleep well."

Decklan smiled sleepily and snuggled deeper into his covers. "Night, night."

I found Drew waiting in the hall by the boys’ door when I walked out.

"What do we do now?" Drew asked, leading me back to the living room. His eyes looked tired, but he seemed happy enough to keep me company even though it was so late.

I switched on the lamp by the recliner. "I guess we just hang out here. Or, actually, you can probably go home. I'm sure you have stuff early in the morning."

But Drew didn't move to leave. He just stood there in the dim light. "No, it's no problem. I'll stay and wait with you."

My insides warmed at the thought of him not being in a hurry to get back home.

Was it possible he liked spending time with me as much as I did? Because I was starting to crave it, and that was a precarious place to be, considering our past and my job.

I glanced around the room, looking for something to keep my hands occupied so my mind wouldn't dwell on the past and the what-might-have-beens if Aiden hadn't died that night. There were toys and books all over the living room, complimentary of those two rambunctious nephews of mine. I peeked into the kitchen to see the sink piled high with dirty dishes. Clearly Lana still wasn't feeling well; otherwise, the house would have been spotless.

"Would doing a little housework scare you away? I know you have a housekeeper and maids, but I'm sure coming home to a mess is about the last thing my sister needs right now."

“Hey." Drew shot me a fake offended look. “I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. In fact, I was tempted to start while you were putting the boys in their pajamas, but I realized I didn't know where anything went and I didn't want to make it worse, in case Lana alphabetized her children's books or something. I kind of remember her being anal retentive about things like that."

It was true. Drew had definitely witnessed his fair share of arguments between Lana and me when we were younger. Lana couldn't stand the mess I made in our room and had actually put a line of tape down the center to keep my clothes and things contained to my side.

We picked up the living room first, throwing the toys in the different bins I found tipped over in a corner beneath the window. And as we tidied up, Drew filled me in on the rest of tonight's episode.

"Tonight's elimination was one of the longest ones we had all season because one of the girls, Haylee, fainted in the middle of it. They had to stop everything and wait for the ambulance to arrive…heightening the drama, of course."

"Of course." The show made the most of any dramatic moment they could.

"Meanwhile, I was just standing there sweating because Haylee was actually one of the girls I was planning to send home that night. Was I supposed to send her home still, even after she had fainted? It seemed like adding insult to injury. But in the end, I had to follow through. I couldn't let go of the other women yet."

I tossed a stuffed animal into a bin. "That's crazy."

"You know what's crazier? I found out later that she'd faked the whole thing just to get her last five minutes of fame since she knew I wasn't going to keep her."

"Some people." I shook my head, not believing the lengths some women would go through to get something they wanted. When the living room looked clean, we moved into the kitchen. "Do you want to rinse or stack in the dishwasher?"

"I'll rinse."

"You sure? Rinsing other people's dirty dishes is gross."How could he pick that one?

He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. "My mom always says that girls love a man with dishpan hands."

"Your mom is a smart woman." I gladly took the spot next to Drew and opened the dishwasher. Thankfully, it was empty.

"Do you think many other women were there for fame or your money?" I asked as I brought over the rest of the dirty dishes from the table.

Drew took them from me and set them on the counter since the sink was too full to add any more. "It was pretty obvious with quite a few, sadly. I think maybe half were hoping for a real connection with me while the rest were just there to have fun, or become famous.” He sighed, and I felt bad for him. What was it like to be him? Never knowing why people wanted to get close. Always questioning if they just wanted something from him. "I'm still shocked I didn't pick up on any of that from Gwen. She had me fooled for months. I feel so stupid."

I put a hand on Drew's arm. "I totally understand. It happens to the best of us."

“Would you mind telling me more of what happened with Nolan?” Drew looked at me carefully as he handed me a plastic Batman plate. "Was it really just like night and day? One moment you thought everything was great, and then bam, you were married to a stranger?"

"I don't know." I paused, wondering if I could tell Drew the details of my private life—the details that only my family knew about.

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